Unspeakably Norsk Thing *

...BBQ

As soon as the weather turns nicer, Norwegians starts their love affair with BBQ and 'Pølser'. They love their BBQ so much that they have a portable version. So in our quest to fit in as much as possible, we bought one and went on a picnic.

We had our picnic at the Utstein Kloster (Abbey) just north of where we live. “Utstein Kloster is Norway's best-preserved medieval monastery, located on the island of Mosterøy in Rennesøy municipality, Rogaland county. Utstein Abbey is still using both the church and the eastern and southern part of the ground floor of the conventual’s buildings. In 1900-1904 major restoration work was carried out on the church, and in 1965 work on the remaining buildings was completed. The premises are now used for a conference centre, museum, concert hall and a variety of educational and leisure purposes.” (Wikipedia)

We also got to drive the 6-km long Rennfast undersea tunnel (Byfjordtunnelen) to reach our destination. Before the tunnel was build (pre-1992) one needed to take a ferry from Mekjarvik to Haugesund. The ferry took about an hour and could be very unpleasant in bad weather. Queues were also normal - up to 5 hours waiting during the most popular public holidays. The tunnel is 233 meters below sea level. and at the time of its completion in 1992, it was the world's deepest under-sea road tunnel. It used to cost NOK 90 but it’s now free of charge.

* This is a mock title from my friend Jane Grieve's blog. She is moving back to Aberdeen in June and has started a blog about the differences and similarities between Norway and Scotland… you can read her own “Unspeakably Norsk Thing” at Returning Scot.