Oslo imbibes the most (Norway)

Aftenposten ^ | February 18, 2005 | Hilde Lungaard

[franksolich]

Oslo imbibes the most

The number who drink alcohol daily is twice as high in the capital as the rest of the country, with 83,000 of Oslo's resident over the age of 15 saying they drink three times a week or more.

Oslo residents have over a thousand watering holes to choose from, and the results from this particular centennial poll show that Norway's metropolitan population outdrinks even the north, famed for their festive enthusiasm.

Astrid Skretting, a researcher at SIRUS, the state institution for the study of intoxicants, is not surprised that Oslo leads, though she did find the numbers high.

Skretting emphasizes that drinking often does not necessarily mean drinking much, and the figures revealed in this survey do not say whether the drink is a glass of wine or half a bottle of the harder stuff.

"But we like to believe that Continental drinking habits have replaced the Norwegian weekend binge drinking. It is likely a case of both. A few glasses of wine during the week and a bottle on Friday and Saturday," Skretting said.

Head of research Sturla Nordlund points out that alcohol consumption has always been highest in major cities.

"Oslo is special. This is both about accessibility and urban culture. More wine is drunk in Oslo than in other places," Nordlund said.

Nordlund said that the overall rise in alcohol consumption was not good, but those that drink did better to spread it out over days instead of overdoing it all at once.

[franksolich]

Quite an appropriate "Friday evening" post; news from Norway, our enthusiastic allies in the War against Terror.

The original news-story has a tasteful photograph of two lovely Norwegian lasses tasting the bubbly at a bar in Oslo; it is well worth the trip over to the Aftenposten site, to take a look.

[SoDak]

Skol!

[elhombrelibre]

The blond looks very healthy.

[Mears]

They banned smoking in public places in Norway,now they drink more.

Gotta do something.

[seacapn]

What else can you do in the winter?

[franksolich]

"Ping" for the Norway ping list.

I apologize, abjectly and humbly, that the last e-mail sent members was a mess. It looked "formatted" when I was ready to send it, but then it came out as one whole long paragraph, making it unreadable.

I make a lot of mistakes, but fortunately I never make the same mistake twice, as far as I know. Again, my apologies.

I was astounded at the reaction to the last story about Norway; apparently bison "sells" Norway, given the high number of "views" of that story.

And so as soon as I get "a handle" on this posting photographs on Free Republic (too much income-tax work to learn that thing right now), I will start using the photograph of a bison for the Norway ping list. A real photograph of a real bison.....in Oslo, Norway.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, everybody thinks "reindeer" when they think of Norway.....but there is a lot more to Norway than reindeer, as those on the Norway ping list have learned (if one wishes to be included, give me a holler).

[GSlob]

I'd like to refer you to "Moscow to the end of the line" by Venedikt Erofeev. It is a very useful book (English translation) on this very subject. It teaches that drinking three times a week is for wusses: Erofeev used to compile graphs of daily alcohol consumption on his phone line team (to an average tune of 200 ml pure alcohol per diem) and analyzed these for psychological profiles of his workers...

[franksolich]

But sir, have you ever tasted that summahon, as made by Russian and Ukrainian peasants? That stuff is poison, vicious, nasty.

[1LongTimeLurker]

I've been to Oslo in December, it's cold and dark so why not winter? The food is awful unless you like Pizza.

Oh, and the women are beautiful, probably because of the lack of sunlight.

[GSlob]

It is called samogon - [lit: self-distilled], aka moonshine. In early 70s, when I was growing up in Moscow, I found that double distillation of one particular brand of wood paint - called "morilka" in Russian - afforded barely drinkable alcohol at 1/10th price of vodka. Morilka itself was brown-black non-transparent liquid; after 1st distillation it became transparent, but with the color of Jack Daniels, the 2nd distillation (after cutting off and discarding first 10% and last 10%) afforded water-clear liquid. THE KNOWLEDGE, at least in USSR, BELONGED TO THE PEOPLE - and so I taught those people. Muscovites were extremely receptive to the teachings, and that brand (made by Uzhgorod plant, with characteristic blue labels on glass bottles) practically disappeared from all hardware stores in Moscow within a few weeks. I myself saw some people hauling big sacks of these morilka bottles, some 2-3 dozen of bottles (i.e. enough to make 2.6 - 4 GALLONS of 190 proof alcohol). As morilka was much more concentrated than fermented mush (90+% vs. 12%), and did not have fusel oils, the process was much preferable to regular moon-shining.
Also, since by law in USSR the alcohol used in medications and perfumes was not denatured, there was the whole subculture of cologne drinkers: every day I went to work, I saw the same group of these people at the door of a pharmacy, waiting for it to open (colognes at the time were sold in pharmacies).

[rbg81]

I spent some time in Oslo. A beautiful city full of beautiful people. Even the bum panhandling in the park spoke perfect English, was perfectly charming, and claimed he had a university degree (it was the ONLY time I've ever given a bum money). And yes, they take their drinking very seriously. If you're ever there, check out the "Happy Pizza Inn".

[franksolich]

Question, sir, and for obvious reasons, I would not know this (it is however on the profile)--it is my understanding that while sumagon is spelled that way, it is actually pronounced "summahon." Something about the "g" sound and the "h" sound in Russian and Ukrainian, being the opposite of our pronunciation.

[franksolich]

Apparently the biggest-selling brand of pizza in Norway is called "Dolly Dimples."

For Italian food, "Dolly Dimples"?

[Blackirish]

Got a buddy in the CIA...travels a lot says the two cities with the most beutiful woman...#1 Oslow...#2 Rio


Fire and Ice.

[fredo1070]

Dolly Dimples is the place to go in Norway...I never ate there when I was visiting. However, they have this great statue of a large woman in front of all their shops. I think I have a picture of "Dolly Dimples" and if I can ever sort out how to post a picture on FreeRepublic I will post it.

The pizza is edible, but coming from a guy that dates a girl whose father owned 6 pizza shops on Long Island I am a bit biased. The pizza is expensive. May parents went out for dinner one night and got a pie and 4 beers and spend something like $60.

[Indie]

Someday, I HAVE to take a trip to Norway to find my wives..ahh. I mean wife...LOL.

[jeffy]

Added to my vacation wish list

[JLO]

Hey, fransolich - here's your Norwegian bison photo (finally :--)

[franksolich]

Yes, Madam, and what a fine beast it is; the most noble creature ever to grace the plains of Nebraska.....and the fjords of Norway.

Folks, this is a real authentic genuine bison in Norway; in Oslo, Norway, specifically.

I assume the photograph dates from the 1990s.

(My thanks to JLO, who is an technical expert on Free Republic posting techniques; I sent her the photograph, and she posted it as a favor for me.)

[franksolich]

Please see photograph in penultimate posting. Thank you!