The last chance to say goodbye

Good morning! 

 

Right now, I’m drinking a coffee in my hotel room before I go downstairs to take my breakfast. I wanted to keep you guys posted because after breakfast we have to leave to the airport - and this time we are going back home - and I think I don’t will have the time to inform you about our last trip if I don’t do it right now. 

 

I especially focused on the economy of Norway. I didn’t knew that the production of oil has so much influence on this country. In 1970 there was an oil boom and now this country is the seventh largest oil producer in the world.
The oil for the Norwegian coast, has made the country extremely rich. Norway is even one of the most prosperous countries in the world. 

 

The main export product is oil, of course, but also machines, paper, fish and chemical products are often exported.
Fish farming is a growing industry that is becoming increasingly important in Norway.

 

That's how they catch the fish

Norway is an important oil exporter but that isn’t the same for the food industry. Almost three quarters of Norway’s land is unproductive. The country imports over 50% of its food, which I think is a lot. Nevertheless, Norway doesn’t want to be dependent on foreign countries, so that’s why the farmers are heavily subsidized.
They do not only import foodstuff but also cars, ships, base materials,.. from Europe, neighbouring Scandinavian countries and the United States.

Like most of the people believe that Norway is a member of the European Union, isn’t true. So, we had to change again our money to the local currency. The currency of this country is the Norwegian Krone.
It looks like this:

There are many fjords here in Norway – which are really beautiful! - so most of the time you have to go with a ferry to get to the other side of the river. Although they built more and more tunnels and bridges, along the coast, the connections are often dependent on ferries.

Motorways are here in Norway quite rare. Most of the roads are bad because of the severe winters. The maximum speed is generally at 80 km per hour, crazy, isn’t? I heard it’s because of the nature and the danger that deer and sheep suddenly crosses the street. 

 

Yes, it was again an impressive country!
Unfortunately, our trip has become to an end but I would like to thank you for following our blog. I hope you can use our advice in the future when you will travel to one of this countries. Who knows? ;)  

Célestine

Sources: 
http://www.landenweb.net/noorwegen/economie/
http://www.noorwegenvakantie.org/economie.htm
http://www.vakantienaarnoorwegen.nl/olienoorwegen.html
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noorwegen#Economie

3 relevant real-life examples: 
http://www.demorgen.be/dm/nl/996/Economie/article/detail/1543208/2012/12/03/Total-ontdekt-nieuw-olieveld-in-Noorwegen.dhtml http://www.boerderij.nl/Rundveehouderij/Blogs/2012/6/Geen-goede-boterham-2-1028546W/ http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2844/Archief/archief/article/detail/3318664/2012/09/19/Noorwegen-verhoogt-heffing-op-importkaas.dhtml

Our final discovery: Norway!

Here we are, in Norway, our final destination. I am feeling a little bit sad because we learned so many things, have met so many interesting people… But, it is almost time to say goodbye to this wonderful experience.

Now, I am going to inform you about the culture in Norway. I did not know a lot about Norway, I heard that it was a beautiful country but very cold. As you already heard from Lauren, we are in North Cape now.

We arrived in Oslo on Monday. It was really strange, because we could not understand anything! The Norwegian language sounded very strange! It is their first language. The inhabitants’ second language is English and the majority in Norway can speak English fluently. German, French and Spanish are some other languages that are taught as a second or third language.

The Lutheran Church is the state church in Norway. The majority of the inhabitants is Christian, but there are many other religions too, like Lutheranism (the second largest religion), Roman Catholicism and many others. Its national holiday is on 17^th May.

 

 A lot of food in Norway is influenced by the United States; fast food is becoming very popular in Norway. Pastas, pizzas, meatballs, cod… But you can still find some traditional meals prepared with fish and meat. Rakfisk is an example. It is made from trout that is salted and fermented for two to three months. It must be prepared very hygienic and careful. Torsk is another example. It is cod that is poached and served with boiled potatoes and melted butter. Lutefisk is another meal prepared with fish. It is a modern preparation made from stockfish that has been steeped in lye. And Fiskesuppe is a soup made from – yes – fish! It is a white soup, prepared with vegetables, like carrots, onions and potatoes. When you do not like fish, like me, you will find enough meals prepared with meat like meatballs, pork, stew, sausages, lamb, sheep, mutton etc. If you want more information about the meals with its ingredients, click on the link bellow:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_cuisine

Fruits and berries are very popular in Norway. Certainly strawberries, bilberries, raspberries and apples are widely eaten. So it will be no surprise that the Norwegian people use a lot of this fruit species in its desserts. Examples: cloudberries with whipped cream, strawberry-apple pie…

Pastries are a delicacy in Norway, think about sponge cake, homemade cakes, waffles and cookies. Meringues are known as “pikekyss”, Cardamom is a common cake and Krumkake is also well-known in Norway.

 

We went exploring Oslo and I found out that Edvard Munch (1843-1944), the famous artist who painted “The Scream”, was born in Norway.

In Norway, winter sports are very important and have a large history too. The most popular winter sports are skiing and cross-country skiing, also known as “langlaufen”. In summer, soccer is an important sport. The most popular indoor sport is handball.

 

An example of typical Norwegian music is “kveding”, a ballad. “Joik” is music by which the singer is leaded by a tambourine. The most famous composer is Edvard Grieg (1843-1911). The first composer born in Norway, was Ole Bull (1810-1880). Norway has become well-known in the area of Jazz and also the Norwegian black metal is one of the most important music styles in the world.

This is one of our last days, here in Norway. I am tired, but I am going to miss the experiences and the friendly people like I said before. The meeting were sometimes exhausting, but also very interesting. We made a lot of contacts with different countries that are going to be useful in the future.

So, I am going to say goodbye. If we are going to travel again, I will let you know to share my experiences again! I hope you enjoyed our blog!

So, take care of yourselves and maybe we will see each other again in the future!

Liesbeth

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_language

http://www.noorwegen.org/index.php/noorwegen/bekende_noren/edvard_munch

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noorwegen#Nationale_feestdag

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway#Music

Three relevant real-life examples:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_cuisine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edvard_Munch

http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/07/the_norwegian_miracle.html

Norway: a country to discover

Hello everyone!

It is a lovely Saterday today so here I am for the last time to tell you something more about the most beautiful places and buildings we have been discovering in Norway. I cannot believe that our trip will come to an end because we are going home tomorrow… I have been having a great time with my colleagues and the time has really flown by. I really got to know Debra, Célestine and Liesbeth better and the meetings were not as stressful as in our hometown.
I will miss you too, guys. I have been writing you for more than a month now so you really became a part of the trip.

We arrived late on Monday and we immediately went to the hotel. The hotel we staid was designed by White Arkitekter. The hotel opened in 1990 so it is about twenty years old. In my opinion, the hotel we stayed was the most beautiful one of our trip. In my opinion, the most incredible part of the hotel was the two highest floors because there was a swimming pool and a sauna. The Oslo Plaza is with its 117 metres the tallest building in the centre of Oslo. We slept on the 10th floor but there are 37 floors. I took a photo by night. Isn’t it nice?

On Tuesday, we went to the most beautiful park of Oslo, the Vigeland Park. The Park is named after the creator of this public park, namely Gustav Vigeland. The Monolitten and the Sinnataggen are the reason why a lot of tourists visit this place. The Monolitten immediately took our attention because it is a rather high sculpture. When you come closer, you see that the sculpture contains several figures. Very beautiful, though!
When we walked a little bit further, we saw the Sinnataggen which is better known as the Angry Boy. This sculpture made me think of Manneke Pis in Brussels.
Another sculpture which took my attention was the following picture:

This really cached my eye because the embryo is standing in the middle of the park without any protection. In my opinion, this embryo shows the vulnerability of life.

I also took a picture of the Monolitten and the Sinnataggen:

The Monolitten

 

The Sinnataggen

On Wednesday, we arrived at the North Cape or should we say the home of the Midnight Sun? We still are here right now. We have been staying here the whole day because it took a long time to come here. This place is 2,200 kilometres far from Oslo city. Anyway, we really had to come here because this is the most popular travel destination of Norway. It is a 307 metres high cliff which refers to the northernmost point of Europe. We also went to a natural reservation to see more than 2 million seabirds. Célestine really loves animals so we went there to please her. Actually, I, Debra and Liesbeth find this also impressive to see. It really was nice to end our trip like this.

Once more, I really want to thank you all for following our blog. I hope you learnt something more about the geography, culture, economy and buildings and places.

Remember, there is never a right time to say goodbye.

Lauren

Sources:
http://www.tripadvisor.nl/LocationPhotos-g190479-d206847-w8-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo_Plaza
http://goscandinavia.about.com/od/norwa1/tp/topsightsnorway.htm

Thee relevant real-life examples:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWtfDdEiVOI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7nGUmq_cCM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_Viiu3hqR8

Our final destination

Hello again! This is our last week on tour and our final destination is Norway. We hope that you enjoyed our trip from Nigeria till Norway. Today we are going give you some more information about Norway.

Norway is one of the world’s most northerly countries, and one of the most mountainous countries of Europe. The country has one of the longest coast-lines in the world, 25,148 kilometres. It is surrounded by the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea. The country has a long land border with Sweden (1,619 kilometres), a shorter one with Finland (729 kilometres), and a still shorter border with Russia, as short as 196 kilometres!

 

During the last ice age, the entire country was covered with a thick ice sheet. The movement of the ice carved out deep valleys and when the ice melted, the sea filled these valleys and that is how Norway’s famous fjords were created.  Spectacular, isn’t it?

 

Statistics estimated that Norway’s population reached the 5,000,000 milestones in 2012.
During the last decades, Norway has an increasing number of immigrants, foreign workers and asylum-seekers from all over the world. 

The country joined the EU in 2004.Oslo is the capital of the country and is the governmental centre of it. The city is the hub of Norwegian trade. The second-largest city of Norway is Bergen.

Although the country is 32% located above the tree line, the climate is more temperated that one should expect. How come? It is due to the North Atlantic Current raising the air temperature and bringing this mild air on land.

There is a lot of rain in autumn and early winter especially along the coast and April to June is the driest period. 

Oslo, which is situated to the east of the mountains has a more continental  climate, which means less rainfall,  more sunshine and warmer summers. 

Temperatures in summer reach about 25°C and in winter temperatures can drop till -30°C and even -40°C. So, severe cold in winter.

I hope this ‘geographical’ trip has arisen your interest in the country of the Vikings. 

Thanks for following us all the way to Norway. We hope you have enjoyed it. We hope to welcome you on our next travel route. We keep you informed.

Debra

Sources:

https://www.google.be/imghp?hl=nl&tab=wi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Norway

Demographics of Norway - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo

Bergen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trondheim,_Norway

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Norway 

Three relevant-life examples:

News - The Research Council of Norway

Norway climate study sparks debate over warming urgency | The Daily Caller

New oil discovery in the North Sea