Vigeland Park in Oslo
Note: This post originally appeared at Travelocity.com.
I had a crush on a girl in Oslo, so I went. It took 24 hours to travel to Norway’s capital via train and ship from Berlin, but it would be worth it because she was there.
Arriving the morning of New Year’s Eve, it was a winter wonderland, with two feet of newly fallen snow. That first day is a blur, with visits to Frogner Park, the Holmenkollen ski jump and the Royal Palace. We had dinner at her cousins’ house above the city, where neighbors had lit candles in their front yards, illuminating the snow and giving the effect of a full moon every 50 feet. At midnight everyone came outside and lit fireworks in front of their homes, adding color to the black and white scene. I fell in love that trip – not with the girl I went to visit, but with Oslo.
It was eight years until I would visit a second time, this time in summer. Backpacking around Norway with a friend, we stopped in Oslo. If winters encouraged people to stay in their homes, start fires and get cozy, summers did the opposite, pulling people into the city and into the parks with its warmer temperatures and barely-ending daylight. That’s the image that has stayed with me all these years – group after group of young people on the wide expanse of Frogner Park barbecuing, singing, playing Frisbee and appreciating the long days. The fountains and flowers only added to the scene. Norway in summer was truly perfect.
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I can understand how you fell in love WITH Oslo, it’s such a beautiful city. We were lucky enough to go around ten years ago, and headed to Tromso for the Aurora, which we saw, briefly. Can’t wait to return to both places…with our daughter!
Very cool – I still haven’t seen the Northern Lights anywhere. Someday!
Would you recommend Oslo for new year with two kids aged 1 and 4? Thanks.
It will be cold and dark, and possibly snowy. If you have an agenda and don’t mind bundling them up a lot, sure. People go out with their kids all the time there. But we’ve done snowy destinations several times with young kids and, while playing in a lot of snow has been fun for them, beaches and warm destinations sure are easier!