Norway is expensive. Our cab ride from the airport was $170, and dinner last night was $80 for one glass of wine and two excellent hamburgers with fries. The reason things are expensive here is that Norway has a very high standard of living, one of the highest in the world. They are paid very well. They get free university education, free healthcare, 6 weeks of vacation a year, and 10 months paternity/maternity leave. However, they are taxed at a high rate (35-50%). Bottom line: All these supposed “freebies” come at a price.

Norway is a land of rich resources – oil, timber and fish. Because of this they have not sought membership in the European Union. The  Vikings were the early settlers (800-1050 AD) here. In the 14th century they were ruled by Denmark but in 1814 Denmark lost control  to Sweden who ruled Norway until 1905, when Norway gained its independence. There is still a royal family but, like England, they have no real power. Parliament and the prime minister run the country.

Norway only has about 5.3 million people who live on land about the size of Montana. It is a land of intense natural beauty dominated by mountains and fjords, created by the Ice Age.

Oslo has a population of about 672,000. It was formerly known as Christiania, named after Danish King Christian IV who ordered it rebuilt after a fire destroyed the city in 1624. It was renamed Oslo in 1924. It is a very walkable, compact city and easy to get around.

Breakfast buffets are included in hotels here and the one at the Clarion was outstanding!  The breadth and display of the offerings were a work of art. I was impressed.

We signed up for a 10AM walking tour of the city center to learn more about its history. Surprisingly our tour guide was a young English girl who immigrated here three years ago because she was tired of England! We were joined by a father/daughter from California, two graduating high school girls from NYC (on a summer fling before college) and a young man from San Paulo, Brazil who was visiting before his business conference in London. We obviously were the oldest! The tour was interesting in that we learned things we would never had known had we walked around on our own; however it was not the best tour we have had in our travels. As I have always said the tour guide makes/breaks a tour. The good news was although the weather forecast called for rain we only experienced a 1 minute misting during the entire three hour walk. It was Sunday and the city was a ghost town as we started our walk. We learned that the Norwegians take Sunday seriously; it is meant to be a day of rest with family. We saw only a handful of shops open. By the time we finished our tour around 1 PM people were out and about and a few stores (mostly restaurants) were open and catering to customers.

One of the more interesting tidbits we learned about life in Norway was that people typically work 9AM to 3PM (short lunch) in the summer so they can enjoy the outdoors more. During the winter they work until 4 or so! No wonder people love to live here. Another tidbit learned on our walking tour was that Norwegians pay their own way. If you are on a date it is  always “dutch” treat so no one feels obligated. Likewise, people do not pay for a round of drinks or meal; everyone pays their own way. It is the way they prefer to do things here.

Three hours and 16,345 steps later, we were good and tired and joined the locals for a sit down lunch before returning to the hotel for a much needed nap.

We decided on an Italian themed dinner as we expected there would be more than ample opportunity for seafood meals on the rest of the trip and we walked over to the nearby train station for a quick meal. The recommended Italian restaurant could not take us because at 6:30 PM there were no tables available for the entire evening. Does anyone eat at home anymore?

We fell into bed having walked a total of 19,729 steps today, a new daily record I think! Tomorrow we meet up with Steve, Julie and Zoe and join the Lindblad Expedition tour.