Shopping

I am not going to bore you all with the cost of things here - everyone knows that Norway is one of te most expensive countries in the world.  How people can afford to live here is anyone's guess, but they manage! I am sure it helps to be Norwegian - although I must admit at dinner last night when we had fresh fish instead of frozen (pushed the boat out there and bought salmon down on Fisketorget - not a bargain but soooo nice!) we began to think a bit like Norwegians i.e. cheap food such as mince or sausages most of the time a d then something delicious as a treat!

So, anyway - I was also downtown trying to find a Norwegian made present for our newly born grandson (aaah - yes I'm a granny now!).  Easier said than done.  It appears most of the stuff for sale in the tourist shops, which is suitable for a child is made in Poland or China.  You can get soft moose or elk toys (made in China), T-shirts (China),  wooden toys (Poland or Germany),  or Norwegian patterned sweaters, hats, etc (various countries with a few from Norway).  The only thing I could find which was intrinsically Norwegian was woollen underwear (needed here but not really in the UK) and a rocking sheep!

Sorry about the picture quality but it was taken on my phone through a shop window. He or she is absolutely lovely and is for sale in the Craft shop (Husflid) in central Bergen, along with Swdish wooden toys, embroidered national costume outfits (will make another post on that some day!) and cheese slicers. AT NOK4,800 (around £500) he is a little above our budget sorry guys) and looks like he needs some l'Oréal to smooth the slit ends! Do you think he is worth it?

Hope Elias does like what we have got for him! Suffice to say, it isn't a solid pewter cheese slice with elk horn handle!

Apparently, if you believe the Norwegian tourist office, Wikipedia, and the Norwegian patent office the humble cheese slice was patented by a carpenter, Thor Bjørklund in the 1920's. For the full story (and by the way we do not have gouda cheese up here - it was probably Norwegian brown cheese, or Jarlsberg which he was slicing!) follow the link.
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blcheeseslicer.htm