My partner and I have embarked on the grand adventure of living in Norway for four months (essentially the fall semester). He is doing research at NTNU, the major university in Trondheim. Since Norway is a civilized country, they offered a spousal allowance in the grant for me to accompany him. So I am taking a semester off school myself.
My partner is severely gluten-sensitive. He has gotten sick several times just by sitting at a table at work where someone ate pizza or sandwiches, or grading papers with crumbs on them, and absentmindedly touching his face or handling his own food. We keep the entire house strictly gluten-free, after a full decontamination when he was first diagnosed five years ago. (A shout-out to our marvelous group of tabletop gamers, who have been willing to only bring gluten-free snacks to our bimonthly game!) I avoid eating gluten myself, because I can transfer gluten easily via my skin, clothes, and mouth after I indulge.
So fast-forward to the idea of spending four months trying to live gluten-free in a rented space in a foreign country where we do not even speak the language. It's taking a lot of trial and error, careful reading and translating, and a lot of planning to do. It's also completely worth it! Hopefully, some of what I learned will help you plan a trip to Norway, even if you're not staying quite as long.
STEP ONE: PLAN AHEAD (selecting a space)
You gotta have a kitchen. This is something that most folks without food allergies don't understand, because they can order takeout for every meal. There are a few high-end restaurants in Trondheim that do gluten-free meals (although their level of gluten-free is questionable as they use shared cooking spaces with gluten). But eventually you will need to make food for yourself, at which point a regular hotel room is too limited.
The first challenge to gluten-free living in Norway is the predominance of shared space. The majority of places to live have shared kitchens; especially in a college town like Trondheim. Bread is an enormous staple here for all meals, so if you are very sensitive, you need to do the digging to find a place with your own kitchen you can decontaminate and keep clean. If you can handle a crumb here and there, you may be able to get by simply by washing dishes and surfaces before prepping each meal, or keeping a set of clean dishes and cookware in a tote separate from your housemates.
For a Short Stay (up to two weeks):
There are a few "apartment hotels" in Trondheim, whose rates are fairly competitive with Airbnb. They book quickly though, and they may not have rooms available on short notice or for long blocks of time.
City Living Hotel and Apartments has an English website.Ttheir rooms seem to start around 600 kroner a night for a room with its own fridge and shared access to a large communal kitchen. A "Superior" room with its own kitchenette starts at 700 kroner per night. The Trondheim location is right in the City Center and close to everything you will need or want in Trondheim.
Trondheim Leilighetshotell has an English-language page, and includes pricing information (starting at 700-900 kroner a night for a studio apartment with a small kitchen). It is a poor location if you don't have a car. It is quite a hike to the nearest grocery store, and not always with sidewalks.
There are much more expensive options (starting around $1500-$2000 kroner a night) but if you can afford those, you should be working with a travel agent for the best up-to-the-minute accommodations.
For a Long Stay (or if the hotels are full):
You will need http://translate.google.com
Generally a lifesaver, but has some tricks to know. Good for translating specific websites, but navigation often suffers within the translator. For instance, with Airbnb, you'll want to open specific listings in the original website, THEN paste the individual listing into translator to read in a second tab. The image gallery in most cases will also work better in the original site, so don't try to view images through the translator. If you have the translator app, it will suggest corrections to misspelled words, which happens as often in Norwegian as it does in English.
http://www.airbnb.com
AirBnB is perfect for short-term rentals in actual homes in Norway (generally up to a month). You pay a flat rate per night, week, or month and it includes all utilities for a fully furnished place. As with all of these websites, some places are listed incorrectly as the entire apartment or house when it is really a shared space.
http://hybel.no
Hybel is a Norwegian site for listing short and long-term rentals and sublets. Long-term rentals in Norway means two to three years, so you are looking for short-term if you are just visiting.
http://www.finn.no
This is the Craigslist of Norway.
Both Hybel and Finn are buyer-beware; they do not have the guarantees or payment system of Airbnb. If you're staying for more than a week, you may want to book two or three nights via Airbnb, then look for a better place once you are here.
Pitfalls:
Number of rooms: Apartments are listed as the number of rooms, but Google translate interprets "2 roms" as "two bedrooms" when in fact it means the entire flat is two rooms: probably a living/dining area and a sleeping area. 1 rom is a studio, which may have one or two tiny beds or just a sofa bed. The number of rooms does not include the kitchen and bathroom.
Meters square: Again this does not apply to the kitchen and bath; only the primary rooms. It is often listed incorrectly. If a listing has a large number of rooms but a small square meter listed, it is probably a shared space and you are only getting a bedroom.
Bedsit: The cheapest option you will see will be for a bedsit, which is a single tiny bedroom in a dorm-style space with a shared bathroom. There may or may not be kitchen or laundry facilities. Many bedsit places seem to be rented on the assumption that the occupant will survive on takeout.
Parking: If you plan to have a rental car, make sure there is parking available. Public parking is much more expensive the closer you get to the city center.
Cost: Housing is not cheap in Norway, and Trondheim is especially expensive. For your own space, expect to pay in the neighborhood of 8000-11000 kroner per month, or 500-1000 kroner per night in or near the city center (in the bend between the river and the fjord). Prices drop as you get further away from town, but the necessity of having a car rises proportionately. type "NOK to USD" into Google to get a currency converter.
Location: Norway is an extraordinarily low-crime place compared to the U.S., so I would not be especially concerned about "safe" and "unsafe" neighborhoods. Instead, the focus should be on amenities. Grocery shopping is something you should plan to do every day, as many places only have mini-fridges in the kitchens with space for two or three meals. Our American habit of having everything available in one store is also a hard one to break. Use Google maps to search for the following near your prospective place:
Grocery stores with excellent gluten-free selections:
- Bunnpris
- Rema 1000
- Kiwi
- Meny (has the best selection)
- apotek (drugstore), as grocery stores don't carry any kind of over-the-counter medications like aspirin.
- Hardware store (Jernia or Clas Ohlson are the most common chains) Here is where you will find brooms, mops, adhesive hooks, tools, and often kitchenware such as pots, pans and utensils. You could also visit Ikea by bus, car, or taxi for your cookware.
- Things to do: Are the places you want to visit in Trondheim nearby?
- Fretex: The Norwegian Salvation Army stores have the same assortment of kitchenware as the U.S. thrift stores, and might be your best bet if you just need a few basics. Remember to re-donate when you go.
The transit system here is safe, reliable, and widespread. When you arrive, get a transit card and load it for the time you will be staying for the best price. It is much more expensive to buy individual rides as you board.
Next: Part 2, Packing for Norway
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