I’m sure every nation has a country soup dish – Norway has Lapskaus.
Lapskaus can range from a watery soup to a thick stew, it all depends on how you like it. Traditionally being made from last nights left overs, Lapskaus uses potatoes as a thick base with other hearty, winter vegetables and meat. [...]
By our favourite jetty is the cutest little boat shed. We often have picnics there in Summer. It’s nice to just drop by our favourite places in Winter to see how very different but very beautiful everything still is.
Even though I’m getting used to Norwegian food, every now and then I’ll discover the weird and the weirder. My family, (aka Moose), has some awfully strange eating habits.
It’s very usual to have fresh chicken eggs on bread for breakfast… with caviar on top! Eggs with eggs, hmmm – this must be the [...]
When you learn to drive you are taught to expect the unexpected. This is certainly an unexpected expected for me – a little grandma skiing across the crossing. Lucky I wasn’t driving… (so I could take some pics).
This is a crossing for walkers and bikers in the Summer, and turns into a skiers [...]
Nidarosdomen – Nidaros Cathedral
Nidaros Cathedral is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Norway. It boasts a textured Medieval history that began with the adventures of St Olav, the fierce Viking who was converted to Christianity and became King of Norway. The Cathedral has been under construction from the early ten hundreds and was [...]
When you live in the Arctic, you never know how you will find your car in the morning. Will it be covered in 20 blankets of snow? Will there be ice stuck on all the windows? Or has Mr Plow dug you in again? (Sometimes I spend a good five minutes just looking for the [...]
At 11:30 am, high-noon, we watched from our favourite jetty as the sun tried to peak over the horizon one last time… it didn’t quite make it. Today we entered the realm of the polar night.
A picture taken to the west from a walking track on the hill in the centre on Tromsø island.
Tromsø in high summer is beautiful and warm. The sun is mature and the colours deep. It is easy to forget that all this turns into a winter wonderland.
Sledding is a favourite past time for kids, big and small. All you need is a bit of plastic so you can slip and slide down any snowy hill. Nowadays you can get groovy ‘air dynamic’ sleds complete with steering and breaks – some even have bike seats and are propped up on [...]
Norwegians love to social dance. I am often amazed at how many dance places there are in big cities, country towns and even coastal villages. Norway has its own traditional dance that involves a short man in a suit kicking a hat out of a maiden’s hand who is standing above him on a chair [...]
My Little Norway
2010 Calendar
Many English words actually come from old Norse language – brought by Vikings to England in medieval times. Here are some words you have probably uttered without realising you are speaking Norwegian!
There is an opposition in everything. At the darkest time of the year, we celebrate Christmas. And at the exact opposite end, when the midnight sun is at its highest, we celebrate Midsummer.
In Norway, there are still Lefse recipes around from the 1630s! This is supposedly the traditional and original Hardanger recipe used:
Even though the males are called bulls and the females cows, the muskoxen are more closely related to sheep than cattle. Make no mistake, though – this is not your average cuddly ba-ba-blacksheep! A grown animal can be 2,5 m long and weigh up to 400 kgs, and their long curved horns mean business.
From the west, a wall of stone Saints and Prophets will confront you. All sides of the Cathedral are very textured and deserve a long walk around. You’ll see gargoyles and gothic arches, thick wooden doors with rusty floral art and Anglo-Norman/Romanesque bits and pieces ’stuck on’ that intensifies your ground view. However, the outside of Nidaros Cathedral is even more intriguing when you know the history.
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