This sculpture is named "No one is only what they seem", and is outside the bank, ironically.
That night, they lit the stars over the main drag. Saturday, they lit the tree in the middle of the lake, and hundreds of people waved large candles and sang. They had fireworks at 5 pm. It was full dark by then. The days are just as short now as they were long last summer.
Saturday was also the big opening of the gingerbread city in the main square. It was built by all the school kids, and I think every one of them was lined up to get into the pavilion to see it. We paid and went in, but forgot the camera. But here's a picture of it behind the main square Christmas tree. There's another tree at Bryggen.
Boy, do they get into Christmas around here! The whole month of December, you can't get a reservation in a Norwegian restaurant on a Friday or Saturday night. Everyone is having traditional dinners including pinnekjøtt (lamb stick meat), lutefisk (lye soaked cod) or svinneribbe (pork ribs). When Neal was here, we couldn't try whale or reindeer on the last weekend because we couldn't get into any Norwegian restaurants. We ended up eating Persian food, which was delicious. But, back to how they love Christmas...
The Friday before December, we start with the stores staying open till midnight. That was "Black Friday" in the US. Since the stores usually close at 4 or 5 pm here, midnight is a big deal. They had sale prices, and the town was packed. You should have seen the traffic as people flocked into town and tried to find parking. There was a work get-together, which I left at 10 pm so I could look in the stores. I woke Ed up at 11 pm and said, "Let's go buy a TV!" We got a 32" HD LCD TV for 3000 kr, or around $450. It went up to 5000 kr the next morning.
That night, they lit the stars over the main drag. Saturday, they lit the tree in the middle of the lake, and hundreds of people waved large candles and sang. They had fireworks at 5 pm. It was full dark by then. The days are just as short now as they were long last summer.
Saturday was also the big opening of the gingerbread city in the main square. It was built by all the school kids, and I think every one of them was lined up to get into the pavilion to see it. We paid and went in, but forgot the camera. But here's a picture of it behind the main square Christmas tree. There's another tree at Bryggen.
Today, we joined the Saturday shopping crowds for the heck of it. Guess where the tightest packed crowds were? In the yarn stores! We went to several of them looking for a stocking cap /glove /scarf combo, since sometimes they sell hand-knit items in those stores. We bought a scarf in one, dropped into another two, and then I thought maybe I would buy yarn and needles and knit my own set. So I went back, and dang if there weren't men (yep, both sexes knit here) and women with shopping baskets full of yarn lined up at the cashier. All the good colors of alpaca yarn were gone. The other two stores were already closed. It was after 3 pm, after all! I can't imagine trying to knit a present at this late date. Maybe the gift is the yarn itself? But they are really fast knitters. I've watched one or two.
Here's an amazing feature of Norwegian culture. There's a store near here on the pedestrian street that got a shipment the other day. There were a couple of pallets, and the owners were bringing the boxes into the store until quitting time. Then they left the pallets out in the pedestrian way overnight until they resumed next morning. Hundreds of people walked by overnight, but there was no problem. Can you imagine that happening in Seattle?
Here's an amazing feature of Norwegian culture. There's a store near here on the pedestrian street that got a shipment the other day. There were a couple of pallets, and the owners were bringing the boxes into the store until quitting time. Then they left the pallets out in the pedestrian way overnight until they resumed next morning. Hundreds of people walked by overnight, but there was no problem. Can you imagine that happening in Seattle?
In this country, of course, it's a Black Friday tradition to trample fellow shoppers and store employees as you race to get that LCD television before the person next to you does. The phrase "doorbuster sale" is entirely appropriate.
ReplyDeleteChristmas in Norway sounds like a lot of fun. I hope that you and Ed (and Spot) enjoy taking in all of it.
Joe
They leave stuff out here, too, and no one takes it... All the yarn here is wool. No cheap acrylic stuff, which I would like to buy to make a throw rug. No one crochets here, it's all knitting, so they're amazed at crochet.
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