Here in Norway alcohol is really expensive and can only be bought in one place. Vinmonopolet is owned by the government and sells all alcohol over 4.75% (beer and cider can be bought at the Supermarket-at a price!) You cannot buy alcohol and wine anywhere else! I would never buy spirits here as we make enough trips back to England and stock up each time but I do love to compare prices when we are in there (usually only buying wine) A bottle of Bombay Sapphire Gin (which we just bought in England for £13) was a staggering 446Kr (about £48) The Government claim that the high costs are to limit the amount of alcohol consumed here but from what I've seen Norwegians love to drink and do not let the high prices deter them (also they earn a lot more money so it's all relative) So, it's a win-win situation for the government! Ker-ching!
p.s Personally I'm not a big drinker so I'm not too bothered about the high prices, but if the Government do the same to chocolate......then there will be trouble!
Ha, if they put a junk food tax on chocolate in England, I would loss pounds on my hips and find them in my wallet! I think we probably would resort to contraband!
ReplyDeleteWe live in one of only 3 kommunes in the whole country that has an ølmonopoliet (beer monopoly) in addition to the wine monopoly- which means we can't even buy beer at the grocery store. It has something to do with being a very religious region, but by the looks of how many people go to church every Sunday, you'd NEVER know it.
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa!
ReplyDeleteI found your blog through 'Kay loves vintage' and have just spent my late lunch break reading bits from your blog. And I love it. I was a Norwegain living in England for 17 years, which now kind of makes me a Brit living in Norway.
Good luck with your Norwegian course.
Love, Solvi
:D Loved the "Ker-ching!" :).
ReplyDeleteHappy new Year!!!
ReplyDeleteLovely blog!!!!
When we visited Norway last Spring, my parent's had already been there for a few weeks. I asked my mom if there was anything she wanted me to bring - she only said to stop at the duty free in the airport and buy as much wine as we were allowed because of the Vinmonopolet prices! We definitely weren't the only ones, too - the duty free in the airport was a madhouse when our flight landed!
ReplyDeleteI'm most sad to see the Braastad in your last picture - we had that over there and really like it - but they don't export to the US. :(