A Field Trip to Norway

I know, I know. This blog is called Ann's Adventures in London. It seems foolish to be in Europe, however, and not take advantage of the relative closeness of all the fabulous places I've never been and always wanted to visit. First stop: Scandinavia.

I've said it before, but I am super fortunate in the friends I've made in England. My friend Ane invited me to come to Norway at Christmas less than a week after I'd met her, so I obviously took her up on that invitation. We've spent a lot of time together in London, and she studied in New York during her undergrad so she's familiar with the US, but I think the first time we really discussed the cultural difference between our countries was when I was in Norway.

The best way to get to know something about a country is to stay with a family. Ane's family was entirely generous and welcoming to this American girl of Swedish heritage who speaks absolutely zero Norwegian. They did their best to make sure I understood why they did all the things they did, explaining the origins of various parts of their culture. It may just be my experience, but I think this is something we overlook in America. Perhaps my favorite conversation occurred less than an hour after I'd arrived in the Bruasets' home in Ås.

"It's too bad our Christmas tree is against the window so we can't get all the way around it."

"Um. That's OK. Why would we need to go behind it?"

"This way we can't join hands and walk around it and sing."

I don't know about you, but this immediately conjures up for me an image of the Whos down in Whoville. They like Christmas a lot. That evening, however, I learned that in Norway it is a common custom, particularly in households with small children, to join hands and sing Christmas carols around the tree. This strikes me as entirely charming. I think I'll try to import that custom.

(Shortly after this I learned about the princess who talks to horses. Seeing my somewhat startled face, they assured me that this isn't considered  normal in Norway.)

In keeping with the theme of learning about culture, Ane took me on a day trip to the town of Strömstad, Sweden. This was the obvious choice for a couple of reasons. 1)My dad's family is from Sweden, and now I can say I've been there. 2)Everything is super expensive in Norway (I actually stopped trying to convert things into dollars because it just made me sad), so Norwegians drive to Sweden to buy things like alcohol, tobacco, and candy. (Nebraskans: it felt to me like those giant fireworks superstores right after crossing into Missouri. Except these were for alcohol and candy.) Strömstad is a really pretty little town on the coast, and it was fun to walk around it. Not much was open because it was December 27 and that apparently still counts as Christmas.

When we realized we weren't going get lunch in Strömstad, we drove back into Norway. On the way back to Ane's home, we stopped in Fredrikstad. We spent an hour or so walking around the Old Town inside the fortress. It's also a pretty little town...with nothing open on December 27 because it's Christmas.

Deserted streets in Fredrikstad

We had a full day of sightseeing planned in Olso the next day, but the weather did not cooperate as well. We went up to Holmenkollen  for a beautiful view of the city, but it was so foggy that we couldn't even see the turns we were supposed to take. For this day's adventure in Oslo, however, we had a sweet little dog named Luna with us, and she provided entertainment in the car and enjoyed the stop she got to make at Holmenkollen to run around in the snow. (Incidentally, that's really the only snow I've seen since last winter. There wasn't any in the other parts of Norway or Sweden that I saw.)

Sunny, Ane, and Luna at the museum

The only downside of having Luna with us was that it somewhat limited the places we could go. There aren't a lot of museums or fabulous buildings that really like dogs inside. Fortunately, to continue my cultural education, Ane thought to take me to the Norwegian Folkemuseum. Because there's an outdoor section as well as an indoor, Luna got to walk through part of Norwegian heritage with us. Many of the traditional buildings showing Norway's history had been decorated for Christmas and had information on signs about typical Christmas customs in various parts of the country. I learned, for example, that prior to the rise of Christianity in Norway, the Norse celebrated the solstice in December with ritual beer drinking. With the advent of Christianity, the observance moved a couple of days and became a Christmas celebration...with ritual beer drinking to the baby Jesus and the Virgin Mary.

I've always loved museums that set up period houses and rooms, so this one was totally fascinating. If it had been a nicer day (it periodically rained most of the afternoon), I would have liked to spend longer exploring all the buildings and grounds.

Being able to fly to Norway - or many other places in Europe - in two hours or less is something I still can't quite get over. My visit was far too short; I really would have liked to stay in Norway longer. The country is beautiful and I'd like to see more of it, and the Bruasets were very kind in opening their home to me. The moral of the story is that I learned exactly enough about Norway to want to go back. Probably in the summer.

And since I know you'll ask: no, I didn't take butter with me. Ane and her mom did when they flew home from London earlier in December, though. :)

London Is Good at Christmas

No, seriously. London is really good at Christmas.

Whether you prefer to spend your December shopping like a crazy, with big splashy attractions, or looking at slightly quirky holiday displays, London is the place for you. PLUS, on December 23 it was 55 degrees and sunny. How do you beat that?

I celebrated with two theatre productions: the perennial holiday favorites "Priscilla Queen of the Desert, the Musical" and "Noises Off." Again, I don't know what could be better.

Earlier in December, a couple of my girlfriends and I spent a delightful afternoon at the London Chocolate Festival at the Southbank Centre. When buying hot chocolate at a festival like this, know that the chocolate is better than anything you've ever had. My first wish was to swim in a giant vat of it (or at least submerge my whole face). But unless you're planning never to look at anything sweet again in your life, I assure you a small cup is enough - or share with your friends. Oof.

When we left the chocolate festival, we stumbled upon a charming German-style Christmas market on the banks of the Thames. Again, if you've ever thought that you really needed to buy anything gingerbread/Christmas/chocolate/sauerkraut-related, I cannot recommend this more highly. The whole atmosphere, including the lights on the trees as it got dark (which it does around 4:00pm), was truly delightful.

If your preference is for more traditional carol singing, there are choirs performing in Trafalgar Square in front of the giant tree every night in December from 5-9 pm.

If you like the idea of a large tree, but you don't really feel like fighting the crowds to stand outside, may I suggest the St. Pancras train station? There's a tree here every year made of...something...and this year it's legos! I love that London embraces its quirky side. While I love my stuffy British period dramas more than (almost) anything, the quirk of the real London is way better.

If, like most people, you really want to celebrate the season with a giant carnival, then Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park is for you. Wait. A giant carnival, did you say? Why, yes I did. There's even a scary drunk-looking Santa-clown in front of the fun house. (See video below!) If you prefer the Christmas market to the scary Santa-clown, Winter Wonderland is still the place for you. Warning: a trip on a Saturday or a Sunday will require all reserves of crowd-patience you have.

But if you're a reasonably poor student, you can still have a delightful time making your own decorations out of paper. A whole room of Christmas fun for £2! And I only super glued myself to a tiny cardinal once!

Happy Holidays to all! Peace, Joy, Love, etc.