Evening in Karl Johan

From 23 February The Nordic World Ski Championship has been held in Oslo. All the events is held at Holmenkollen’s new National Arena, which includes the new spectacular Holmenkollen hill and the naturally beautiful Midtstuen hill. During the WSC there have also been public and cultural events at Holmenkollen and activities especially for children.
 
The medal ceremonies has taken place in the University Square in downtown Oslo. There has been stage shows and a free concert every night, a separate mingling area, an exhibition of ice  sculptures inspired by Edvard Munch and much more. Everything needed to create amajor celebration in Oslo. Both the competitions and the ceremonies have been enormously popular. 50 000 to over 100 000 people have gathered downtown every night!!

Todays picture is of one of the ice sculptures downtown, inspired by (I think) the painting "Evening in Karl Johan" of Edvard Munch. 

The Cross-Country 50 km for men on Sunday will be the last competition in Ski-VM 2011. See more pictures from the championship at Ski-VM 2011's public gallery.

Photo by: Stormel 

Crown of Scandinavia

The DFDS passenger ferry m.s. Crown of Scandinavia, leaving Oslo this afternoon. Heading towards Copenhagen. :o)

Photo by: Stormel

Golden

Yesterday's golden view of Oslo.

Photo by: Lothiane

Para Haiti

Another guest photographer! sNapaRt visited Oslo together with Man8os last winter. I think this photo is really beautiful.

Ice sculpture for Haiti's victims. Oslo, winter 2010.

Photo by: sNapArt at deviantArt

Winter by the opera

I found some really nice photos from Oslo on deviantART, so I asked for, and got, permission to post a few here in this blog.

First, this brilliant photo of children playing in the snow. It's perhaps not easy to recognize, but they are playing on the slanting roof of the new opera house in Oslo.


Photo taken 2010 by man8os. Thank you so much for letting us borrow it!

Lovely winter day

Just a few minutes from the busy center of Oslo, you can enjoy beautiful nature. Sognsvann is a 3.3 km circumference lake just north of Oslo, Norway. It's a a popular recreational area, both in summer and winter. Read more about Sognsvann.

Photo by: Maria Gjerpe

Skiers

Skiers crossing a lake in Nordmarka.

Photo by: Stormel

Bjørnsjøen

Nordmarka is the mostly forested region which makes up the northern part of Oslo. The forests are popular sites for hiking and skiing. Most of the forests are protected, and it is not possible to obtain building permits for cottages in the area. 

There are several lakes in Nordmarka. Todays picture, taken a couple of weeks ago, gives you a view of one of them. This lake is called Bjørnsjøen. Translated the name means Bear Lake. 

Photo by: Stormel

Skating

Skating downtown tonight!

Photo by: Stormel

Colorful neighbourhood

Photo by: Stormel

Frozen

10 days into the new year, and Oslo is still frozen....and I like it! Cold and beautiful! :o)

Photo by: Stormel

Cold winter morning

Yesterday morning was cold...15 celcius below....brrrrrrrrr....but still a beautiful morning! :o)

Photo by: Stormel

Monday morning

Lots of snow in Oslo this Christmas...and this is one of the "hidden" cars that I passed on my way to work this morning. ;o)

Photo by: Stormel

School Dance

This is from a junior high school, where the pupils in their last year are arriving for a school dance. To some of us (who have lived a few decades longer), it seems a bit strange that 14-15 year olds arrive in limousines. But I bet they're having the night of their lives. :-)

To the left, some pupils arrive by horse and carriage. Nice! :-)


Look at that fantastic dress! This reminds me more of movie stars arriving to a huge party, than school children having a dance. Where is the red carpet? They must have forgot... :-)

New Holmenkollen

Do you remember what it looked like after they tore down the old Holmenkollen ski jump? They have been working on the site for a long time now, and just recently I could see this new construction. Still a long way to go, but at least more visible progression now. :-)

About Holmenkollen ski jump.

Good morning, Oslo

The winter has been dark and cloudy for a while now, but a couple of days ago this is what I woke up to.

Photo: Lothiane

Almost full

The moon over Oslo this evening. It says on the internet that it's 99,1 % full.


Photos by: Lothiane

No...!

The grafitti says "No to EU! Yes to a lot!" At least I think that's what they mean. ;) The last word "møe" is a dialect word from Southern Norway and means "a lot" (mye).

Norway is still not a part of the European Union. Whether or not the country should apply for conventional membership has been one of the most dominant and divisive issues in Norwegian political and economic debate for several decades. The Norwegian people have voted 'no' twice, both in 1972 and in 1994.

If you want to read more about this, visit Wikipedia.

Thank you, Doug, for letting us use his photo!

Blindern Studenterhjem

Blindern is an area in Oslo, but also the name of the main campus of the University of Oslo. Near the university is Blindern Studenterhjem, a home for 220 students. The home opened in 1925 and the architect was Nicolai Beer. The beautiful building is listed/protected.

Thank you Doug for letting us use your photo! :)

Melting!

My cousin sent me these photos, taken in Oslo yesterday. After a whole lot of snowfall and then a few foggy and grey days, we finally got some sunshine yesterday. The sun is starting to feel warm again and these icicles started melting.

Beautiful, isn't it!

Thank you, Løven, for letting us use your photos!