Food, Norwegians and Sweden
What do they have in common?
See description of the Svinesund bridge from Wikipedia: Svinesund is a sound separating the Swedish municipality of Strömstad in the province of Bohuslän in the county of Västra Götaland from the Norwegian municipality of Halden in the county of Østfold.
Two bridges, the old and new Svinesund Bridge (no:Svinesundsbroen sv:Svinesundsbron), span the sound. The Swedish side is extremely popular with Norwegians who flock to buy cheaply in Sweden, where a large shopping area can be found immediately after crossing the sound. Following the erection of the new bridge in 2005, road taxes must be paid to drive into Norway using either bridge, and to drive into Sweden using the new bridge.
Two bridges, the old and new Svinesund Bridge (no:Svinesundsbroen sv:Svinesundsbron), span the sound. The Swedish side is extremely popular with Norwegians who flock to buy cheaply in Sweden, where a large shopping area can be found immediately after crossing the sound. Following the erection of the new bridge in 2005, road taxes must be paid to drive into Norway using either bridge, and to drive into Sweden using the new bridge.
Today we were among the cars crossing the bridge. H. left work a bit earlier, was home around 3pm to pick me up with Happy and we drove to Sweden, about 1h-1,5 h by car depending on the traffic - or much much more. There are road works since I don't remember when and it slows down the traffic a lot.
I'm sure you know Norway is THE most expensive country of the world. My brother lives in Switzerland (which I don't consider a cheap country) and he often says it sounds impossible, but Norway is MUCH much more expensive.
So, what the Norwegians do, is that they drive accross the border to Sweden and fill trunks with as much as they can put into. Customs limitations don't let them buy whole trucks of food, otherwise they (we) would. Today we bought 20 kgs of meat, mostly chicken, which we love, and other needed stuff such as washing powder, pet food, cosmetics, spices, etc. Trust me, the difference in price makes it worth to drive there for shopping. Just a minute or two after crossing the border, an artificial village of big halls awaits - all built for the Norwegian!
It is not possible to stop on the Svinesund bridge, so this is all I could get as a photo today for you, which I always regret, because the fjord is so beautiful there. On one side - Norway, on the other - Sweden. Oh, and I realize these pictures don't show anything. They're just here for the record ;-)
(view to the old bridge)
8 comments:
It's a beautiful view! Hope you had a great day out with H and Happy. I'm babysitting my 2 nieces this week. I'm already tired. haha
Donna
Witam, tam jest napewno bardzo bardzo pieknie. I w dodatk super pogoda. Juz trudno, ze tak drogo...Pozdrawiam.
Beautiful pictures, Anna. My cousin will be visiting Sweden all the way from the U.S next month and stay there for a week, after that, they will drop by here for a few days.
Have a nice week.
Great pictures! I didn't realise Norway was so expensive
merci pour la ballade !!!
I could NEVER go over a bridge like that - I'd freak out. Bridges and I don't do well. LOL I've been to Oslo with my Mom many years ago and it was such a beautiful city. Maybe one day I'll get to go back.
Your pictures are beautiful!
What is it that causes prices to be so much more expensive in Norway? Is it the taxes?
Anna, I enjoyed so much your description of life and times in Norway, and the photos are spectacular!!
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