Ice-skating
Needless to say, you can go ice-skating in the capital of Norway. It is a great sensation – particularly if you have someone to hold hands with. It is great fun, no matter if you are an experienced skater, or if you look like Bambi on the ice rink! Entrance is free and you can rent ice skates.
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Frogner Stadion, Frognerveien 67
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Narvisen, Karl Johans Gate, at Saras Tent.
The ice rink is open every day between 11 A.M. and 9 P.M., but there is a break for maintenance at 4 P.M.
Munch Museum
The Scream by Edvard Munch has returned home after it was stolen, and you can see it when you visit the Edvard Munch museum, which is well organized and very charming.
For the moment the painting is being restored, but it will be back on display in 2008. Until then, you have to content yourself with an original sketch for The Scream by Munch. Through big windows, you can follow the restoration process of some of Munch's works of art.
Besides the small permanent collection which contains The Scream, Vampire, Madonna and The Sick Child, as well as woodcuts, lithographs, and photographs, there are changing exhibitions all of the time.
The museum has a café with a big and lovely terrace in the middle of the impressive vegetation, where you are encouraged to sit and relax after your visit. Content yourself with a cup of coffee or a soda, since the food isn’t good.
Open Tuesdays through Fridays 10 am to 4 pm, Saturdays and Sundays 11 am to 5 pm, September through May. Daily 10 am to 6 pm June through August.
You can go on the T-track. Get off at Tøyen and walk for five minutes.
MUNCH MUSEUM,
Tøyengata 53,
www.munch.museum.no
Edvard Munch's House
If you want to explore more of Munch’s universe, pay a visit to his house.
As a restless bohemian artist, Munch had many homes through his life, but this one had a special place in his heart. In his journal he wrote that it was: "The only pleasant house that I have lived in."
Today, the house has been transformed into a gallery where you can see more of his work.
EDVARD MUNCH'S HOUSE,
Edvard Munchsgate, 25, Asgårdstrand
Botanical Garden
Not far from the Munch museum is Botanisk Hage, the Botanical Garden, a lovely place with its own scent garden, which in itself makes the place worth visiting. You can enter the Botanical Garden from Sars Gate, Jens Bjelkes Gate and Monards Gate.
Go for mountain hike
Do as the residents of Oslo who go out of town for a hike in the mountains.
It’s all about getting up in the hills and going from one hut (marka-stue) to the next. In each hut you can get drinks and snacks or pastry. This is really one of Oslo’s greatest qualities: In no time you can get out of town and be in the middle of a magnificent landscape.
Some suggestions for excursions:
• Take the T-track to Sognsvann (last stop) and walk up to Ullevållsæter, which serves Norwegian home-cooking and warm waffles. Or continue to Tryvannstua.
• Frognerseteren is the most popular starting point for a hike. The trip with the "Trik" (the T-track) from the center to Frognerseteren is an experience in itself, with an amazing view over the city and the hills. At Frognerseteren you step right out of the train and onto the marked-out walking paths. Within a short distance, you will find the first one of the huts: Tryvannstua, which serves coffee, buns, waffles, warm dishes and ”smørrebrød” (open sandwiches).
• Take the T-track to Holmenkollen, which lasts about 20 minutes. Oslo’s outdoors sports Mecca where you can find everything. If you don’t want to just wander from one hut to another, you can go downhill skiing, snowboarding, cycling, fishing and hiking. Or try the main attraction: The 197-foot ski jump!
www.holmenkollen.wp.karbon.no
• Another great winter activity: Go on the T-track to the top of Korketrekkeren, where you will find the most amazing toboggan run. It is the old bobsleigh track from the Olympic Winter Games in 1952. Rush two miles down the track with the wind in your hair on a wooden sledge – and take the train back up again.
By Mette Lomholdt