Oslo has been my adopted home for 20 years. I am from Paris originally and have been working at Reuters for 15 years, where I’ve covered news ranging from the Norwegian oil and gas industry to its $1.9 trillion sovereign wealth fund to the annual awarding of the Nobel Prize.
The Norwegian capital, which historically played second fiddle to its bigger, more glamorous cousins Copenhagen and Stockholm, now has excellent restaurants and world-class museums, such as a recently opened one dedicated to Edvard Munch and the National Museum, which has moved to a new, larger home. Still, nature is never far.
Here are few insider tips:
Getting around: Oslo is a compact city, so I walk or cycle everywhere. If I need to go a little further afield, I will jump on a tram, bus or ferry. Nearly all public transport runs on electric power, part of the city council’s efforts to cut Oslo’s greenhouse gas emissions. Everyone speaks English, so it is easy to communicate. The Reuters bureau is off the Norwegian “Fleet Street”, called Akersgata, in the centre of town, which makes it easy for our team to run to parliament, the courts or a ministry.
Mixed looks: I can spot locals because they wear hiking shoes in the city. Office workers will commute in them and then switch to an indoor pair they keep under their desks. A typical look would involve a brightly coloured wind jacket over a pair of black trousers or jeans. I bought myself a wind jacket from Stormberg, a local brand that is widely popular, for about 1,000 NOK ($90).
What to eat: At home, my husband and I will often cook finnbiff, a creamy reindeer stew, served with mashed potatoes and lingonberry jam on the side. Most supermarkets will stock reindeer meat in the frozen department. It costs about 430 NOK per kg ($39), compared with 400 NOK per kg ($36) for a beef entrecote.
In a restaurant, I love a good reindeer steak with roasted root vegetables. My favourite is Helt Vilt (which means “completely wild”) at the Mathallen foodhall in the Grünerløkka district (Address: Vulkan 5), my neighbourhood, an area with buildings painted in different shades of pastel colours.
Hot ticket: Locals head to the waterfront in front of the Opera House and book an hour at one of the floating saunas anchored in the harbour. Ninety minutes in a sauna shared with eight people costs 290 NOK ($26) per person. Jump in the Oslo fjord, get back into the sauna in the winter and hang out on the terrace in the summer with a pint of beer. Floating saunas have popped up in recent years and are a hit with fitness freaks and families.
Faux pas: Do not small talk with Norwegians. They will get suspicious of your motives. Instead, get right to the point. I learned that lesson after a week of making phone calls for stories. People interrupted me to ask: “Can you please tell me what you want?”
Getting away: I take tube line 1 from any station in central Oslo and within 20 minutes I am surrounded by hills and lush pine woods interspersed with lakes. In the winter, I cross-country ski on one of the numerous lit tracks. I stop at a chalet to have a hot chocolate with cream before heading back to town. In the summer, I camp out and dive in a lake for a (refreshing) morning bath.
To read: I am a fan of local author Zeshan Shakar, whose three novels (“Our Street”, “Yellow Book”, and “They Call Me The Wolf”) nail various facets of the immigrant experience in the eastern suburbs of Oslo. And his descriptions of the city are spot on, especially how the different ministries coped after a bomb attack by a far-right fanatic in 2011 in the heart of the government district.
Unfortunately, Shakar’s books are not yet available in English. But Norwegian author Lars Saabye Christensen has been translated. His 2001 novel “The Half Brother” is a dramatic and surreal saga of two siblings growing up in Oslo after World War Two.
Local news source: Vink, the going-out section of the national news daily Aftenposten, is a very good source for locals on where to eat, drink and catch the latest show. It is in Norwegian only, so Google Translate it to English. There is no local news source in English.
Going out: I love the Oslo Opera House. It rises from the Oslo fjord like a giant iceberg. Inside, it runs an excellent programme of classical and modern ballet and opera. A ticket in the orchestra section sets you back about 900 NOK ($81). Even if you aren’t a music fan, the opera house has the best public bathrooms, with gorgeous copper and giant cubicle doors. They are open to all because in social-democratic Scandinavia, free access is a must.
Be prepared: Norway is an expensive country so prepare to pay over 110 crowns ($10) for a pint of beer. I used to rage about it every time I paid for something. But that is exhausting, so I just resign myself and pay the extortionate prices.
DATA POINTS
Price of cup of coffee: NOK 38 ($3.40) at Kaffebrenneriet; order it black
Great place to see a sunset: Akershus Festning (Akershus Fortress) on the waterfront
Price of eggs: NOK 46.70 ($4.20) per dozen, at Kiwi supermarket
Popular car: Tesla Model 3, NOK 324,990 ($29,250)
Largest university: University of Oslo, 26,100 students (Gwladys Fouche/Reuters)
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