Oslo is situated in an amphitheatre-like setting, with the city centre in the bottom close to the Oslo fjord, and residential areas stretching uphill from there in all directions. Behind the residential areas, the forested area extends, with flora and fauna that is quite extraordinary for a city of this size (click all pics to bigify & enjoy):

Enough facts and on to our round trip with the boat – I guess photos show more than a thousand words:

^{Recreational, don’t you think?}

^{A lot of nice beaches on the islands and shores.}

Tourist highlights:

^{Above & Below: Oslo harbour at the City Hall}

^{Above & Below: The new Oslo Opera House}

^{Bygdøy island with e.g. Maritime and the Viking ship museum.}

Some curiosities:

^{Above: Light Houses – Below: House boat}

Moose are commonplace (easily spotted in winter), and the whole of the capital is part of Norway’s wolf reserve (even if they rarely come here). We did not see any moose that day, but on the island by our friend’s cabin, we saw this cute deer:

A culinary end:

The day was finished off with a delicious dinner of grilled pork loin, baked potatoes and salads. We were incredibly lucky to have good friends willing to share their cottage and boat and help us give a perfect summer Norwegian experience while my wife’s family was visiting. We will soon be moving on to Sweden, and then across the Norwegian mountains to Bergen. So keep checking in for a look at the fantastic Nordic summertime.

My wife DianeCA and I had another quality time there last weekend and we gladly take you along for the tour. Read her post from a different prospective; An Oasis in the City – while I take this opportunity to announce & prove that summer finally has arrived in Oslo, and to show you what the locals are crazy about; the Sun ( click to bigify & enjoy):

Botanical Garden – a recreational oasis:
The garden is for those who are fascinated by the diverse and unique fauna. You may read more about that on my blog post from last year: Flowers and herbs….. This time I’ll concentrate of the recreational side of using the garden – by a photo reportage:

_{From the Rock Garden.}

A miniature alpine landscape, where the plants are hardy perennials, bulbs and shrubs from all over the world. They are arranged in series of European, America and Asiatic sections:

_{Perfect for singles, couples and/or families to relax in.}

The Victoria House:
Dates from 1876, it’s three division’s houses orchids and ferns, the spectacular Queen Victoria Water Lily (Victoria cruziana) and house plants:

In this house, you may also see utilitarian Tropical and Subtropical plants producing rice, cacao, sugar, cotton, cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla.

However, what the two children in the above photo spotted was this little fellow to the right:

Experience for yourself at OsloBG:
We always take guests visiting us in Oslo to the Botanical Gardens. It is well worth a day wander, and is located in the diverse borough of Tøyen which can be part of a planned trip to the area. Located in this section is also the Munch Museum which is dedicated to Norway’s collection of Munch’s paintings, and within the Botanical gardens you may visit the National Geological Museum and Natural Museum at the same time. Oh and don’t forget the greenhouses like Victoria House above. Hope you will come and explore with us, it will make your day bloom like a rose – so click here to join us in August!

Going crazy with my new Cannon Power Shot G11, let me share some of the shots from today (click to bigify & enjoy!):

_{Golden sky beach beauty in Scandinavia:}

This is our favourite photo hunting beach in our “home away from home” in Mariestad. My regular readers know I love to play in posts with photos from the same spot in different seasons. Let’s start with one from tonight’s golden sky:

Then the difference from spring (now) to fall, then winter and at last a hot day for tanning: Amazing to observe this is the same place, don’t you agree?

^{Left: Fall gives golden beauty too! Right: Winter with nice fresh and crisp air!}

^{Summer time – even topless tanning.}

The days are growing longer here in Scandinavia, with the sun not going down until almost 9:30 in the evening. Soon it will be summer and the nights will be lighter than any other time of the year. I do hope you will soon be experiencing this with us at the Oslo Blog Gathering 2010. If you haven’t done so already check out the program and join the team!!

We’ve had the loveliest sunny weather this weekend and to give you the proof of the pudding, my wife and I had a photo hunt in our garden and on our favourite spring beach. Let’s start with our garden and some examples of spring flowers in the south east part of Norway:

Let’s take a closer look at some typical from our area in southern Norway (click to bigify and enjoy):

<sup>Left: daffodils – Right: Crocus

Left: Scillia in front – Right: Primrose</sup>
Other typical garden flowers in Norway are tulips, daffodils, hyacinth, snow drops, and Lily of the valley.

Wild flowers at the Spring Beach:
Like I said we were on a photo hunt and went to our favourite beach where we know we’ll meet real spring and nature just out of hibernation:

I hope you are able to spot the ground almost totally covered by Anemone hepatica (common names: Kidneywort, liverwort, pennywort, Common Hepatica – in Norwegian: Blåveis). Let’s take a closer look:

Some weeks later, this is the white flower bed that will meet us when we again visit this lovely beach just 25 minutes by public transportation out of Oslo city:

^{Anemone nemorosa also in the family Ranunculaceae. Common names: wood anemone, windflower, thimbleweed and smell fox or in Norway: Hvitveis. (Photo shot with my Nokia two years ago).}

There are others who are happy for the spring flowers too – guess you’re familiar with the story about the birds and the bees? This little guy was so fat the flower almost couldn’t hold him:

Not only the birds and the bees are happy for spring, warmer and sunny weather (around 15C – 60F). In this delightful, crisp, fresh air, people start thinking of beach life and tanning too of course (click to bigify and enjoy):

^{A bit early for bikinis yet, but if you dress right, still enjoyable.}

So by this I declare spring seasons have started in Oslo, the south east of Norway. I hope you got some spring spirit from this too. To get even more of the spirit, you might like to check my wife DianeCA’s post too. It would be interesting to read if some of these spring flowers are to be found in you’re part of the world too!

I will show you more of how we make the most adventurous cookout every Easter Sunday. Only first I want us to learn something from my posts – so I have done some research and here is a summery:

The Easter Bunny roots:
Like the origin of Easter which has its roots that go back to pre-Christian, Anglo-Saxon history. The holiday was originally a pagan celebration that worshipped the goddess Eastre. She was the goddess of fertility and springtime and her earthly symbol was the rabbit. In pagan times, the “Easter hare” was no ordinary animal, but a sacred companion of the old goddess of spring. The Easter bunny has its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore. The Hare and the Rabbit were the most fertile animals known and they served as symbols of the new life during the spring season.

The Easter Bunny folklore:
Feeling guilty about arriving late one spring, the Goddess Ostara saved the life of a poor bird whose wings had been frozen by the snow. She made him her pet and filled with compassion for him since he could no longer fly, she turned him into a snow hare and gave him the gift of being able to run with incredible speed so he could protect himself from hunters. In remembrance of his earlier form as a bird, she also gave him the ability to lay eggs – in all the colours of the rainbow – but only on one day out of each year. The eggs should be given to the children attending the Ostara festivals that were held each spring. The tradition of the Easter Bunny Eggs hunt had begun:

Outdoors family Bunny Egg Hunt:
So with this as a background, let me share my family’s way of doing it. We love to be out in the woods where the bunnies live (and at Easter lay their eggs), so the hunt must take place there – in all weather, snow or cold! You know my saying: there is no such as bad weather, only bad clothes!

So walking into the woods, without the children taking notice, an adult runs ahead and hides the eggs, usually with the excuse that he (often my father) would like to start the bonfire. When the rest of the gang arrives he announces that he has seen signs of the Easter Bunny, which he was especially big this year and made a lot of noise hopping here and there and everywhere hiding his eggs.
So the hunt begins – here are some more photos from different years in different weather conditions:

^{Snow and cold does not matter – spring is in the air}

Hot dogs in branch bread:
In resent years my sister has made dough called ‘pinnebrød’ (branch bread) which you can roll around the stick or around the sausage stuck on the branch. Then we all sit around the bonfire, enjoying the catch of the hunt and some hotdogs – and of course our company. Again, here are some example photos from the latest years:

There is of course other (Norwegian) ways to eat your hotdog too; in lompe:

We are soon on our way to my home town to meet my parents and sisters family for this adventurous tradition. When I post this in advance this year, it is to give you all the chance to have fun the same way. Have you tried? Or would you like too? Tell me what you think in comments please!

I have of course posted about this over the years and here are the previous ones:

I consulted Wikipedia on this and found that it was a wide spread saying – not only a comfort to the Norwegian Vikings:

In North America:
Red sky at night, sailor’s delight,
Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.

In the United Kingdom:
Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight,
Red sky in morning, shepherds warning.

As well as other variations, such as this one from Denmark/Norway, which translates to “Morning red gives wet days, Evening red gives sweet days”:
Morgenrøde gir dage bløde.
Kveldsrøde gir dage søde.

Italian variation goes as:
Rosso di sera, bel tempo si spera,
rosso di mattina mal tempo si avvicina.

A Dutch variation is:
Avondrood, morgen mooi weer aan bood,
Ochtendrood, vanavond water in de sloot.

But can weather lore truly predict the weather or seasons?

Red sky at night, sailors delight:
When we see a red sky at night, this means that the setting sun is sending its light through a high concentration of dust particles. This usually indicates high pressure and stable air coming in from the west. Basically good weather will follow.

Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning:
A red sunrise reflects the dust particles of a system that has just passed from the west. This indicates that a storm system may be moving to the east. If the morning sky is a deep fiery red, it means high water content in the atmosphere. So, rain is on its way.

In between this lore and academic explanation, there is still an amazing scenery ……..