Norweigan Trip

Oslo is the most expensive city in the world. A McDonald hamburger with fries costs $ 15.00 US. A stein of beer is $ 14.00 I heard that a nice car costs close to $75,000, and if you need seats in the back, it will cost another $25,000 dollars (US). Citizens can retire at age 62 with full pay, if they worked for a certain number of years (I guess 20). The people look very healthy, and many of the younger women look like movie stars. Oe of the pictures in this blog is a young girl, around 18 to 20 working in a fish market.

Boy, does it rain ! around 275 days a year. Waterfalls, wow. We took a train from Oslo to Bergen and saw a few hundred waterfalls over a thousand feet high, many were much higher.
We had to switch to another train for a detour through a gorgeous valley, with huge and deep canyons, waterfalls, fjords and picturesque towns. Then we switched to a Fjord boat for a 2 hour fjord cruise, simply stunning. Then we swqitched again t0o another train to complete the journey to Bergen, reported to be the most beautiful city in the world ... maybe.

Norway has abundent electrical power from hydo sources, and abundent oil from the North Sea site. Wood is plentiful, and heats most family getaway cabins (away from it all) in the hills, valleys and fjords. Fish is readily available from the sea, lakes and streams. Taxes must be huge from high income earners, as health and all medical services are free, as is education and most government services.

On the flight back, from Oslo to the US, two rear toilets were closed because the Norweigans refused to allow the plane that had arrived from the US to empty their waste into their facilities. As a result, the fornt toilet and the first class toilets began to overflow into the cockpit. Janet was talking to a flight attendant and she told Janet that Norweigans drink so much beer on the flights (at $5.00 a beer) because it is so cheap. That accounts for the toilets overflow.