LIFE IN NORWAY

Everyone thinks Norway is expensive. It is. Luxury items, especially. And cars. 100% mark up on the price. But, hey, guess what? Walking and biking is better for you and they make it easy to do anything physical. Bike lanes are wide and prevalent every where. Public transportation is free. Electric cars..25% of the cars and growing. Norweigians go outside.....whenever they can. It shows. They are fit, they are healthy, their air is clean. They eat a lot of fish and drink a lot of beer. If they do get sick,  medical care is paid for, along with free education, retirement is paid for, and that leaves them much of time for a good life. If one wants to smoke, drive, drink ......get ready to pay for it! The alcohol limit for DUI is .03, so about one drink. So they don't drink and drive or carry guns.  They wonder "outloud" why we have so many problems in the US.
So what did we do in this very safe country when we dock? We went to galleries, we went to museums, we went to stores, and we went to concerts at churches. Norwegians love to wave their flag, but it is never a political statement as in the US. It is truly a pride in a government that they have learned to trust and take care of their basic needs as humans. People always have shelter, food, and health.  It costs them about 29% of their income, and an add on tax of 25% for goods. They have decided to spend their money on infrastructure, safety, education, health, clean environment...for ALL. I think they have a good deal and they do seem to be a happy bunch of humans.