Norway’s architectural movements and concepts have drawn my attention for a long time and when I got surprised by a spontaneous weekend trip to Oslo I was really excited!

We flew with Norwegian Air from Berlin to Oslo Lufthavn - Gardermoen. From the airport it took us 20 minutes with the Flytoget Airport Express Train to Oslo Central Station. On the whole way there was free Wifi (same as in the plane) which was quite of a surprise and very convenient.

For the next 2 nights we chose Scandic Vulkan hotel to be our home. It’s a comfortable and nice hotel, located right next to the indoor food market Mathallen Oslo where you’ll find great fish counters.

From Scandic Vulkan we were in walking distance to Grünerløkka’s neighborhood which actually reminds me a lot of Berlin’s Kreuzberg with its graffiti walls and creative vibes. It’s the old industrial part of East Oslo which became an upcoming area with many charming cafés, bars and restaurants. You’ll also find a lot of nice shops and vintage stores. It becomes quite popular and I personally preferred that area to the city center which to me was not very exciting and worth spending much time.

My tip: When you walk from Mathallen Oslo along the river Akerselva you’ll pass Hønse-Lovisas hus a culture café in a traditional scandinavian wooden house. It’s super sweet and has a countryside spirit.

Another place I really liked is Supreme Roastworks’ café in Grünerløkka. The interior decor is very tasteful and they serve freshly brewed coffee along with homemade cinnamon buns. We literally lived from cinnamon rolls all weekend long. Scandinavians are not only excellent in these mid-afternoon treats but also when it comes to create this special cosiness. Danish „hygge“, Swedish „mys", and Norwegian „kos“, these words all describe the same: feeling of warmth, well-being, drinking a cup of tea by the fireplace with friends and family and so on. Basically the philosophy how to get through the tough winter periods. I got a lot of inspiration for my home in Berlin where winter is also very long and cold!

Oslo’s most stunning building is the Opera house with its accessible roof. The wooden interior lobby walls kind of reminded me of a warm igloo inside an iceberg. It’s not just a sculptural piece of art but more an interactive monument with huge windows for transparency & interaction between interior & exterior. You can climb up the roof while looking into the lobby area and have a stunning view on the ocean and the city. The sloping construction of the roof qualifies to funny jumping pictures and actually would be ideal for snowboarding :-) The waterfront construction on piles into the Oslo fjord is really impressive and during winter when ice surrounds the ramps it must look beautiful!

The lobby area is free and open to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You should definitely take a good camera and a lot of time when climbing up the Opera house :-)

Lately there are rumors about Oslo banning private cars from city center within the next four years to become a more environmental friendly city. Let’s see if this will happen!

Norwegian people were super friendly and welcoming. Now I really want to discover and explore Norway’s idyllic and stunning nature up in the fjords! „Farvel og se deg snart!“