There's Norway a McDonald's Hamburger Costs that Much!

Day 5 of our Scandinavian trip, and we find ourselves incredulously looking at our currency converter saying "this can't be right." This trip is the exact opposite of our Argentinian escape a few years back where we were eating like kings and imagining how expensive the equivalent meal would be in New York. In Finland things weren't so bad. For one, they are on the Euro so just the math is easier. In Sweden we started raising our eyebrows and saying "really"? By last night in Bergen, after seeing a McDonald's sign that advertised a $15 bacon cheeseburger, we started wondering what the heck is going on. A pint of Ben & Jerry's in Stockholm was $9, and in Norway it's $12. I don't know if it's the US dollar or if things are really just expensive. It's like the whole country is the mini-bar, and there's no grocery store around the corner where you can stock up on water.

But aside from that, we have been having a lot of fun. Bryan wasn't a fan of our "cruise-ferry," and spent the whole night tossing and turning, envisioning the Poseidon Adventure. I managed not to roll out of the top bunk. We did eat the ship's buffet; as Bryan put it, "a way to knock out in one shot a whole lot of gross foods we have to try." So we set about with all the pickled fish. Hardly a satisfying meal.

We got into Stockholm and stayed at a hotel owned by one of the folks from Abba. It was a great hotel, but due to the short duration of our stay there, we didn't get to spend much time there. There was no Pizza Hut meal since we've already done a Swedish Pizza Hut in Malmo back in 2001, though we contemplated it after walking about a half-hour to a place in my guidebook that was closed down. Our nice meal out consisted of Bryan getting a fish and me trying an Elk burger. It was all right, but I don't ever have to get it again.

We ended our night at the coolest bar we've ever been to - Ice Bar, where the entire bar, including the glasses you drink out of, is made of ice. The temperature is kept at 23 degrees and you are given special coats before entering. A free drink is included, but the cold temperature keeps people coming in and out. We only stayed about a half-hour, and I'm pretty sure that's the average. Now that we've done that, I have no desire to stay at that hotel with the same concept!

I think I'm going to lay down and take a nap while I can. I will leave Bergen, Flam and the fjords to Bryan, or will write more later.