Drobak (Drøbak)

This city is known as the Summer place where Santa Claus lives when not in the North Pole.

There is a Christmas shop (Julehuset) where it is Christmas all year round. Also in the Post station you can send Christmas to anywhere in the world.

From the town, you can see the fjord of Oslo. Many boats and ships will go in from of you, even big cruises coming and going to Oslo.

Drobak is not a big city, but it has nice beaches and it is very pleasant to walk around and see the typical houses

I don't know how to call this, but the river side is full of this small "bath houses". It seems like every big house has one.

This is how I got to Drobak, by ferry from Oslo. It takes around an hour to get to there.

Norsk Folkemuseum

This is how they called a place in the outskirts of Oslo where more than 100 houses have been brought from the near towns and villages during decades.

The houses are from different periods in the past showing the history of the country and how it has become like it is nowadays. However, the most impressive set of houses is the one with country wooden huts where the norwegians from the 18th century used to live in.

The houses show some grass over the roof  in the same way as modern "green" trends.

Like the "wild west", you can find fire arms in the door of houses

Close to the houses, some men and women show you the way they things were many years ago.

You can even "drive" a tractor

On Sunday, there is a "parade" where young kids perform typical dances from the country

Another common thing is that once a month all the owners of Volkswagen and Porsche cars go the museum to show their cars that look almost new!!

By the end of the day, I met the audience of Metallica having some fun before the concert in the city. Of course, they drive motorcycles and this place is where the "Hard Rock" cafe is located :)

Opera and Vigeland park

Two of the main attractions of the city are first, the Opera and the, the Vigeland park

The Opera has been under construction for over 10 years and was opened to the public in 2008. It is a white huge building close to the sea in the harbour area.

It really deserves a visit because you can climb to the upper part of the building on your own (nothing to pay) and take a very nice pictures of Oslo from there.

The other place to be seen is the Vigeland park. It is a free-entry place open to the air with many sculptures of Gustav Vigeland (tens of them). Maybe the one below is the most famous of the park

Apart from that, the park is known for being the place where the "Monolitten" is placed. It is a column made from a single block of stone with 121 human figures on it.

Another thing to visit is the small flowers market in the city centre. Many people in Oslo buy flowers weekly and even more when the weather is good :)

Constitution day

Today it's been a public holiday in all Norway, it is their National Day.

Everyone is on the street and many of them with flags and the typical clothes. This is a cheer up group of boys. They were singing and cheering kids all the time.

The typical dress is not the same. They are very different but follow the same style that I imagine closer to european culture.

During this day, half of the schools of the city go to the parade which turns longer and longer. If all of the shools were to join the parade, it would last more than 6 hours!

Every school has its uniform, so all look like different. To make the parade more funny for the children, musical bands are commonly leading each school.

The famous Grand Hotel, where the Nobel prize winner greets the people every year.

Medical units ready for intervention at the city centre.

After the parade, all the youngsters go for partying. They have parties on the street with loud music, alcohol and so on...

These are the buses they use for partying. It's like a "rolling party" :)

Something I've learned today

In Norway, Winter is a serious thing to consider. It is so hard that you have to use two different set of shoes when going to work.

You use a pair of shoes suitable to walk over snow, mud, water, or whatsoever you will find on your way, and another pair of shoes to use in a "controlled" environment.

In this way, people often leave their shoes at the office when the work is done for the day.

Another thing I found today is the external shape of a typical norwegian "lichis". The first impression is not very good, but the taste is nice. I like it!!

Finally, this is something that I have never seen in Spain, it's a thermometer to measure the temperature of the water in the sea. They use that when they "swim" on Winter.... uhmmm.... in the rare case I would do that, I don't want to know how cold it was. For sure it will be veeeeeery cold !!

Language is funny, sometimes

After a quick walk today, I was amazed by the name of a company here, it is called "Computas" but the same in Spanish would be rather rude. Better avoid it ;)

The thing is that Spanish and Norwegian languages have not so much in common. I can hardly recognize any common language root in a few words. The Latin influence is not so visible here, where the Vikings came from.

Another example, the word "asko" is very similar to the Spanish one "asco", and the pronunciation is exactly the same. The meaning in Spanish is "ugly". Maybe not a good choice for this company if they want to sell their food in Spain.

Catering services in Oslo

Apart from that, the language seems clear and contains open vowels, not like English with so many different accents. That should be an advantage, shouldn't it?

At this time of the day, it's almost 11 PM and I can still see some light on the sky. It's amazing how the day is so long. Sometimes I wake up when I feel the daylight, but it is still 5AM in the morning, so I have to make an extra effort to go back to sleep. Even during the night the sky is not completely dark and you can hardly see any start over it.

I am not sure about the winter in here, with 5 hours of daylight. You have to be brave to carry on with your daily life on winter. Only vikings do :)

Good weather, go out to the street!!

Two days in a row with good weather, what's this?? I have to ask for the bicycle again and go back to see something!!

Today, I would like to have a ride by the museums area. It is not far away from the hotel and they told me that it's a nice place to visit on Sunday, as everything else will be closed.

It's a beautiful area surrounded by water with forests, typical houses and several museums on it.

There are some beaches too, but not as the ones in Málaga, for sure.

This is a beautiful place. You can just sit down and watch the boats coming and going. Better with good weather ;)

Port of Oslo?? :)

This is a sample of the tracks I could ride on. Quiet and easy. Many people were around walking and riding bicycles as well because of the good weather and the weekend

Many Norwegians own a boat. The "marinas" are very common here

My bicycle, having a break for lunch :)

Nice overview of the city

Today I took advantage of the hotel facilities and I asked for a bicycle at the front desk. They told me it's a free service for customers, so nice right?

The way down to Oslo is a bit long, but it deserves the trip. There is a bicycle track to get to there and it's very safe.

All the road goes close to the river and through houses, trees and rocks.

Modern architecture shares spaces with old fashioned buildings. Amazing!!

The views of the river are beautiful. The sun never goes too high, and that helps the water look so sparkling and hypnotizing sometimes.

Later on, the city seemed full of life and attractive with events and music on the streets. I passed through several of the most importan spots in Oslo.

Hotel where the Nobel Peace Prize is given



Main square

My bicycle and the new Opera theater at the back

Color Line cruise

Later on, I went to a birthday party, and afterwards, I was amazed to see that even a 3AM in the morning, the sky is not dark. You can see some light from the sun, and it rises really soon, about 4AM in the morning even this time of the year!

03:07AM in the morning and the sky is not dark

Central station

City center at 3AM in the morning