Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
If you didn’t make it to the top in school sports, you can have your revenge on Saturday when top relaxers meet for the Norwegian Championship in Slappa (Norwegian slang for relaxing). The point is to produce the lowest relaxing pulse during five minutes in a hammock, and the whole event is a tribute... »
Tags: coffee, Oslo, parks
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Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
There are plenty of parks in Oslo. The undoubtedly nicest one is The Queen’s Park (Dronningparken) right behind the Royal Castle. The park is open during summer, from May 18th until mid-October at daytime. It is actually the present queen Sonja who is in charge of the garden, but the name was established when... »
Tags: parks
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Friday, August 14th, 2009
- You shall build it exactly here!
That’s what the Danish king Christian IV supposingly said back in 1624 when he decided where the new town of Christiania should be located. Eagerly waving his glove, he couldn’t wait to rebuild the old town of Oslo, which had burnt down a few months earlier. While the... »
Tags: art
Posted in Culture, History | No Comments »
Friday, August 14th, 2009
Oslo says: My apologies to readers named Harry: In Norway the name has for some reason been associated with being a bit off comme-il-faut, caracterizing a way of living that is not up to the standards of the higher middle class. Which means, of course, that it is the upper middle class which is... »
Tags: Sweden
Posted in Out of town, Shopping | No Comments »
Friday, August 14th, 2009
Oslo says: You would probably never find it, if you didn’t know it was there. The CD-shop and cafe in Grensen 8 gives you jazz all day long, and sometimes late night live concerts, too. Bare Jazz – means Only Jazz – is run by the saxofonist Bodil Niska and her enthusiastic friends. You will... »
Tags: art, coffee, jazz, Oslo, restaurant
Posted in Culture, Eating and drinking, Shopping | No Comments »
Friday, August 14th, 2009
You won’t find many equestrian statues in Norway. One of the few is situated in front of the Royal Castle in Oslo. It is King Karl Johan sitting up there on the horse, looking out on the town and the main street which is named after him.
From the top of our head, most Norwegians... »
Tags: art, statues
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Thursday, August 13th, 2009
So walking on the roof of a white building by the sea shore is the hottest thing you can do in Oslo these days?
Yep. When the much discussed new opera was opened in 2008, very few could have guessed that the building would be a lot more crowded on the outside than on the... »
Tags: architecture, jazz, Opera, walking
Posted in Culture, Outdoors | No Comments »