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.

Readers Guide for this post: Click photo to bigefy & enjoy – Click links to read my posts about it!

A taste of Oslo:
A real challenge since it’s so much to chose from and we only have a few days before the trip to Sweden. Our suggestion is to start with “Highlights of Oslo” (three hours bus trip to get to know the city and see the Vigeland Park, Holmenkollen Ski Jump and Bygdøy with the Viking Ship Museum).
We’ll also take the Mini Cruise on the Oslo Fjord (hop on/off from the harbour, the Oslo New Opera House and Bygdøy at the Maritime Museum.
Luckily enough, some friends have a boat and cottage on Oslo Fjord and we’ll have one day cruising around and dine at their summer paradise in the end of the day.

A trip to Sweden:
My regular readers know we have a vacation home in mid Sweden at lake Vänern (northern Europe’s largest) and we’ll go there for a couple of days. There are plenty of things to do in the local area around Mariestad, as my regular readers have seen over the years. Diane’s family hasn’t been to Sweden so this will be a fun experience for them. Some highlights we will visit are The Old Town, Göta Canal and Läckö Baroque Castle.
Of course we will meet some friends and enjoy an ice cream at the guest harbour. Plus no trip to Mariestad would be complete without a trip to enjoy the sunsets at Ekodden beach.

Over the wild mountains of Norway to Bergen:
To give a real taste of the variety of landscape in Norway; the long trip over the mountains and along the fjords to Bergen is a necessity. We will give them what we like to call the Postcard tour. The scenery along the way is breath taking with everything from open farm land, rolling hills climbing to high mountains, a snow capped high mountain plain, as well as breathtaking fjord views. There are many waterfalls along the way, and we will cross one of the lovely fjords in a ferry boat so we will have the view from the water as well. Bergen is of course a fun city to visit with its own special charm, so all and all the family will get a lot of holiday adventures in a compact period of time.

Practising for the OsloBG:
Some people might call me patriotic, but I do love to show off my country. It is always fun to have visitors who appreciate what we sometimes take for granted in our daily lives. We will now have an opportunity to warm up for the OsloBG where we will have lots of interested guests to guide around. It will be an advantage to go through the sites once more before our guests arrive and find the most efficient way to enjoy as much as possible.

I know I am lucky being married to a woman who takes advantage of digital connectivity too. Then again, that’s how we met 12 years ago: She living in NY, US and me in Oslo, Norway – we met on the net in a news group. Then mail followed by photo exchange and chatting until we both “met” in video meeting. Love was growing, she moved over to Norway and we are happily married for over 10 years, and both a bit geeky.
So let me give you a peek of our playing with her new tool this weekend (click photo to bigefy and enjoy):

My digital beauty with brain even let me play a bit

Synchronizing the digital world:
A new Smartphone with standard installations is a start, but to me there is way to go. Upgrades and updates is of course the first things to do – then adjustments, setups for Social Media accounts as well as email, makes it even more useful. Then synchronizing with all the necessary digitized stuff at you’re PC adds the contents that make it a joy to use like for me: about 2000 contacts, all my appointments and tasks, photos and videos of course and then favourite places marked on the map as well as bookmarks for web browsing and all RSS subscriptions. For that, Nokia Ovi Suite is brilliant and saves me years of work, collecting digital beauties.

Makes travelling much more fun:
We have AUX connection on the stereo in our car and even my “old” Nokia N82 connects with that and gives: hands free phone calls, music from the favourite list, listening to Podcasts and of course GPS Map navigation. Our car stereo does not includes that, and I am glad, because I want it on a portable device (yes, the Smartphone!) so when we stop at new places, I bring it along to find the best restaurants, entertainment, tourist info office or other public services etc. If I am travelling abroad, I always find a free WiFi zone and call my bellowed wife via Skype – with video to see her lovely face or show her something around me – for free! You may say I am addicted, but it’s all for a good cause, don’t you think?

Digital Beauties with brains:
Talking about things digitalized and the vague difference between the real and the virtual world: when playing with Diane’s new toy this weekend, I all of a sudden was thinking of a song a friend of mine performed at the Norwegian Computer Society annual meeting once. His name is Henrik Wigerstrand and he is a brilliant singer and guitar player – as well as writer. I recorded it with my compact camera and the lightening conditions were very difficult, so the quality of the video isn’t so good. I do hope you will turn up you’re speaker and listen to a very funny song with subtle and thoughtful touches in the equality debate:

Visit from FIL & preparing for OsloBG:
Diane went back to Oslo now to work for 3 more days before her parents come to visit and to prepare our house for guests. I have to admit to a dash of withdrawal now that she took her new Nokia Smartphone with her. Now I really hope to get the new Nokia N8 in time for the Oslo Blog Gathering as I can see I really need this device to maximize the experience. I want to be able to post live as things happen along the way and make it more fun for my readers to check in and keep up to date with our events.
Btw: Talking about connectivity features; Nokia N8 supports options like: GPRS, EDGE, micro-USB, Bluetooth connectivity, HSDPA, WiFi connections, GPS along with A-GPS support. That should make me capable of keeping my readers up to date and keep my guests from getting lost at the same time!

Oslo New Opera House:
If you arrive at Oslo Central Station, a must see is the Opera House which is located right across the street. You will love it even if opera is not you’re cup of tea. The construction – designed by the acknowledged Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta – is the largest single cultural-political initiative in contemporary Norway. It took five years to build and the cost was about 500 million Euros. The result is an extraordinary building that rises directly from beneath the fjord like an iceberg. The white marble clad roof cape forms a large public space in the landscape of the city and the fjord – the worlds only Opera where you can walk on the roof:

_{As soon as my Italian friend saw it from the viewpoint in this photo, he could tell it was marble from his homeland and from which districts.}

Vigeland Sculpture Park:
In 15 minutes by street car you are at Oslo’s most famous park. In addition to being a nice green recreational area it covers 80 acres and features 212 bronze and granite sculptures created by Gustav Vigeland. He sculpted every figure out of clay and individual craftsmen were contracted to fabricate the pieces into what they are today. These works of art reside along an 850 meter-long axis divided into six sections: The Main Gate, The Bridge, The Children’s Playground, The Wheel of Life with a Fountain and The Monolith Plateau. Here are two examples with me and my Italian friend:

_{Left: The angry boy on the bridge – Right: At the Monolith Plateau}

Btw: If you fancy an outdoor swim, Frognerbadet is situated next to the park with 3 pools, diving towers and a water slide.

Holmenkollen mountain and Ski Jump:
Since we had only a few hours, I had to cut out the next usual stop – up on the mountain, only 15 minutes by metro; Holmenkollen. Here you can enjoy the view of the city and fjord, pick blueberries and/or experience the oldest and one of the worlds most famous ski jump. Read my earlier post about it here: Holmenkollen a cultural high point in Oslo.

A gourmet Adventure at Aker Brygge:
Back to Oslo centre, close to the City Hall on the harbour, we ended up at Aker Brygge: a seaside shopping and nightlife centre with lots of glam and fun. There are plenty of pubs and sidewalk cafes to chose from. I’ll let some photos sum up our evening there when my wife DianeCA joined us too. Click the pics to bigify & enjoy and don’t miss the last photo which was taken at 11PM in the lovely Nordic night:

<sub>Left: fried cod in wine sauce with potatoes and asparagus – Right: King Crab legs


Left: Us at a charming outdoor Restaurant – Right: Light evenings at 11PM</sub>

OsloBG offers it all:
This is just an example of a day with RennyBA at the OsloBG. I am thinking of offering this precise tour to bloggers from all over the world when I team up with my special helpers to offer unique personal guided tours by locally known residents. Mostly Expats like my wife DianeCA and Beaver Bush, or real Vikings like me and TorAa. So click to see The Program and hop on before it’s too late – this is an experience of a lifetime you know

The word solstice derives from Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still) and this year it occur the 21st. The term is also colloquially used like Midsummer to refer to the day on which it occurs, except in the Polar Regions (where daylight is continuous for half of the year) – like north in Norway; The Land of the Midnight Sun – see my report from a few years back: Arctic Adventure Rafting The Barents Sea!

Since it’s the end of a season or semester and beginning of summer (schools close for 8 weeks and people normally use at least 3 of their total 5 weeks vacations), there is a lot to celebrate – and mostly outdoors. Who blame us; in 6 month we have winter & snow and 5 hours daylight. So we party, party, party – with co-workers, colleagues and friend. Let me give you a couple of examples:

Culinary sensations at Nodee Asian cooking:
This year’s party with colleagues at the Norwegian Computer Society was at an Asian restaurant, 5 minutes by Tube out of Oslo center. Okay, we ate indoors, but it count as a summer party anyway Let’s go directly to the 5 course serving and start with a friend of mine, well known to my regular readers:

<sup>The one and only; TorAa

Colleagues around the table.</sup>

<sup>1: King Crab, Soft shell Crab & Sea Bass. 2: Crispy Duck

3: Lobster wok Shao. 4: Ching Lak Ao Lau 5: Grilled Scallops</sup>

University collage mates from 73-75 at Aker Brygge:
The last 10 year or so, I’ve invited old school friends (yea, I’m kind of a HUB ) to summer party in Oslo. They are spread all over Norway, but 10 to 20 persons shows up; this year at Aker Brygge:

In the background you see Akershus Fortress! Aker Brygge (former ship yard established in 1864), across Oslo harbour and close to the Town Hall, is the city’s finance and amusement aria with shops, restaurants, cinemas, office space and apartments as well as a small boat harbour. Let me show you what we had to eat, before I show you the aria:

^{I had Blue Mussel (love seafood you know), some had just a burger.}

After dinner we walked around to soak in the summer atmosphere at Aker Brygge and checked the service at some of the restaurants (click to bigify & enjoy!):

^{These photos is shot around 9PM – still sunny and bright}

Don’t you love this summer party rituals and the late, sunny – and even romantic – nights? Norwegians have learned to take advantage of this, since we don’t have it all year around you know
Would you like to experience this and soak in the summer late night atmosphere yourself? Well here is you’re chance: I invite all to the Oslo Blog Gathering in August – click to check the program and book to join us! – if you then go to bed at sun set and get up at the rise; you haven’t waste you’re stay in Oslo by sleeping

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!

The Bunad:

A Bunad is our traditional costume, typically of rural origin and local to different districts. It’s a result of both cultural evolution and organized efforts to discover and modernize older patterns. The designs are elaborate, with embroidery, scarves, shawls and hand-made silver or gold jewellery – both for men and women.

It’s common to wear Bunad at various celebrations, such as: Weddings, 17th of May National Day and even accepted as proper gala attire in recent years – so its use has reached far outside folk dancing and music.

Norway Folk Music:
Unlike many other European countries, Norway has an unbroken folk music tradition. Instrumental music is most commonly played on the fiddle or on the Hardanger Fiddle – Harding Fele – which is considered the national instrument of Norway. The Harding Fiddle is a violin with four or five sympathetic strings. It is beautifully decorated and is constructed somewhat differently from an ordinary violin. The traditional music with its associated dances has resisted all the changing fashions of music through the ages and is today firmly embedded in the country’s culture. In contrast to many other countries, this type of music and dance has never fallen entirely out of use and in many parts of the country an unbroken tradition still lives on:

Since it has been passed along continuously from generation to generation, there has been no need for a folk music revival. Norway has a strong and active body of folk musicians and dancers. This, together with in–depth research and professional collections and archives, has meant that the variations and dialects have been retained and developed into a rich variety of both music and dance. They start very young – as a true reflection of the Norwegian soul itself – and we saw the most adorable troupes:

Live Folk music and Dance:
Besides taking a lot of pics, I also shot some vids with my new Cannon G11. I’ve edited them all into one video– a potpourri – and hope you enjoy it and get an idea of what I’d like to share through this post:

As a visitor, you will not search in vain for the exotic and folklore–inspired image of Norway in which music, song and dance emerges directly from the landscape – wild and mysterious.

Experience for yourself at OsloBG:
Read more about this Folk Museum on my post: Lefse and rural farmhouse from Norway. Also read my wife’s review of the same day: Folk Dance and living history at Norwegian Folk Museum.
This museum is located at Bygdøy Island – 20 min by boat on the fjord from Oslo. Here you also find: The Viking Ships Museum, Norway Maritime Museum and Kon Tiki Museum.
Remember also; with the Oslo Pass, included in the Oslo Blog Gathering, you get free boat transportation and free entrance. This island is TorAa’s old stomping ground, as he was born and raised on Bygdøy so I am sure he will be happy to give you a personal tour around the island and tell you some of its little secrets during the gathering.

Norway Your Way – the competition:
They are looking for creative people from 5 different markets (UK, Germany, Italy, France and Russia), to submit Norway inspired content, which could take the form of a; video, poem, picture or even a recipe – anything that has been inspired by Norway. The important thing to remember is; the content doesn’t necessarily have to be a video of Norway (although it could be) – it just needs to be something really creative that has been inspired by Norway. The more individual pieces one submits and the higher the quality, the more votes you will get and the higher the chance there is of winning of course!

The competition opens on the 7th of June, when you can start submitting. Once the content is uploaded, you will need to get your friends/family etc to vote for the best content – like a simple thumbs up thing. The competition runs for one month until the 6th of July and the winners will be announced around the 16th of July.

Carpe Diem – Seize the Day!
It’s a great opportunity for five lucky people to find out why Norway is one of the best countries in the World to visit. They will be picked (one from each market) to go on this tour of Norway for 10 days, undertake a number of activities, which could be anything from working with a local school, through to abseiling, sailing etc.
It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for anyone super creative and really passionate about travel and at the same time sharing their adventures in all kinds of Social Media!

Join VisitNorway right away: On Twitter – On Facebook – Their Home Page!

Why “Norway You Way” on RennyBA’s Terella?
As my regular readers know my blog is about Norway and its culture, traditions, habits and history. Therefore I was very excited when VisitNorway asked if I would help spread the word about this contest. I am happy to do anything which allows others to learn about and experience my homeland.

Please don’t confuse this event with our Oslo Blog Gathering 2010, where my blog friends from all over the world will meet for a special gathering. There you will meet VisitOSLO at our information stand which will give the participants good advice on the local area and activities. Be sure to register if you haven’t already and join the fun!

Meeting Nikita was a fascinating experience, and through his curiosity and eagerness, I too became curious and learned more about his work, and the works which inspire him. This collection cuts across time and place by allowing inspiration not only by great Western European artists like Picasso, Degas and van Gogh, but also eastern and south American artists like Guayasamin, Kadinskij, and Goncharova. Art works which I was not familiar with before the exhibition.

In addition I received an extraordinary inside view of details which I myself never noticed in masterpieces I am familiar with such as Munch’s Scream and Madonna.

The exhibition presented more than 50 colourful interpretations painted in a naive style. It is important to understand that the works are not copies of well known paintings but rather a journey through the art process through Nikita’s eyes. He shares his interpretation and learning process with us by allowing himself to be inspired by his favourite pieces.

The collection fascinated me, and the artist fascinated me even more. It was interesting to get private guided tour from the artist himself and see his development as he tells about the process from the first painting to the last. The total collection represents a lot of work from the artist, and I admire his seemingly limitless imagination and originality. He is truly a brave soul, as he is able to dream large and colourful dreams, have high ambitions, and is not afraid to bring those dreams and ambitions into life.

Nikita is free like a mustang, able to run with his brushes across the open horizon and make it his own. He is a strong artistic soul, who seems almost a bit shy when you meet him, however if you are interested in his speciality he will open up and share his thoughts and artistic process with you. He gives me the impression of being both strong and vulnerable at the same time, and with a warm and easygoing personality as well.

The house in which the exhibition was held was truly a perfect match for this collection. This more than 100 years old pearl of a wooden home was donated to the Red Cross and now houses the local volunteer center:

The atmosphere was relaxed, charming, and traditional complete with lovely old fashion furnishings and decoration. Located in a modern housing area on the western side of Oslo it stands out from its surroundings with its old fashioned charms and invites one to escape from the hustle and bustle of urban city life. The building was as unique as the collection within it:

Allow me also to introduce Nikita’s wife Svetlana, and tell you that this is one example of people you will meet as they will attend at the Oslo Blog Gathering in August. I have had contact with Svetlana for many years through my work with the Norwegian Computer Society as she is an IT professional who specializes in Knowledge Management.

^{All four of us at the exhibition.}

She helps her husband by taking care of the organization and publicity of his artwork, leaving him to use his creative energies on his art. But she is not without her own artistic talent, as she enjoys both music and cooking. I can assure you they are both excellent chefs. I have been to a “Russian evening” at their home several years in a row, and always look forward to the experience.

If you would like to meet interesting people from all over the world, like Svetlana and Nikita then the Oslo Blog Gathering 2010 is for you! You see it is not only meant to be an Oslo experience as it is a human experience where we will meet and be acquainted with interesting people from all over the world. If you have been inspired by Nikita’s art and would like to purchase a piece, please indicate in you’re comment to this post or join us at OsloBG and ask Nikita for one!

The day usually starts with a flag-raising ceremony at a nearby school, church or governmental building. Then, pupils join in the Children’s Parade, while adults watch and cheer from the side-walks. All the schoolchildren in the whole country march with the Norwegian flag in their hands and colourful banners, which represent their school or their class, in front. You may read more about the marching band at my wife DianeCA’s post.

^{Marching out from the school with the Principal in the lead (to the right) in his bunad.}

Many countries celebrate their Constitution or Independence, but opposed to these – as you can see in the photo above – the Norwegian celebration has no reference to military power. Norway’s National Day is a day of flags, parades, speeches and bands playing the national anthem; “Ja, vi elsker dette landet” (Yes, we love this country). The concept is simple, a local celebration regardless of the weather, with classmates and neighbours showing their national pride in a peaceful and harmless way. You may hear the band play the national anthem and learn more about the school celebration from my post by clicking here.

My vid from a Happy parade in 2006 on a slightly rainy day:

I have now posted about the 17th of May for five years in a row, so we will use my earlier posts as a way of highlighting this year’s. So be sure to click on the links to learn more.

Norway’s National costumes – “Bunad”:
You will notice that many are wearing their regional costumes called Bunad. Each region of Norway has its own Bunad and those which use it wear the costume from the area their family roots come from. Last year we met a very nice Norwegian family dressed up in their proper Bunad, and I could not resist asking them if they would pose to illustrate how the family’s traditional clothes should be. This is a fine example of the traditional costume for both adults and children:

The Bunad is artfully hand embroidered and must be made from the correct wool material with the traditional pattern. Some areas allow you to choose variations of Bunad, but the rules are relatively strict in order to keep the tradition in tact. If you have Bunad then the 17th of May is the high time to use it. In addition it is used for weddings, baptismal, and very special occasions.

When the activities in the school-yards are finished, the festivities continue in the centre of town, where people from all over the area meet. Here there is a new parade with different organizations marching. All kinds of organizations are represented; the scouts, soccer teams, folk dance groups, religious organizations, and bands. This one in our local town is called the flower parade, and flowers are thrown out to the onlookers by the participants (click picks to bigify & enjoy):

^{Some of the locals have even decorated their classic car for the event, while others have decorated their scooter.}

You may see a review of this parade by clicking here!

Russ – The revelling Norwegian high school graduates:
The graduates have a special place in the 17th of May celebration. Throughout the month of May they celebrate the end of the high school years with numerous parties and funny tasks which they must do to get a knot in the tassel of their hats. One of the rules is that they have to wear their Russ uniform everyday without being allowed to wash it:

A modern addition to this celebration is the Russ Bus. Students get together and work hard for a year or two to save up money and pool it together into buying, decorating and equipping a bus for the Russ season:

The bus is literally a rolling party, with loud music, lights and Russ only allowed inside. Although this might seem like a party mentality, it is also a learning experience for those who join a bus (not all do!) because it requires saving, planning, working on a concept, working towards a goal and project management to get the concept “rolling”. You may read more in my article about the Russ by clicking here!

So I do hope understand the special feeling I have when I am able to share this tradition with you. It is the most Norwegian of the Norwegian, and I am proud to be able to introduce it to family and friends through out the Blogsphere. If you have been inspired by this post, and would like to see some bunad and learn our history on your own, remember we still are taking bookings for the Oslo Blog Gathering in August. Join us and you can march down Karl Johan street yourself!