Oslo, Norway: Design, Reindeer Meat, and Oh Yeah, the Nobel Peace Prize

It was a rough start to our Oslo trip for Sam and I. The train from the airport was not running so we had to take the bus, which takes an hour. That bus ride turned into over two hours due to a horrible traffic jam on the highway. The automatic key for our room has an issue and is not working properly so we had to deal with that when we checked into our poshtel (a fancy hostel). Luckily I grabbed a few yogurts at the bus station last night since it was too late and we were too tired to go out, so we had fine dining of granola bars and yogurt for our first meal in Oslo. You just have to go to bed and get a good night’s sleep to start over the next day.

img_89191small — Granola bars and yogurt, our first meal in Oslo

Today we headed out to explore Oslo. In addition to visiting the neighborhood of Grunerlokka (more on that in a future blog post), we walked around the central area of the city near our poshtel. A few things that struck me about Oslo.

DESIGN

I love Scandinavian design, for both clothing and interiors, and Oslo does not disappoint. I could walk around for hours photographing window displays. The Danes are very predominantly represented with the modern aesthetic of Lucie Kaas, Normann Copenhagen, Bodum (originally Danish, now in Switzerland), and the traditional style of Royal Copenhagen. The Finns are not left out with Marimekko.

img_8935small — Very stylish Bodum pieces

Hotel Bondeheimen has beautiful Norwegian clothing and items for the home and Moods of Norway has whimsical items that are practical and interesting.

img_9454small — Norwegian items, Hotel Bondeheimen

img_9455small — Norwegian items, Hotel Bondeheimen

Don’t forget the practical outdoor gear and iconic backpack developed by the Swedish company Fjallraven.

img_9380small — Fjallraven Kanken (backpack)

There are beautiful showrooms on the high end and low end of price points.

img_9462small — Backe I Grensen, beautiful, high end price point

img_9461small — Backe I Grensen, beautiful, high end price point

img_9463small — Lagerhaus, beautiful, lower end price point

img_9464small — Lagerhaus, beautiful, lower end price point

img_89371small — Flying Tiger, stylish low end price point

img_8936small — Flying Tiger, stylish low end price point

REINDEER MEAT

After our meal of granola bars and yogurt last night, I wanted something a bit more complete tonight. We went to a traditional Norwegian restaurant, Kaffistova, that served meals cafeteria style. You got your tray, picked out your main course and were offered a choice of sides. It was really good, salmon with cream sauce, boiled potato, grilled veg on one plact and those same sides with reindeer meat on the other.The reindeer was made into a tasty meatloaf with gravy. Everything was accompanied by a scoop of lingonberry sauce available in a huge bowl at the cash register. I don’t think I could tell the difference between lingonberry or cranberry sauce if blindfolded, very similar and delicious.

img_9452small — Salmon and reindeer meatloaf

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

We walked to all of the different places we went, including to the water where the Nobel Peace Center is located. It is the museum about the Nobel Peace Prize. The other prizes that Alfred Nobel endowed in his will, physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and economics, are all awarded by a Swedish committee and the prizes are presented in Stockholm. The Peace Prize is the only one awarded by a Norwegian committee and presented in Oslo.

img_9445small — Nobel Peace Center, Oslo

More images from our day of walking in Oslo.

I always like to go to a grocery store when I travel. I feel that the convenience stores and kiosks at train stations and near hotels and tourists areas are not a true representation of people that live there really eat. They are also so pricey so if I need anything, I try to buy from a local grocery store. These seemed to be popular products so I looked up what they were. Leverpostei is a meat spread made from pork liver and lard…..pass on that, and Stabbur Makrell is mackerel fillets in tomato sauce….pass on that as well.

img_9397small — Leverpostei and mackerel fillets in tomato sauce

img_9417small — Lots of warm comfy places to sit

This is on the side of the Oslo central train station. It is a work of Adel Abidin entitled “Camel Toe”. I have heard there are some more quirky outside nudes in Oslo, more to report on that after the outdoor sculpture garden!

Kunsthandverkerne is a craft art cooperative located on the same street as our hotel. I could not help but stop in when I saw this beautiful textile exhibit. The draping of the pieces and the natural fibers reminded me of Japanese textiles. They had other beautiful handmade items of glass, pottery and textiles in the shop.