RESOURCES: TRAVEL IN NORWAY

Travel and Photography in Norway

VISIONS OF NORWAY

VISIT NORWAY THE OFFICIAL GUIDE TO NORWAY

A LANDSCAPE WAITING TO BE CAPTURED

Norway is just pure photographic inspiration offering wonderful opportunities for landscape photography wherever you go. The light is always interesting and changes constantly throughout the day. On the west coast in the evenings, the sunsets can provide deeply satisfying photography as the light moves around the landscape changing every few minutes.

Getting out in to "The Nature", as they say in Norway, is a must. There is so much to see and so many opportunitues for the enthusuatic photographer, from Mountains to Fjords, picturesque villages nestled in valleys or wandering up the side of a hill to ancient pine Forests with curious mushrooms.

THE PEOPLE AND THE LANGUAGE

Norwegians are very hospitable and generally modest people. Fortunately they don't seem to mind, too much, if you don't speak any Norwegian. Although the occasional "Takk" (pronounced "tuck" meaning Thank you) or "God dag" (pronounced "goo dagh" meaning Good day / Hello) seems to go down well :)

All Norwegians speak English, and young people especially are keen to practice on native English speakers, especially after a few beers! In my experience the topic of conversation at that point, with Norwegian men, usually turns to Football. Most Norwegian men seem to support an English Football team, but beware unless you're a hardened fanatic, they probably know more than you do!

A couple of years ago I had one of "those" experiences at customs. I was invited to accompany a customers officer in to a cubicle as he snapped on his rubber gloves!!! Needless to say the invitation was not optional. However, his curiousity soon turned to humour as he realised the stuff their scanner detected in my hand luggage wasn't whatever they thought it might have been, but a load of my Girlfriends jewellery, and lots of it. He gave me a few curious looks (!), but was reassured of my masculinity as I struck up a conversation on Football, which was so in depth it was necessary to hold the aircraft on the runway! If you ever find yourself lost for words, talk Football!

Norwegian Women are, at first, a bit of a conundrum to an English man. However, and this does take some understanding, once you've got your head around the fact that they will happily take YOU out for a meal and PAY FOR IT too, you suddenly get a whole new perspective on the World :)

If you are planning on going to Norway, and want to try and be a little more interactive with the locals, you can find some basic Norwegian lessons by clicking the following link: NORWEGIAN LANGUAGE LESSONS SONS OF NORWAY LANGUAGE LESSONS

BEER, WINES, SPIRITS AND GOING OUT

At over £5 UK Sterling for two thirds of a pint, this was always going to be a sore point!

I have outlined some very important rules for English people wishing to drink in Norway, ignore these at your peril!

Don't go mad at the duty free shop on the way out, you can only bring in 1 Litre of Spirits and 1 Bottle of Wine - That's your lot!
If you're in Norwegian company, never, ever buy a round! Norwegians have not grasped the concept of "The Round". If you do make this mistake, as I have, you'll do it just the once. You got to the bar and order the strangely interesting drinks that your Norwegian friends have requested (all of a sudden they're drinking cocktails!). Once you have picked yourself up of the floor at the shock of the bill, and gone to the bank for small mortgage to cover it, you sit down, finish your drink, and wait......and wait....and then finally someone goes to the bar! You think, "strange, they didn't ask me what I wanted?", but it's probably ok, they'll just recharge my glass with another beer. Then they return...... with one small beer for themselves, sit down and carry on talking. Where's mine?
You can buy light beer, at around £2 UK Sterling a can in supermarkets, but anything else has to come from the "Vinmonopolet", the state monopoly with the exclusive right to retail wine and spirits in Norway. Going in to the Vinmonopolet is like a step back in time. Usually the "goods" are displayed behind glass or a counter, and you browse a catalogue and take a ticket to acquire your tipple of choice. Beware! A bottle of Absolut Vodka, for example, is going to set you back around £30 UK Sterling! What's more, you can't expect the Vinmonopolet to be open when you want it, make sure you get there before 4pm, and don't even bother on a Sunday, because it will be shut. If you want Beer from the supermarket, make sure you get there before 8pm on weekdays and 6pm on Saturdays - and make sure you allow time for a queue, because if it rolls past the cashier at 1 minute past eight, you're going to have to settle for a cup of tea! :(
Don't go mad at the duty free shop on the way home either, it's cheaper in your local off-licence!

THE WEATHER

Norwegians have a saying: "There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing". It's no good complaining that you've got sideways rain one minute, snow the next and then it's sunny. That's just how it is, especially on the west coast. In winter of course it gets cold, especially inland - you can expect snow, and lots of it.

Norwegian seasons are quite distinct and for the photographer the Spring, Summer and Autumn present perfect opportunities to capture nature in an ever changing state. Of course, if you want snow, the Winter's probably won't let you down.

When in Norway it is well worth while watching the weather forecast. Norway is a very long country, so long in fact that, apparently, if you were to flip Norway over from it's southern most point the North would meet with the Mediteranean sea!
This makes for very interesting weather forecasts, most of the time. That's if you can keep your eyes off the presenters, fellas! :) Click on the links below and you'll see what I mean.

TV2 weather WEATHER FORECAST: TV2
VG Nett weather WEATHER FORECAST: VG NETT