<i>countryside in Norway again flat and scrubby</i>

nytraveler, where in Norway did you visit??

I lived there for two years and don't recall any parts that I visited as being "flat and scrubby". Maybe you mean the Hardangervidda, which you cross on the train ride between Oslo and Bergen. It is notable for being the largest treeless plain in Europe, and I thought it was beautiful.

Now, where I grew up (on the coast of Florida)—THAT could be called flat and scrubby!

IMD and Cold...if you two decide to go on the stand-up club circuit, remember I'm your agent....malmo-gram..really?!

Cranachin...I agree..having covered a lot of real estate from Oslo to Tromso, I ain't never seen anything flat or scrubby. Methinks the lady is confusing Norway with South Texas! Or perhaps Death Valley.

malmo-gram..really?!

Obviously you do not know suburban living.

Methinks the lady has never crossed the NY state line, never mind the Atlantic.

<I>Methinks the lady has never crossed the NY state line, never mind the Atlantic.</i>

I'm harder on her than most, and hard on the New York provincialism that she exhibits, BUT Malmö isn't worth a separate stop, and she is right. It is the little sister to Copenhagen and not really worth a stop on a time-limited trip.

Suggesting stopping in Malmö is like saying someone visiting Boston should spend a couple nights in Worcester, or someone visiting NYC should go to Hartford.

Before this discussion, I did not want to go Malmo, but now I do.

BTW, my sister was born in Worcester and the Mark Twain House in Hartford is interesting.

I have been to Malmo too many times - one of the most boring cities in Europe - yet just a short train ride from it is Lund, one of the nicest cities in Scandianavia I've seen - a neat university town with campus full of majestic buildings - a cxity with real character not just modern boring buildings like in Malmo.

IMD - I suggest you base in Malmo and forget Copenhagen!

Palenq-thanks for the tip.

IMD, you have a Woostah Sistah?

I often compare Sweden and Norway to northern Michigan which though not totally flat is full of scrubby trees, swamps and brush - so nice as it was it never excited me. Boring booring boooring.

A favorite city visited a few years back is Bergen. We did take the scenic Norway in a Nutshell from Oslo...another city I like. And to get there we had an overnight passage from Copenhagen...which I also like. Yes, truly lots of northern woods in Scandinavia which is beautiful. And don't forget the fjords and water falls. Yes, and those picturesque fields and forests.

Cranachin

She may have been there but moved to Brooklyn soon after. So my sister is really from there. You got a problem with that? (Insert aggressive Brooklyn face.)

Cranachin..you don't have the proper New England accent...it should be WISTAH.... Wooster is in Ohio..other towns properly pronounced are New Bedfidd, Medfidd, Conkidd, etc. Being born and brought up near Bawstin, I talked that way until I became an integrated Californian in 1957. But I lapse right back into "pahking my cah in the Hahvidd yahd" whenever I talk with family and friends back there.

tower—The people where I live call them Woostah (oo like in book), Mehffuh, and Kah(n)kuhd (with a nasal n like in French). ;)

IMD—fuhgeddaboudit!

PalenQ—I lived in Western Norway. Definitely not flat and scrubby (except at the beach).

I also disagree that Norway is flat and scrubby. There are some lower lying areas in the south, but much of the country is hilly or mountainous - the mountain roads are high enough that many of them are actually closed for months in winter. That is not the definition of flat. I found it stunningly beautiful (having spent a summer in Swden and Norway) and to this day it is one of my favourite destinations.

I like Oslo for the Bygdoy museums, the rocky town beaches where people swim and bbq after work, the Munhc gallery in the National museums and just the liveable walkable feel. Further north, the fjord region is spectacular, with glaciers, waterfalls and ancient stavkirke, not just the fjords themselves. We liked Aurland and Flam.

sorry Munch!