The Snus is Loose!

After cleaning up at home, it was time for dinner.  We had heard from several people that, in addition to tacos and burgers, sushi was really popular these days in Oslo.  Probably due to the high quality fish available year round.  Never disappointed with the best, we opted for the highly rated Sushi Alex, a spot located about fifteen minutes from where we were staying.  Our sushi chef (his name wasn't Alex) was straight from Osaka, and we chatted a bit in Japanese.  He has been in Oslo for four years, and his main comment/complaint is how cold it is during the winter.  That said, he seemed pretty happy making that nigiri, and I have to say that his fish crimping game was definitely on point.  We started with an array of sea bream, halibut, salmon and tuna (back row, right to left, like Hebrew), as well as trout roe with quail egg, scallops and king crab.  It was really high quality fish, but we needed a bit more, and ordered a salmon roll with wasabi tobiko on top (flying fish roe).

We threw in the towel after this, and the price tag was high for this Japanese delicacy in Norway.  Was it worth it?  Well, more than anything it was an expensive snack, but the fish was fresh and the setting was cool.  

After dinner, we headed back to the Grunerlokka neighborhood to have a drink.  We met a few local girls, Sirre and Ingrid, who joined us for a Lava Bowl at the Aku Aku tiki bar.  

The night wasn't over, as they had more in store for us.  They, and others at the bar, were anxious for us to try "snus."  Not to be confused with "snuff," or sniffing tobacco, "snus" is a pouch containing tobacco, that you put under your top lip.  Norwegians (men and women alike) are quick to praise and defend the virtues of snus, versus regular tobacco.  

"Snus is great because you can do it anywhere."  Snus evidently isn't legal in many parts of Europe, but in Norway, it is like a religion.  And when in Oslo, we did not want to offend our hosts.  I will call it peer pressure, and both Ivan and I succumbed.  We were warned however, that when you start to feel dizzy, you should take it out.  Recalling a particularly not fun experience from high school that involved chewing tobacco followed by heavy bouts of vomiting, I erred on the side of caution, and at the first hint of dizziness, I parted ways with my snus.  Ivan did the same.  

Perhaps we had passed the test, because we were allowed to continue the evening, and headed to a nearby disco, where we paid a not so modest entry fee to listen to a not so upbeat DJ spin tracks that more lulled us to sleep than amped us up to party.  Maybe this was a good thing, as 3:00 am was approaching and it was probably a reasonable time to call it a night.