Sulfur taints the air at first breath. A thousand decaying things. The ground is dry and yellow, cracked and caked with mineral deposits, covered with the solid, round clusters of animal scat. It is a hellscape. Mud pots belch and splash off the edges of the boardwalk. Gray-brown mud hot…
Statues in Oslo
Lots of cool, bizarre statues in Oslo... Clockwise from Top Left: A creepy smile on the steps outside the new museum buildings at the far end of Tjuvholmen, designed by Renzo Piano, which now house the Astrup Fearnley Modern Art exhibition ; Oslo's Beaver Statue, unnamed, sits outside a print shop…
The Oslo Weekender: Walking Around Bygdøy
Cabin fever. It sets in after one too many days or weeks or months indoors. Oslo is a beautiful, fun city, full of things to do and see. But this year, the snow is taking its sweet time in retreat, which means a few of the spring things I look…
Holmenkollen FIS World Cup Nordic
It's that time of year again. Snow is thick in the hills outside the city, looking almost exactly like the kind of tree limb-burdened winter scene people think of when they think of Norway. But the sun is up. Days are eleven and a half hours long already, and spring…
Engebret Cafe: Oslo's Oldest Restaurant
"You are American? Yesterday, Martin Sheen was here." The waiter placed our drinks on the table and looked up to gauge our reaction to the name drop. Despite the non sequitur , neither of us flinched. "Martin Sheen. You know... the American actor. West Wing." I'm not really one for name…
Meeting Pam Houston
"It is a woman's job to write about the wild." When I take notes at writing lectures and seminars, I have a system. There are concepts I list, gleaned from the speakers' talking points. There are snippets of dialogue, summaries of observations. If they recommend books, I drop an asterisk.…
"We keep." (or Audrey's Russian Embassy Adventure)
It took me ten minutes to jog from the Russian Embassy in Oslo down Drammensveien to the nearest Joker market and withdraw the cash. I'd expected the cost of two Russian Tourist Visas to run about 630 NOK ($110), based on what I'd read several times on the consulate website…
The Cost of Coffee: A Currency Comparison
Oslo always tops the list of most expensive cities in the world . So, visitors probably expect to pay a little more for a cup of coffee here. The above info graphic from Bloomberg News illustrates the cost of, specifically, a 16 ounce cup of Starbucks coffee in cities all over…