Norwegian Winter Wonderland

Our second day in Central Oslo started auspiciously enough. We went for coffee and pastries. In the process, a tall, charming older couple sat down at the couches next to us and commenced discussion in a beautiful version of the English language reserved for tall, charming polyglots. We hated them. Only they were too nice to hate. And so we nattered on about Oslo, about the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony that was taking place next door. 

What a fantastic weekend to give a Peace Prize. The roads were blocked off in lots of places; but what this meant was that a group of men in big coats stood in the middle of the empty road and paused scant traffic. Lovely.

So we navigated the stopped traffic. And from there, we buttoned ourselves up in the multifarious layers we'd put on and made our way on a public bus to the Norwegian Museum of Culture History, a bit of a misnomer for this outdoor winter wonderland. There is a museum buried somewhere within the park. But the grounds of the park house a series of structures, buildings and replica farmland from the old days of Norse lore. The sky was blue, blue.

The air was cold, cold. But the locals didn't seem flustered. Kids, parents, old people were bundled up in their best snow gear and wandered from building to building eating Norsk delights, drinking glogg and generally being tall and healthy. I seemed to be the only frozen person for miles.

There was a Christmas market too. Dawn loves a Christmas market and so we wandered the stalls nibbling on samples and buying traditional Norwegian things like New Orleans smoked barbecue sauce. Totally not kidding. 

But this cheese, this brown cheese, WAS traditional. It's called Brunost and it's actually whey cheese, so technically not cheese. This guy writes about what it really is quite well. Suffice it to say, it's an acquired taste: salty and brown tasting. Because brown is now a flavour.

And that's all we really had time for. Fjord tour, brown cheese, tall Norwegians and a Christmas market.

And, go figure, Christmas in Norway is actually a pretty great time to go. Blue skies, cold air, festive spirit. Jubel!