Oslo

I have been wandering a little of late. Olso, London, Edinburgh. Let's start with Oslo.

I was there for a work meeting, arrived on a Tuesday evening to find out that Justin Bieber was playing in Oslo the 3 nights I was there. I had wondered why the hotels were so expensive.....they were full of teenage girls and their mums. Teenage girls who all seemed to be blond, wearing skinny jeans and hoodies that said I Love Justin Bieber. Oh well, I guess somebody must.....

I had to laugh when the girl at the hotel checking me in said "please tell me you are not here to see Justin Bieber?" 

Oslo is a city that is growing and developing. I was last there in 2007 and the difference along the waterfront is quite spectacular....new architecture everywhere. The amazing opera house designed by Snohetta, the new Astrup Fearnley Museum designed by Renzo Piano and the Barcode by Lund Hagem architects.....check out this article by Arch Daily for more information.

Astrup Fearnley Museum

Barcode

Opera House 

Astrup Fearnley

Of course there is also old architecture and art....try the Frogner Park, the largest single artist sculpture park in the world, with 200 pieces by Norwegian artist, Gustav Vigeland. It is a beautiful place to wander, the statues are all of people taking part in various pursuits: running, hugging whilst others are more abstract, such as the central pillar. The park is one of the most visited attractions in Oslo.

The main sculpture area

The park gates

I didn't visit any other museums this trip as I visited almost all the museums on Oslo in 2007, when it rained and rained on my visit - the Fram Museum, where Amundsen's Polar ship is; the Kon Tiki Museum where Thor Heyerdal's reed raft is housed, his adventures amazed me as a child; the amazing Viking Ship Museum - do you see the ship theme here?

One of our meetings was held in Oslo's new foodhall called Mathallen which has a number of shop/cafes and we had a lovely tapas style lunch there. 

Mathallen is built in an area of the city that is now called Vulkan, a neighbourhood for creative businesses to the north of the city centre, in a once industrial area and the foodhall sits nicely inside an old building which was built in 1903. 

We also had dinner with the mayor in City Hall and a guided tour of this building where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded each year. Construction started in 1931 but was not completed until after World War 2. The building is representative of Norway's history and full of murals painted by Norwegian artists. 

Oslo City Hall

I also got to meet the lovely Anne-Marie from Life in Yonder! So nice to meet "blog friends" and realise that if we did live in the same city we may very well be "real life friends". If you haven't been to Anne- Marie's blog pop over and say hello! Thank you again for taking time out to meet me Anne Marie!