Norwegian FOOD

If I hear Aaron say "Everything tastes better in Europe" ONE MORE TIME! He loves the food and really enjoys being in Norway....every minute. It's like Alaska & Europe in one, two of his favorite places.

Breakfast is at the main hotel and is included in the room. We walk about 10 minutes every morning through downtown Stavanger. The kids know this route all by themselves since most of the time they are running there every single day. Our hotel is so great for kids. Every morning the staff dresses up in animal ears or tiaras, and they transformed their lobby into a giant playroom for the summer with IKEA toys & movies playing on a loop. They have step ladder at the front desk so the kids can climb up & see over the top and talk to the staff too. There is a "kids only" breakfast bar, all at kid height so they can get their own drinks and pancakes. Logan loves these Norwegian cookies and when the staff sees him, they bring the cookies out. They also bring him straws to drink his smoothie, I don't see them doing that for any other kid. (part of it is that we are still that LOUD family, can't miss us LOL) Avery & Logan know all the breakfast staff and it's like Norm at Cheers...."GOD (goo) MORGEN" when they walk in...so great.

Norwegian breakfast is like the best SPA FOOD, fresh fruits, vegetables, Norwegian pancakes that are flat and folded like crepes, housemade jams, three kinds of eggs, meats, cheeses, best baked bread, tons of fresh juices & milks. Aaron's eyes *sparkle* when he walks in...its so great. Aaron had a baguette the other morning and told me it was the best ever, and that he has been searching for a perfect baguette in DC for three years, blah blah blah. Of course I looked at him with a doubtful face, rolled my eyes and tried it. OMG IT WAS THE BEST BAGUETTE EVER!!!!! Seriously was THE BEST...And as you walk out the door of the restaurant, you get complimentary Omega-3 chewables!? I mean who does that? The healthy Norwegians do! The kids gobble them up. We move to our house on Monday which means we have only 3 more hotel breakfasts left! We are not happy about this. At all.

We don't eat out much for lunch or dinner. It is way too expensive here to eat out. We went to a pizzeria and had a medium pizza, a large salad, and waters. It cost us $45. SOOOO we go food shopping on base (a 7-11 sized BX/Commissary combined) and I cook in our apartment. A new friend here lent us her crockpot so we make quite a few great meals.

This weekend is GLADMAT, the largest food festival in Scandinavia. It's literally out our front door along the harbor. Gordon Ramsay is here but I have not seen him yet. We've gone everyday so far. We have really no idea what we are eating or how to pronounce it but Aaron had some good meals like deer, raw fish, lamb. It is packed, can't get the stroller through the crowds. But to the Norwegians credit, it is the calmest, quietest festival I have ever been to. They just don't really get rowdy or too drunk. Everyone always seems to be on their best behavior. That's a good thing....

I can't help but compare Norwegians to Italians in all aspects...but especially the food. In general, the food to me here doesn't stand up to food in Italy. But if I were raised in a Norwegian home, I'd probably feel differently. All in all, Europeans have a way about them that I envy. They are so into quality of food & quality of life rather than quantity and I am so glad to be back in this European environment again. Life has gotten a lot simpler for me and our family and this is the MAIN reason I wanted to move back here. So far, my heart is happy here.

Oh...and Norwegians use a fork & knife like the rest of Europe. They keep the knife in the right hand, the fork in the left and never put them down. Americans usually put the knife down & switch the fork into their right hand to eat. I can't help it, I notice details...part of my DNA....

Like I mentioned earlier, we are moving into our beautiful house on Monday! We won't have internet for a while (what am I going to do without my FB!) We are ramping up for Avery's school that starts Aug 16th. Aaron is going on some training to some really great places soon too. His job is really exciting to me. We are almost done with this move! It's been a long road but we are almost back in the Team Allgeyer routine...and I for one can't wait for that!

**Cute story....Avery likes to make us all toast with our juice glasses at breakfast, and this morning, she said at the top of her lungs...."LONG LIVE STAVANGER!" then "TEAM ALLGEYER IS TOGETHER AND WE ARE LIVING IN NORWAY NOW......FOREVER!"