sardines and orange donkeys

So for those that don't know I spent a good week in the great land 'o Norway last week. I was doing a training for work, but got a good 4 hours of fun in between. Really, those Norwegians know how to work a girl out. Despite this I did get to see some of the country side, learn about sardines and try to love on some orange donkeys:



Go LL go!!! I'm on a boat and see I'm in Norway (hence the Norwegian flag).



These are the famous Fjordes, which are naturally made fingerlets on the coast. Apparently they were made from the ice ages and are very deep with high rocks. Amazingly pretty.



Wowsa that is tall and high and rocky. Blue sky, that blue sky makes me all warm and fuzzy instead.



So yesss Norway rocked my world. My suitcase was late after 24 hours of flying, but things got better. I was hosted to the mosted this trip. It has come to a point where I'm thinking, man can you just leave me alone for awhile so that I can sit in my room by myself. There is all these group meals, where they embrace their collaborative nature. I like this part, and something American's should do more. But within reason and perhaps not 3+ times a day! What a loner I am, but seriously sometimes I just want to shed that professional LL nature to do my two favorite things: drink and swear.

One of the nights I was invited to one of my host's homes for a traditional Norwegian holiday dinner that was a-mazing. There was champagne, and local beer, and some local potato liquor. I was a good girl but they had to put me in a taxi back to my hotel at the end of the night. I like it when the hosts are too drunk to drive the guest home—this is my type of country, I mean you have to drink just to stay warm. Anyways we had sweeeedish potatoes, and sheep ribs rehydrated covered with a butter/bacon gravy. Yeah this was definitely low cal. This meat was dehydrated and salted, then soaked for days, and then boiled over birch branches, and then baked into some crispy meat business. It was interesting and I ate it all like a pro. I didn't insult the host until I said I didn't want chocolate cake at the end, which was soooo typically me (no cake for me but can I have another sheep rib please?).

On that food note, I have been eating a ridiculous amount of meat. I swear, there is weird meat everywhere, at every meal, and for each snack time. I had to eat Veel/veal/veil/vail last night and put a smile on my face the entire time. It wasn't too bad but geeeez can a girl get a salad? I asked if there are any vegetarians or vegans in Norway and they all said "NO" without any hesitation. At breakfast there was puffed or foamy meat (which I undoubtedly avoided). I should just continue eating meat the last day because I got emails from my food/meat family today warning me that over 50 people have got sick and there has been a recall on Basil in Norway---great, death by basil is much worse than over consumption of meat product.

I also learned wayyyy more about seafood and fish then I really needed. I went to the canning museum and I was excited to learn about the history of canned veggies and fruits, only to find out it was ALLLLL seafood and sardines. Can't wait for Santa gifts this year and EVERYONE is getting Norwegian sardines (say it like Oprah, "you get a sardine", "you get a sardine").

As a final note, I also noticed that the Norwegian cross walks have Dick Tracy in them. Some are gender neutral while others have top hats, shoes, and fitted coats. Yesss Dick Tracy is in Norweigan and warning pedestrians of on-coming traffic.