6 Exotic Easter habits in Norway.

1.Crime books and films marathon. It’s a fever. Every Norwegian I know read and watch films to feel scared this time of the year. They have a word for that: Påskekrim. Easter crime. It’s on national tv too: each evening, a crime film. Jo Nesbø is a Norwegian author known worldwide for his thriller books.

2.Longest holiday in the world. Officially, nobody works on Maundry Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. Depending on the kind of job, you can have holidays from Saturday before Palm Sunday until Easter Monday. It’s 10 days. I know! It’s awesome. Just remember two things:

Firstly: when nobody is working, it means the country stops so that everybody gets cozy. Remember to plan your grocery shopping and your errands. Secondly: there’s no holidays in Norway on the second half of the year.

Check my post How to Enjoy Easter like a Norwegian: here.

3.Last cabin season of the year. Norwegians disappear from the mountain cabins after Easter. Most of them prefer to use the cabins to go skiing. Though some have Summer cabins by the sea, very few enjoy the mountain cabins in the Summer. They prefer to travel to the beach and other places. Check my post Cabin culture in Norway here.

4.Skiing in shorts and t-shirts. Compared to the Winter temperature and winds, who can blame Norwegians for feeling hot in March/April?

5.Oranges and kvikk lunsj. It’s a curious combination, and it’s the most popular on Easter ski tour in the mountains. Kvikk lunsj is chocolate with wafer, similar to kit-kat. By the way, the Norwegian chocolate is the best in the world in my opinion. Check my cross-country skiing tips here.

6.Bathing in the freezing water. Some Norwegians do it all Winter, but I see many more on Easter time. Last Saturday (the day before Palm Sunday), we went to the beach. We saw a woman taking off her coat. She was wearing a swimsuit and carrying a towel (check pictures and more on my Instagram Juliana.in.Norway). Right before 9:30 a.m. she jumped into the sea and left three seconds later. Ten minutes after that, there came an old couple. Only the woman did it. Later came two girlfriends. We saw it all happen within one hour. Soooo I got curious, as I am a bathing person. I took off my shoes and socks and entered the water. In about half a second, all my feet bones began to freeze simultaneously. So, it’s a no go for me.