Oslo in summer

I love Oslo. I have friends living there, and I try to visit them at least once a year, as each visit feels like a little vacation. They are in a band called Gazpacho (http://www.gazpachoworld.com) and every time they play a gig in Oslo I feel it is too good an excuse not to go visit them for a couple of days.

Oslo is home to nearly 600,000 Norwegians, and while a large percentage of Norwegians live in Oslo and its surroundings, this is the second-smallest capital in Scandinavia (the smallest being Reykjavik).
Evenso it is a pretty big city, yet it doesn’t really feel that way. The centre is rather compact and most of the main sights are within walking distance of each other.

At the northern end of the csentre is the Royal Palace, while at the southern end, a mere twenty minute walk, you find the Akershus Slott - most of the main attractions are situated in between.

For a proper visit to Oslo you'll need at least several days, especially if you want to see all the museums. However, safe the museums for the days of bad weather, and enjoy the open air attractions when the sun is out.

The 17th century Akershus Castle and 13th century fortress which surrounds it are well worth a visit. Strikingly situated overlooking Oslo's harbour, this is a great place to be when the weather is nice.

Just outside of the centre is the Vigaland park, a showcase of Norway's best loved sculpture Gustav Vigeland. The centrepiece of this park is a 14 metre high granite monolith in/on/around which 121 figures are sculpted.

These highly detailed figures represent the various stages of life, including erm you know what, and many an Oslo teenager learned his first forays into advanced anatomy from this statue.
This is a great place to go for a prolonged stroll, a lovely green park and a sculpture museum in one.
Oh, and if you go there, don't forget to take your camera like yours truly did. :)

Another nice place to visit is the Holmenkollen, a big ski jump perched on a hilltop offering terrific views over greater Oslo. Holmenkollen is great all year round, as it offers great hiking in summer, and skiing or sledding in winter.

 

I spent one day with my mate Thomas at his cabin in the woods. Like most Oslo residents his family has a little cabin just outside Oslo city limits, on one of the islands in the Oslofjord.

It was a true boy’s night out. Barbecueing sausages, washing them down with cold beer, listening to some good music and talking about life, the universe and everything.

Although Oslo is too far south to experience the midnight sun, it doesn’t really get dark here in summer either. At around 2 in the morning we saw the sun just dip behind the mountains, only to reappear again at almost the same spot a couple of hours later (yup, it was one of *those* nights)

My other trips to Oslo have been less touristy and mainly consisted of visiting my friends, and going to concerts. Somehow I don't really feel a tourist in this place anymore. Going to Olso feels no different as going to Amsterdam for example - there is lots of stuff I haven't seen in Amsterdam either. Guess I have to leave some things to see for next trips.