Oslo Off The Beaten Path

Part of the urban renewal process of Grünerløkka was also creation of several parks and squares. This small triangle area was turned into a green oasis with the play of water as the main element.

The Alexander Kiellands plass was designed by landscape architects Amund Johne, Lars Flugsrud, Åsa Hjorth and Askild Nilsen and features a fountain and a series of water steps that are obviously very popular among the local kids. After the construction of the park in 2001 many cafes and other businesses opened in surrounding houses creating a new urban focus in former industrial neighbourhood of Grünerløkka.

Alexander Kiellands Plass is one of the best examples of the so called "low cost - high return" urban interventions and one of the most imaginative small urban spaces I've seen lately.

Definatelly my favourite place in Oslo!!!! Well, maybe it's because I'm partially biologist but botanical garden and all that museums of natural history around are made greatest impresion of me. I spent there many days and every time I visited Oslo (and I did it almost every weekend during 3 months).

The Botanical Garden
P.O.Box 1172 Blindern
N-0318 Oslo

If you're on the metro number 5 to Vestli you'll see a building from the window. it's Bredtvet prison for Women. You can actually walk by the prison. If you're lucky you may see some famous prisoners and if you're not lucky you might end up here.

This is my birth place and it's one of the few attractions that I don't really hope you feel the need to visit inside. but if you get sick you know where to go.

Health and Social Services

in 1984 the Norwegian government introduced a limit for how much people have to pay for medical and psychological visits and for vital medicines during the year. in 2010 the limit is set at NOK 1840
Parliment has also passed a law to ensure that all people who are seriously ill will not have to wait longer than three months to receive care.

Update may 1010 : it's decided that this hospital will close, and it will be used for something else. luckily we have some other hospitals in this town, I hope there's room enough for all of us...

Just off the shores of Oslo is an exciting landscape of islands and penninsulas. Some of these are more than just accessible, you can stay overnight in a series of small vabins and houses that are open to you for a small fee. In the middle of the summer everything may be pre-booked, but either if you plan of if you are slightly off-season there is a good chance you can find yourself staying overnight in a lonely cabin just off the Oslo city shore. For all the options and how to reach these places, you should confer the web site to Kystleden (Coastal Trail) at the Oslofjorden Outdoor Association, see below.

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When the temperatures drop, boy do they drop, and the land turns white, Norwegians dust off their ski s and hit the ground running. (SO not fair, skiing is like walking for most of them - damn - doesn't help that I come from the desert eh?) Around the holidays folks in OSLO like to get outta dodge and go to one of many surrounding ski areas. My host Stian picked Hemsedal for the right mix of challenging skiiing as well as social life (or afterski as Norwegians refer to it). While it was far relatively speaking, seemingly not reachable by train, (about a 3 1/2 car ride) but this is a great place to go for skiing(not my specialty) and afterski (my specialty). The ski lift ticket is what you would expect at any premier US mountain, the after ski FAR superior, kind of like a winter spring break. Oh , and as usual, NO ONE was a tourist !!

T-bane, Line 3 gives you another enticing cameo of the Norwegian countryside , when you arrive at its last stop, Sognsvann. Leaving the station, walk downhill for a few minutes and hold your breath. If in doubt about direction, follow the dog walkers and groups of highschool students jogging with their teachers. Enjoy the bracing , pine-fragrant air and gasp with pleasure as the full vista of a Scandinavian lake in the midst of a forest, unrolls before your eyes.

This is the Sognsvannet lake and if you're feeling energetic you can hike the 4kms trail around its shore. We walked for about 30 minutes then perched on a large rock protruding out onto the water and drooled. This was how I had envisaged the Norwegian countryside and it's so satisfying when your mental images are reflected back to you in reality.

Eventually, Norway being so like Ireland in some respects, it started to rain and we set off back to the city. This little trip and the one to Frognerseteren are two of my most precious memories of Oslo and the ones that made the trip worth making all on their own.

The best tips I got from other VTr's pages on Oslo were the ones about getting into the countryside while still on Oslo city transport. Friday morning dawned dry and bright ( a major miracle ) and straight after breakfast we headed for the tram and then the metro. T-bane, line 1, last stop Frognerseteren was where I was headed and like so many others beore me, I was not disappointed.

After about 10 minutes the metro comes out of the tunnel and climbs steadily into the hills above the city. The views, in places are specatacular but for much of the time you are chugging at a steady pace through heavily forested landscapes with picture perfect wooden houses thrown casually amongst the trees. The change from city to countryside comes so quickly, it's hard to take in at first but the trip just gets more and more delightful, the higher you go.

Eventually, thanks to the kindness of an elderly lady, we understood that the line was closed for repairs and we must get out and take a bus to reach the end of the line. Disembarking, in a tiny little station surrounded by enormous conifers was thrilling and reminded me of our trip on the steam train to the top of the Brocken in the Harz mountains in Germany.

The rest of the jourmey by bus, past the Holmenkollen ski jump ,was not as exciting as the train trip and when we arrived at Frognerseteren, a haze had settled over the city, making photos a disaster. We enjoyed exploring some of the forest trails here before catching the bus back and got off at a few places to savour the landscape and peek at the houses of the wealthy.

We really loved this little taste of Norway in Oslo and for the cost of a single public transport ticket, it's a steal.