Image by Andrea Chirulescu

The Korketrekkeren is a famous tobogganing track at winter, where both adults and kids pick up or rent sledges and slide down for quite a distance on a track that follows an old Olympic bobsleigh run.

In the summer though, the fun is not in the same category. Unless you can find a of sleigh that goes down the dirt road. But I went down the track by foot a couple of times and I find it as pleasant as any other track through the woods surrounding Oslo.

And its big advantage is that you just take the subway 1 to the last station, Frognerseteren and walk down to the run to another station. The bonuses I got were some of the coolest views over the city and fjord, funny leftovers from the winter time – broken sledges, and even some clothing items.

I haven’t done it, but I saw many who just ride their mountain bikes down. Plus the track passes by the famous ski jumping Holmenkollen (check the Holmenkollen article), so you get to check its looks as well (to visit it, you need to walk away from the track).

For berries lovers like me, it can be a paradise at the beginning of the track if the season is right. Sometime in August, that is.

Info about weather and a webcam can be found at the Norwegian sleigh association.

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Korketrekkeren | Relaxing
Frognerseter | West Oslo
24 hours daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Oslo

Image by Andrea Chirulescu

One of the biggest metal events in Norway, Inferno Festival, is held every year usually during the Easter weekend. The main venue is Rockefeller Music Hall, but a second stage is hosted by John Dee, with plenty of bands performing from Thursday to Saturday. Besides these two, the festival has a club day on Wednesday in clubs in the city. A list of venues can be found here.

For 2012, which will be held between 4-7 April, we already have names like Arcturus, Borknagar, Triptykon, Solstafir, Autopsy. According to the website, the capacity is of 1500 people per day. And despite the fact that I wandered around people mainly dressed in black, with ‘mean’ tattoos, t-shirts, spikes and long hair, I felt a fantastic atmosphere. The good mood is just floating in the air as everyone gets either to see their favorite band or a good unexpected performance. Or one can get a new tattoo or haircut.

In 2010, there was another extra event held at the Viking ship museum where Wardruna, a musical project exploring old Norwegian music and instruments, delivered a breath taking show. They also try to have a contract with a local hotel where most bands stay so you get a chance to run into your favorite musician. Among the previous headliners, I can mention Emperor, Immortal, Marduk, Opeth, Ihsahn, Overkill, Paradise Lost. You can check the list of all names here.

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Inferno Festival | Art & culture, Festivals & events, Music | Festival pass all days NOK 1350
Torggata 16 | Grünerløkka
4 days a year | 4 – 7 Apr 2012

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Oslo

Image by Andrea Chirulescu

Akershus Fortress or Castle, is, according to Wikipedia, a medieval castle that was built to protect Oslo, the capital of Norway. It has also been used as a prison. It is located along the coastline, very close to the touristic harbor and the City hall. It’s a walkable distance from any place between the Central Station and National Theater.

Its alleys are all paved with grey stones and it feels like they only go up. There are guards in few designated spots and sometimes they have to patrol around. They are not allowed to talk to the crowd as far as I understood. On the highest points located towards the sea I like having a look at one of the many displayed cannons, the huge cruise boats or simply enjoy the awesome panorama over the harbor and Aker Brygge.

In addition to the castle, it hosts the Norwegian armed forces and resistance museums but you can also just visit the castle itself. I often had encounters with police on horses since at the bottom of the fortress there are many stables.

Right next to the walls of the castle there is a wide green area where people can go for a barbecue, concerts and festivals (Oslo live festival). During big sporting events, the city sets up huge screens where events can be watched.

Inside the fortress there is a small pond with a stage and I was lucky enough to catch an orchestra concert of a military orchestra or fanfare. Activities are listed here.

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Akershus festning | Art & culture, Festivals & events | Free
Akershus festning | Centre
06:00 – 21:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Oslo

Image by Andrea Chirulescu

A 1.5 hours trip in a traditional sailing ship that picks you up from the touristic harbor in the city center, right by the City Hall (same pier as the boat leaving to Bigdøy, just on the other side) and slowly takes you to see the interesting Opera house, you go through the main islands close to the city harbor and then the last stop is at Bigdøy, the area hosting famous Oslo museums such as The Vikingship museum, Folk museum, Fram museum or the maritime museum. You can obviously step off (or on) at any of these locations if you desire.

But I personally recommend a full trip in the boat since it’s a rather relaxing experience to sit on the deck (mainly with good friends around) and simply enjoy the view and the fresh breeze. If lucky, the warm sun as well. Another bonus offered by such a cruise is that it allows you to view the objectives mentioned above, and also the Akershus Castle (check the Akershus castle article), from totally different angles than what the shore offers.

It was also a lot of fun to wave at people who were either getting fried under the warm sun on the islands or spending some time on the deck of those huge cruise boats that we passed by.

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Oslo Mini Cruise | Relaxing | Adults NOK 175
Rådhusbrygge 3 | Centre | +4723356890
Departure from Pier 3 (Rådhusbrygge 3, in front of City Hall) 09.45, 11.15, 12.45, 14.15

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Oslo

Image by Andrea Chirulescu

If you fancy the idea of eating in a wide cellar, brick walls, arches and ceiling, the only source of light being hundreds of candles, walls decorated with byzantine icons and motifs and having hundreds of wines to choose from, then you should definitely try Klosteret in Oslo. The address is Fredensborgveien 13, 0177 and that is close to Deichmanske Main Library.

The menu is a combination of Norwegian and many international foods and the desserts make you wish you had more fingers to lick after. I consider it also rather pricey, but the service was very good (and I can’t stress enough about food quality) and the unique atmosphere in the local makes it worthy occasionally. Plus they really know how to combine the wines and the foods for an enhanced taste experience.

The name of the place translates as ‘The Monastery’. They play acapella Gregorian light music at a very decent volume that easily gets covered by people’s voices if too crowded. But you can easily hear it when paying tribute to mother nature.

All in all it manages to create a romantic atmosphere despite the wideness of the cellar and the fact that tables are not that separated. And for the connoisseurs, the restaurant’s wine cellar was awarded “Best of Award of Excellence” for five years in a row.

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Klosteret | Restaurants (Intern.) | Set Menu 3 courses NOK 475
Fredensborgveien 13 | St Hanshaugen | +4723354900
Mon – Fri 17:00 – 00:30, Sat 18:00 – 00:30

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Oslo

Image by Andrea Chirulescu

I went to this ‘shop’ as I thought of making my mum an original and personalised gift and this was exactly the right place for my plan. Once in there, all I had to do was to chose a ‘white’ object . Actually wash my hands first and be handed an apron. ‘White’ object is anything from various sized and shaped cups, plates, bowls, vases, animals, etc made of pottery. They have about 100 different models.

Afterwards I could either make a drawing, use one of the shaped sponges or existing shapes in the shop. Then pick a color, a seat and start working. I covered my palms with paint and put my palms on the side of the cup for example. People around me were painting the cups completely, making drawings and writing words on them. Once I am done, the object is left in the shop for a week so it can be laced and dried.

All along the process a nice lady shows you how to handle stuff, gives you tips and makes sure you have everything you need for your work of art. And she can make coffee, tea or chocolate which, unfortunately, you can’t yet drink from your personalised cup. The cool thing is that the objects waiting to be picked up by their owners are all over the place so you can be inspired.

The place is ideal for a cozy afternoon with friends when you feel like doing something totally different.

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Glazed and amused | Art & culture, Coffee & tea, Relaxing
Markveien 25 | Grünerløkka
Tue – Thu 13:00 – 19:00, Fri & Sun 13:00 – 18:00, Sat 11:00 – 18:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Oslo

Image by Andrea Chirulescu

When some other Thai places in the area of Youngstorget happened to be rather full on a weekend afternoon, I wandered around with my friends until we came across this friendly place. I remember I was quite impressed by the speed of their service.

The menu consists of a really wide variety of Thai foods, most of them available with different types of meat to satisfy everyone’s preferences. As many restaurants with so many items on the menu, you would never probably end up giving it the max of stars, but both me and my friends were really satisfied with the taste and content of the ordered food. And they respected the level of spiciness that everyone asked for.

As it turns out after reading on the restaurant’s ‘about’ page, the cook used to work at the Thai Embassy for 4 years and then decided to open her own place.

They also have a take away system which makes it easier for those not willing to eat out, so check the menu page if you want to place an order.

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Thai Orchid | Restaurants (Thai) | Main Meal NOK 115
Calmeyersgate 11 | Centre | +4722694902
Mon – Sat 11:00 – 22:00, Sun 14:00 – 21:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Oslo

Image by Andrea Chirulescu

The Holmenkollen area in Oslo has been a ski recreation zone since the late 19th century with the main landmark being the Holmenkollen ski jump. Currently it is probably the most visited and famous spot in the city.

The resort ski museum with objects, images and videos from all editions of winter Olympic Games, skis dated hundred of years back, equipment that belonged to famous sport people or royal families. I read about the countless types of ski-wax or ice/snow types, went all the way up in the tower and tried the ski simulator.

In the summer you can hike around the area through the beautiful and relaxing forest, visit the chapel built in 1903 or simply move along to other locations around Oslo. Be sure you have checked the tracks and their availability.

In the winter, a lot of cross country ski tracks start here.

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Holmenkollen | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Holmenkollen | West Oslo
Oct – Apr 10:00 -16:00, May – Sep 10:00 – 17:00, Jun – Aug 09:00 – 20:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Oslo

Image by Andrea Chirulescu

The Fram museum, with its triangle shaped like building and the polar bear greeting you at the entrance, is the perfect place to learn about expeditions to the North or South Pole and Greenland as they were explored by Norwegians who are now local heroes.

In the middle of the museum there is the world’s most famous polar ship, the Fram, from 1892 which has been preserved with its original contents and everyone is welcome on board to walk all over and see how life was on it. All over the walls you see maps, pieces of history, books, clothes, medical and other use objects, food, tools, you name it that have traveled to these extreme places and make you understand the craziness of the explorers.

There is also a small selection of animals from the Polar region, but I find those impossible heavy objects much more fascinating. Not to mention the view you have from the museum’s windows or terrace over the Oslo harbor, making it perfect for a drink/snack before oyu head back to town in the boat that stops right next to the museum.

Here you can check the exposed collections, and here is a list of exhibitions.

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Fram museum | Art & culture | Adults NOK 60
Bygdøynesveien 36 | Bygdøy/Frogner | +4723282950
Nov – Feb 10:00 – 15:00 | Mar – Apr & Oct 10:00 – 16:00 | May & Sep 10:00 – 17:00 | Jun – Aug 09:00 – 18:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Oslo

Image by Andrea Chirulescu

I enjoy walks in nature, good food or a movie, a party, but I also find it difficult to refuse to try anything that doesn’t always fit in everyday life’s activities. Especially for someone who’s way over 15 years old.

Megazone is the place to experiment with paintball, indoor lasergames (paintball without paint, but with laser and in a dark room), rodeo, obstacle race, a sumo fight or a gladiator fight.

I was lucky to gather a big bunch of friends and we had 30 minutes of laser fight – which felt like max 5 since it was way too fun to chase everyone around in that SciFi like room. Then we went on to riding those mechanical bulls and being thrown on the soft rubber mattresses, followed by an obstacle race in which you had to crawl under, jump over, run through various obstacles and reach the button with the color of your team. We ended up in hilarious big sumo suits, pushing each other off a round soft carpet.

The place was packed with kids, and me and my friends were a bit out of place that afternoon, but that didn’t diminish the fun at all. You also need to keep in mind that Megazone can organize birthday parties as well as company team building events, so they’re probably used to handling people of all ages. And they’re also very helpful in the unfortunate events of injuries, which a few of us had…

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Megazone | Relaxing | Lasergame NOK 190
Møllergata 24 | Centre | +4722988550
Mon – Fri 14:00 – 22:00, Sat 11:00 – 23:00, Sun 13:00 – 21:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Oslo