Going potty in a foreign land can sometimes be challenging.
Besides the strange food and unfamiliar water wreaking havoc on your internal plumbing, the actual plumbing might be non-existent or completely incomprehensible. Japan's toilets can range from a hole in the floor that you're meant to squat over to a robotic bit of technology that warms, washes, fluffs, starches and folds your bottom.
Fear not, neo-vikings! Norway is a country of extremely civilized elimination.
Exhibit A: Oslo airport. After a Trans-Atlantic flight, a customs and immigration inspection and a secondary security check, this girl was ready to sit and think before getting onto the connecting flight to Tromsø.
To access the restrooms, you descend a level from the main concourse with all the shops and foofarah, so it's already quieter and the announcements are muted considerably in this area. You make your way into the tiled "ladies' room" and see no counters, sinks, noisy hand dryers or even people. There are just two rows of identical doors lining the walls.
Intriguing.
Each door has a tiny red/green slot to signify occupied or vacant. Red means stop, green means go! Much easier than the kick and listen system I've used on my many visits to New Jersey's finest purveyor of airport porcelain.
I found a green door and popped into an oasis of calm, Scandi sanity. Locking the door behind me, there was a decent-sized hook weight-rated to support a carry-on bag of Arctic outer-wear. There was a dispenser of sanitizing foam and wipes to schmear over any bacteria-laden surface in the room. There was a large mirror with a counter and a basin to do your ablutions and re-apply your make-up should you be so inclined and of course, the garbage bins had foot pedals so you needn't touch anything dirty with your hands.
The room was fully cloistered with ceiling to floor walls and door. It was probably bigger than an American prison cell. Once inside, you would not even have any idea at all if there were people waiting because it was totally soundproof. I've never seen anything like it. It was spotlessly clean, didn't smell of diapers or death and was pretty much the polar opposite of the chaos in Newark's Liberty airport.
Then, I get to Tromsø's main square and water-front only to discover the wonderful piece of architecture pictured above.
How cool is that? A public toilet shaped like a Rubik's cube with funky glass lines and glowing lights to guide you in when Arctic November's darkness falls by 15 hundred hours!
On the basis of my first pee-break alone, I fell in love with this country of Norway.
