Posts under Leisure

Isbygninger

Posted by Kari
Nov
11
2009

Ice buildings.  Norwegians seem to enjoy creating indoor venues that resemble the outdoors.  And I don’t mean a nice summer day in the woods, I mean ice.  This month Icebar, debuts in Oslo.  Icebar offers a unique experience of Nordic winter in incredible ice surroundings.  The walls, the furniture, the dishware, and even the art are made of ice from from the Torne River in Lapland, Sweden.  In fact, it was in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden that the concept was born with the world’s largest ice hotel.  Icebar in Oslo is the third and largest of it’s kind; there is an icebar in Copenhagen, Denmark and Tokyo, Japan.  Icebar is brought to these countries by Icehotel, the Swedish company that in 1994 brought Absolut Icebar to Sweden (a perfect harmony between creativity and design and pure raw materials).

Morten Thorvaldsen, CEO of Thon Hotels, is proud to be a joint partner with Icehotel to bring Icebar to Oslo.  Thon Hotels is the 3rd largest hotel chain in Norway, and also provides accomodations for visitors to Sweden, Belgium, and Holland.  I’ve stayed in one and it was very nice. 

So this Icebar in Oslo seems like it’s going to be really cool.  The manager, Joachim Langebrekke Larsen, says that it is not the intention that one should “fryse rumpe av seg hele tiden” (freeze one’s *** off).  It will of course be cold, but the idea is not to hang out in the ice room for a very long period of time.  Camilla Gulsett, Thon representative, recommends leaving your stillettos and and skirts at home and dressing more warmly than if you are going out to a vanlig utested (normal place to go out).  But just in case you don’t dress warm enough or if you want to add to the experience, Icebar offers guests warm jackets and thick gloves (so that it’s not painful to hold your ice glasses).  Icebar will also sell hats and other merchandise. 

On the menu, there are cold alcoholic drinks, warm alcoholic drinks, and tapas to snack on.  Instead of “on the rocks,” at Icebar, one says “in the rocks,” jokes Gulsett in a recent Aftenposten online article about the new Icebar opening on Friday in Oslo.  Here is the website if you want to test your Norwegian comprehension and see some neat bilder (pictures): http://oslopuls.aftenposten.no/restaurant_uteliv/article294169.ece

In addition to the new Icebar in Oslo, there are several ice hotels in Norway.  There is the Kirkenes Snow Hotel (located in Kirkenes, close to the Russian border), which features a special dinner cooked over open fire, a husky farm nearby, a sauna, and a reindeer park.  The Ice Lodge is another icy place to stay overnight.  Lastly, the Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel in Alta is the world’s northernmost ice hotel.  I haven’t been to any of these places, but I can’t wait.  It sounds like such a fun experience!

 
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Holmenkollen

Posted by Kari
Nov
7
2009

Holmenkollen ski jump (in Holmenkollen, Oslo) is one of Oslo’s main attractions, one that you will not want to miss.  It is host to the world’s second oldest ski jump competitition (that stil exists) and home to the oldest ski musuem in the world.  Over 1 million tourists visit the attraction every year.  I lived in Norway for 8 months and I visited it at least 5 times.  Every time I would have visitors stay with me, I would take them there and I think I visited it a couple times by myself just to walk around and relax.  It really is a beautiful place.

The Holmenkollbanen, a railway included in the T-bane system brings visitors to the Holmenkollen station where they get off and walk to the ski jump.  If I remember correctly, the ride from Oslo city center to Holmenkollen is about a half and hour long-it’s a pleasant ride.  The view is incredible-it overlooks the Oslofjord and the city of Oslo.  On a sunny day in the winter, the water from the Oslofjord glitters interacts very nicely with the white snow to produce a very bright and happy glimmer. 

The first competition at Holmenkollen was in January of 1892.  A crowd of 10,000 was in attendence to watch Svein Sollid win the competition by jumping 21.5 meters.  In 1923 the ski museum was opened.  The current tower was built in 1939 and since then, the ski jump has been upgraded 15 times.  Most of the upgrades occurred during the 1952 Winter Olympics.  Holmenkollen has also been host to nearly a dozen other nordic skiing and biathalon world championships. 

The Holmenkollen arena is a venue for cross-country skiing, nordic combined (cross-country and ski jumping), and biathalon skiing (cross-country and rifle shooting-one of the most popular sports in Norway).  Every year Holmenkollen hosts world cup biathalon competitions.  In March every year, Holmenkollen Weekend is an event the features mens 50 km cross-country skiing and the ski jump competition.  Before 2011, Holmenkollen will undergo another upgrade to prepare for the 2011 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships.  The decision to host this event has been a source of much controversy because the current Holmenkollen does not meet the standards to award the event.  Therefore, a lot of expensive changes must be made.  If you would like more details about the controversy or about what exactly the changes will be, search for ‘Holmenkollen ski jump controversy’. 

If you get a chance to visit Oslo, I highly recommend taking the Tbane up to Holmenkollen to walk around the arena, climb the stairs to nearly the top of the jump, and enjoy the fantastic view overlooking the Oslofjord.  It really is incredible.  I’m sure it will look just as nice or nicer after the changes are made by 2011. 

 
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jakt i Norge

Posted by Kari
Nov
2
2009

Hunting in Norway. 

My kjæreste (boyfriend) and I took our hund out yesterday pheasant (fasan) hunting.  Because our høst has been so kald with so much regn, most of the corn fields have not been harvested yet, and thus, it is difficult to hunt for fugler (birds) because they are protected by the corn.  We didn’t even see one fasan or any kind of bird that is legal to hunt, so it was quite disappointing.  I don’t have a hunting license and I don’t know that much about it, so for now, I just go along to be a spotter. 

Being out yesterday got me thinking about jakt i Norge.  I don’t recall any of my friends in Norway being jegere (hunters), but I know some of my family members are.  I’ve done a little research on jakt i Norge that I’d like to share with you in case any of you are jegere or just curious about the topic and perhaps how reglene (the rules) and reguleringer (regulations) differ from your hjemland (home country).   

For starters, I think the age requirements for jakt i Norge and in the state that I live in, Minnesota, are interesting.  In Minnesota, a child can be certified and begin hunting at the age of 11 (which is before junior high).  In Norway, a child can take the proficiency test at age 14, but cannot begin hunting until age 16.  At age 16 in Norway, it is legal to hunt for small game and to trap (all but gaupe, or lynx, which one must be 18 to hunt).  Large game hunting is permitted at 18 years of age.  The age difference for jakt i Norge and the United States is not unlike the age difference pertaining to consuming alkohol, being able å kjøre (to drive), and participate in a krig (war) in the two countries.  In the U.S., a child is allowed to shoot a gun 10 years prior to being able to consume alkohol, kjøre en bil (drive a car) 5 years before he/she can consume alkohol, and kjempe i en krig (fight in a war) 3 years before he/she can consume alkohol.  In Norway, the procession is quite different-one can gå på jakt and drikke alkohol 2 years before one can kjøre en bil or kjempe i en krig. 

Enough political thought and more about hunting…

Similar to the United States and I’m sure many other countries, one must pay a fee to obtain a license to hunt.  In Norway, as long as the jeger has permission, he/she can hunt on government property, state common land (a feature of southern Norway, from Nord-Trøndelag to the south and then also in northern Norway), and private property.  As far as what kinds of dyr (animals) people can hunt, it all depends on one’s status as a citizen of Norway.  Foreigners can hunt in Norway, but there are more regler and reguleringer that apply to non-nationals that live in Norway.  The Directorate for State Forests and Land and the Municipal Common Land Boards are responsible for hunting and processing applications.  You can find more information if you consult these sources.

Lastly, I would like to mention dyr that are commonly hunted in Norway:

rype-ptarmigan/grouse                               gjess-goose

elg-moose                                                    hare-hare

hjort-deer                                                    gaupe-lynx

villrein-wild reindeer                                  ulv-wolf

bjørn-bear                                                    vadefugler-wading birds

sjøfugler-sea birds                                      bever-beaver

and the list goes on….

happy jakt!

 

 
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Norge i et nøtteskall

Posted by Kari
Oct
24
2009

Norway in a nutshell is a fantastic way to see Norway’s natural beauty.  If you ever get the chance to do it, I highly recommend it.  I took the tour with my mother and brother over 5 years ago.  The weather wasn’t the best, but I can still say I have never seen anything more beatiful in my life than I did that day on the tour. 

Norge i et nøtteskall takes you through the breathtaking country by local train, regional train, tourist boat, and bus.  Some of the highlights include the Bergen railway, the Flåm railway, Nærøyfjord, Aurlandsfjord, and Stalheimskleiva.�  You see mountains, rivers, waterfalls, and beautiful fjords along the way. 

The Bergen railway is northern Europe’s highest altitude railway; it endures harsh weather for part of the year and thus requires extremely skilled technical expertise to maintain it and provide a safe, enjoyable experience for all who use it to get between Oslo and Bergen. 

The Flåm railway was one of my favorite parts of the trip.  It takes passengers from the mountain station of Myrdal down to Flam.  It is a fairly short leg of the trip, but the train travels slowly and makes several stops to really get good views. 

Once the train reaches Flåm, you have some free time to walk around until you board a tourist boat which sails through the Aurlandsfjord and into the Nærøyfjord, one of the narrowest fjords in Europe and also on UENSCO’s World Heritage List.  This part of the trip is pretty magical with the mountains surrounding you, views of traditional, picturesque Norwegian farms (if you’re lucky, you might see seals basking on rocks and goats grazing).

After the boat trip, the journey takes you by coach up the curvy, steep roads of Stalheimskleiva.  I remember looking out the bus window and seriously wondering if it would be possible to get up and down these narrow, steep, and extremely bendy turns.  Kudos to the bus driver.  This is the leg of the trip where you see waterfalls, including Stalheimsfossen and Sivlefossen.  From Voss, you can either go to west to Bergen or east to Oslo. 

The trip is not too expensive and it is completely worth it for what you get to see.  Before I sign off, I forgot the most interesting part.  At one of the waterfalls that we stopped at, a hulder emerged from the waterfall and was singing beautiful music.  She had a red dress on and donned a cow’s tail.  Huldrer are seductive forest creatures.  Needless to say, my 20 year old brother was impressed.  I had never before seen a cow woman pop out of a waterfall and belt out what sounded like magic fairy music.

 
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På kino

Posted by Kari
Aug
27
2009

Jeg vil gå på kino.  I want to go to the movies.  Usually summertime is the best season for movies, but it seems to me that the economy has hit Hollywood, as it has every other industry.  Perhaps some of you will disagree, but I have not been compelled to see very many movies på kino this summer.  In fact, I think I have only seen one-The Hangover.  Regardless, I still very much enjoy å gå på kino (to go to the movies).  I think you can get lost in the movie in a different way than you can hjemme (at home).  I usually do my best to ignore my fellow movie-goers.  I also try to not be the one that makes all the noise opening up boxes of godteri (candy) and bags of popcorn (same as English).  �

Which brings me to my experiences på kino in Norway.  I think I have only seen a few movies på kino in Norway.  Honestly, the most distinct memory I have is of a wide variety of godteri and drikker (drinks).  Although it is slightly distracting to have people chomping on their godteri and slurping their drikker, it is kind of fun to have so many choices for goodies!  I felt like I was in a candy store.  As I have explored more about Oslokino I have discovered that they serve great kaffe (coffee) at Kaffebrenneriet (one of the yummiest coffee brewers in town) and kake (cake).  Think of good coffee and tasty desserts at a kino! 

Another new thing that I just discovered is that Norwegians have established a babykino, which is a movie theater where mor og far (mother and father) kan ta med babyen (take the baby with) på kino and have plenty of room to bring in the stoller and rock the baby.  How cool is that?  Parents who want to gå på kino but don’t want to hire a babysitter can bring the baby with! 

As a foreigner, one negative aspect about going på kino in Norway is the harsh cost of the billetter (tickets)-about twice the pris it is in the U.S.  However, the cost of going to the babykino for mothers and fathers is actually quite cheap.  One postive thing that has changed about going på kino three years ago when I lived there and now is that it seems that the same filmer (movies) we have here right now are the same filmer that nordmenn can see på kino too.  Until recently, it took months for the newly released filmer here to reach Norway. 

Å gå på kino is a lot of fun, and now you can see the newest filmer på kino in Norway now, and you can take your baby and have room to walk around with a stroller!  I wonder if other countries have welcomed babies into their movie theaters….

 
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