SMAK

Last Thursday, I ventured down to Lillestrøm with my German friend Linda to, well to put it bluntly, eat our hearts out. Her boss had received free invites to this huge food, wine and restaurant event in the Oslo suburb. Linda and I spent the hour and change discussing work, creative inspirations, our excitement for the upcoming feast, random people we saw on the train etc. etc. She is so pleasant to be around, and we both can use the time to practice Norwegian!

When we arrived we made our way to the hotel that was hosting the event without wasting too much time googling at the snow covered town. The event was huge. Linda and I were first attracted to a huge room of appliances...and these were not just your ordinary blenders, toasters and coffeemakers... the first thing we walked in on was a ginormous sausage making machine! (Norwegians love their hot dogs). And right next to that was a device that was popping out different sizes of plastic bags. The idea would have been to have foods inside them, but they were just demo-ing. This section was super cool, but we definitely didn't need any of the industrial machines in our small cafe. We were there to investigate some food (and we were hungry!), so on we went!

We made our way around the room dedicated to food, sampling and sampling and sampling. We spoke English, Norwegian, German and I even attempted to communicate using Spanish with an Italian chef. It was mind-blowing, stomach-filling and absolutely exhausting. We ate everything from gelatto to chicken wings to sushi to Mexican tortillas to Spanish tapas to fine cheeses to cheesecake to Belgian chocolates. It was insane, and Linda and I were painfully full. By the time we got around to the incredible fish section, Linda and I were incapable of eating one more bite of food...and maybe that was for our stomachs considering the nature of the fish displays. :)

I have to say, it was a nice way to spend the day...eating a bunch of great food for free. I'd do it again, it's safe to say.