17. Mai

[Brian Condron]

Gratulerer med dagen.

Happy Norwegian constitution day everyone. Hope you all are celebrating by listening to A-ha while eating Jarlsberg cheese in a Statoil forecourt.

[Colm Donoghue]

When I was a younger lad, I met king Harald. In Arklow
He didn't say much to me cos I had told him to get out of the way.
In fact the quote may have been "Jesyus lads, get outta me f***in way"
In my defence I was carrying a wooden mast that weighed about 50 kg and I was about 15 at the time. And the king was standing in my way blocking a doorway.
Which is considered bad manners in my book. And they did move out of my way and hold the door open so I could leave the aforesaid mast down, as they must have seen I was at my wit's end.

He's come back on a state visit since so he's either forgiven me or forgotten me

[Brian Condron]

That's a great story, I'm sure that you were just dieing for an excuse to tell it You're welcome.

Something innocent about still having royalty in a country in this day and age. You just want to pat them on the head and go "aww aren't you cute". I'll never understand it.

[Colm Donoghue]

Surprising the number of EU countries with royalty,
Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Luxembourg, England,
then Monaco, Liechtenstein, and Vatican as EEA members.

but yeah it is quaint. Imagine the "progressive" Roman Catholic church elect their monarch, while the rest have it by birthright.

How's Norway any way?
Still expensive compared to Dublin?

[Brian Condron]

In Norway, a pint (sorry 500ml) of local costs 64 kroner, which is around €8. A pint of Guinness will set you back about 69 kroner (€8.50). A bar of chocolate costs about 15 kroner, almost €2. So every time I come home after a visit I think Dublin is quite cheap. General groceries are pretty similar prices to Ireland though, and while income taxes are quite high, so are wages so the quality of life is excellant.

Granted, the public transport in Oslo is very good. The oil money was put to good use by providing one of the most extensive urban railway networks for a city of it's size (slightly smaller than Dublin populationwise, about half the size areawise). There is one underground tunnel for the T-ban (metro) through the city centre, we'll call it the interconnector for the purposes of this post, which provides a central spine, and all the 6 lines use all or part of this spine. From 2006 the interconnector has been extended to become a circle line. Oslo never ripped up it's tram lines in the 20th century like a lot of countries, because the governments at the time spent so long debating it that they could see what a mistake it became in other cities. So there still is quite an extensive tram network around the city, known as the Trikk. What isn't served by tram or t-ban is served by bus. There are also ferries on the fjord which use the same ticketing system.

One 20 kroner ticket will get you travel for the next 90 minutes on the underground, trams, buses or ferries throughout all of Oslo. If your journey enters the next county the fare rises to 32 kroner. Integrated ticketing at the moment is provided by a piece of paper that you stamp when you begin your journey and works a treat. However they have been testing a new Smart card system similar to the Luas but more sophisticated. Although I have been going to Oslo for two years, and they have been testing it all that time with no sign of them starting the system anytime soon. The underground is currently an open system, but they appear to be changing it to a closed system, there are Irish Rail style gates being installed at all the stations, probably just so you remember to tag off though.

So that's my impression of Oslo, hope that answers your question. They all seem to like their Royal family though, saves them the hassle of having an election every 7/14 years and gives the tabloids something to write about I suppose. Still find it weird though.

[byrneeo]

Originally Posted by colmd

Surprising the number of EU countries with royalty,
Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Luxembourg, England,
then Monaco, Liechtenstein, and Vatican as EEA members.

but yeah it is quaint. Imagine the "progressive" Roman Catholic church elect their monarch, while the rest have it by birthright.

How's Norway any way?
Still expensive compared to Dublin?

Yeah, but how many have real power?
The highlighted ones perform more or less ceremonial duties only. Liechtenstein, on the other hand... well, the Prince has a garden party every summer and drinks beer with whoever shows up, but he's a bit out there and still has some hardcore powers (like, say, dissolving the parliament if he sees
fit. He did it a couple of years ago.)

[Oisin88]

Ireland has a queen too.

Senator David Norris, and I will be voting for him again in the seanad elections

[dermo88]

One very good solution to the issue of Northern Ireland and unification is ,the minor issue of a National Anthem.

If we voted in David Norris as President, we could easily change the national anthem to "God save the Queen"

The Unionists would be happy, Ireland would be reunified, and the bigots would be speechless with shock.

[dermo88]

On a side note, whats the country that made you die of shock on a cost of living basis.

My nightmare, back in 2001 when the Euro/Irish Punt was weak as dishwater.

"Jug of Tiger (1.3 Litres) please", in the Eastin Hotel, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.M$72.00 after 10% service charge and 5% government tax.
"Pint of Guinness", HK$64.00 in downtown Kowloon, Hong Kong (at the time IRP6.40). My reaction.......Growl.......Pay.
Then to crown it all, Taboo Bar, Singapore, 1.3 litres of Tiger, S$39.90, which at the time was IRP20.00 (2 Sing to the Quid).

Of course, I always joke that Irish people work on a "different" consumer price index, and we rate countries on the price of a pint. Clothes...cheap. Accomodation....cheap......Food....cheap.....Booze ....."Sweet mother of divine Hugh Heffner on a railbus on cocaine.......how much?!?!?!?"

I taught the Malaysians how to brew their own. Hops were a nightmare to obtain, since they are related to "Mary Jane".

The exchange rate at that time was M$3.30 to the Euro, and M$4.20 to the Irish Pound. My work colleagues and I saved a wad of cash staying in, while our native currency was weak. Going out on the tear was an ordeal.

Once George Bush took power, the Euro got strong. My manager spat blood, since the cupid stunt negotiated his salary in Dollars. The rest of us dealt in Sterling, and one of my better moves was developing an artificial currency for expats called an "Expat Quid", weighted using 5 different currencies, in 5 different bank accounts, in 5 different countries.

"I'm very poor, I've no money, I earn minimum wage, now go away please"

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by dermo88

The Unionists would be happy, .... and the bigots would be speechless with shock.

These groups overlap with a certain set of Free Presbyterians.....

[Oisin88]

Originally Posted by dermo88

On a side note, whats the country that made you die of shock on a cost of living basis.

My nightmare, back in 2001 when the Euro/Irish Punt was weak as dishwater.

"Jug of Tiger (1.3 Litres) please", in the Eastin Hotel, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.M$72.00 after 10% service charge and 5% government tax.
"Pint of Guinness", HK$64.00 in downtown Kowloon, Hong Kong (at the time IRP6.40). My reaction.......Growl.......Pay.
Then to crown it all, Taboo Bar, Singapore, 1.3 litres of Tiger, S$39.90, which at the time was IRP20.00 (2 Sing to the Quid).

Of course, I always joke that Irish people work on a "different" consumer price index, and we rate countries on the price of a pint. Clothes...cheap. Accomodation....cheap......Food....cheap.....Booze ....."Sweet mother of divine Hugh Heffner on a railbus on cocaine.......how much?!?!?!?"

I taught the Malaysians how to brew their own. Hops were a nightmare to obtain, since they are related to "Mary Jane".

The exchange rate at that time was M$3.30 to the Euro, and M$4.20 to the Irish Pound. My work colleagues and I saved a wad of cash staying in, while our native currency was weak. Going out on the tear was an ordeal.

Once George Bush took power, the Euro got strong. My manager spat blood, since the cupid stunt negotiated his salary in Dollars. The rest of us dealt in Sterling, and one of my better moves was developing an artificial currency for expats called an "Expat Quid", weighted using 5 different currencies, in 5 different bank accounts, in 5 different countries.

"I'm very poor, I've no money, I earn minimum wage, now go away please"

I once paid the equivalent of Ir£7.00 for a drink in Nairobi, when you could buy a pint of local beer for 50cent...... at the time it was before rip-off Ireland and the Irish Unit of currency (Pint of Guinness) was still less than £4.

[Colm Donoghue]

Brother in Law was very proud to show us his receipt for 3 bottles of heineken
81 euros in Cafe de Paris, Monte Carlo.

Did shoot the breeze with Bono, Ali and Pamela Anderson at the time though.

I remember paying less than I would in Dublin for coffee and coca cola on the beach in Monaco though so your milage may vary.

[ccos]

Monaco, Liechenstein and the Vatican EU members???????
Christ that makes 30 countries and some eegit got away with 2 grand on the weakest link by telling Anne there was only 27

[byrneeo]

Originally Posted by ccos

Monaco, Liechenstein and the Vatican EU members???????
Christ that makes 30 countries and some eegit got away with 2 grand on the weakest link by telling Anne there was only 27

i know for a fact that san marino and the vatican get to mint their own euro coins. although it's only because they always used the italian lira and they're not actually part of the eu. you should see all the outlet stores on the road into san marino from rimini.

[Colm Donoghue]

EEA- it's a customs union with the EU proper
Then there's
EFTA - thats a freetrade area with Norway, Switzerland and the EEA

[Brian Condron]

Originally Posted by colmd

EEA- it's a customs union with the EU proper
Then there's
EFTA - thats a freetrade area with Norway, Switzerland and the EEA

Norway is a member of the EEA. It is made up of the EU 27, Norway, Iceland and Liechenstein. The EFTA is the EEA and Switzerland.

Despite not being a member of the EU, Norway is one of it's biggest contributers, and one of the best countries for implementing EU directives.