Tag: Norway

Oslo street food article for Guardian Travel

Forget hygge. The original Nordic lifestyle trend was all about the ultimate comfort food: hotdogs.

The Syverkiosken [pictured above] is an Oslo landmark. The low-fi, 12 m sq kiosk located near to Alexander Kiellands Plass, has been serving hotdogs every day since 1979.

With prices starting from 20 Krone (£1.90), it’s one of the cheapest snack options in the city.

But there’s more to the Norwegian love of hotdogs than just a cheap snack.

Living history

There were previously more than 40 such kiosks around town but late-opening Syverkiosken is now the last one standing, fending off cheap hotdogs from convenience stores with its family recipes and retro-fashion styling.

“Hotdog kiosks have always been a part of our culture, a place where people from all walks of life stand beside each other,” says hotdog chef Elias Pellicer Ruud.

“For Norwegians, real hotdogs are the taste of nostalgia.”

Owner Erlend Dahlbo recommends using boiled wiener sausages while fried, German-style bratwurst are favored in the west of Norway.

What differentiates these to hotdogs in Denmark or Iceland is the topping, a thin potato pancake to keep your dog toasty.

Taste explosion

Suitably inspired, I order The Special, a hotdog served in a bread roll with potato salad and mushrooms picked fresh that morning in the forest outside of Oslo.

I pair it with a can of Toyen-Cola, a local take on Coke.

The taste is comforting yet deliciously spiced with a particularly fiery brand of mustard and, when it explodes in my hands, smearing my chin with sauce, I wear it as a badge of honor.

Like any self-respecting Osloite, I’m lost in a moment of hotdog heaven.

Maridalsveien 45, Oslo

This story was first published in The Guardian under the headline Hotdog heaven on the streets of Oslo. I’ve updated it to credit the quote to Elias Pellicer Ruud.

It was subsequently picked up by the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten.

Oslo, Norway, and Portmeirion, Wales, travel writing for LoveExploring

 

Two more published articles — to add to a busy autumn for commissions.

Both articles were for the online travel site, LoveExploring.com.

The first looked at Portmeirion, North Wales, which marked the 50th anniversary of the cult TV series, The Prisoner, in September.

Here’s a sample:

The programme epitomised the counter-culture vibe of the late 1960s and Portmeirion village provided the perfect canvas for the psychedelic storyline. One memorable scene, involving a giant chess game with human pieces, is now regularly recreated in the central piazza.

Now read Six Reasons to Love Portmeirion, North Wales

Secondly, an article about Oslo [pictured] — my new favourite European city — offered suggestions for a perfect weekend and explored Oslo’s hipster district. No, really.

It also features the Noble Peace Prize Centre [pictured above] in time for the speech at Oslo City Hall by the 2016 winner, the President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos.

Try a taster here:

Grünerløkka, east of the city centre, is Oslo’s hipster central. The former industrial district has all the coolest vintage clothes shops and galleries. Check out the fashion-conscious locals over a microbrewed beer at the Grünerløkka Brygghus, or at the coffee-guru café run by Tim Wendelboe.

Now read A Perfect Weekend: what to do in Olso, Norway

Please do share your comments or tips for places I’ve missed.

A travel-writing masterclass at HiOA university, Oslo

To Oslo then — thanks to an Erasmus exchange with a British university.

After a week in the Norwegian capital, I learnt that photojournalism is alive and well in Scandinavia, you can buy a pint for less than £10 and knitting is actively encouraged in the front row of Nordic lecture theatres.

But, most of all, I spent a couple of days teaching features classes and running a travel-writing with some very smart Norwegian students.

They rose to the challenge to write travel features in English and came up with some great story hooks.

My time at Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences (HiOA) was a chance to reflect on my own teaching and see how lecturers do it in other countries.

The students [pictured above] seemed to enjoy it, too, and I had some good feedback about engaging learners through my communication.

I’m hoping to make the exchange between the UK and Norway into a regular event. Watch this space.

Dad bonding on a cruise of the Norwegian fjords

DSCN3024

It was Father’s Day this week.

Hence the timing of this story, published by Telegraph Cruise, about a cruise around the Norwegian fjords to Bergen last summer.

It was a rare moment of calm and a chance for myself and my father [pictured above] to spend some time together away from the routines of daily life.

Here’s an extract from the story:

The calm of fjord cruising and yoga sessions started to pay off and I was breathing more deeply.

My father, Christopher, meanwhile, was enjoying the unhurried routine of morning mooching on deck and afternoon talks in the theatre.

It can be hard for elderly men travelling alone to make new friends and, while he never says so, I’m sure he must feel lonely without my mother by his side after some 40 years of marriage.

Fred Olsen sets aside tables for lone travellers to meet up at mealtimes and I encouraged him to join in some of the daily activities, such as bridge or a bowls game, to meet other similar people on board.

Now read the full story: Father-son bonding on a Fred Olsen cruise.

What do you think of this story? Do you have an experience of travelling with elderly parents? Post below. 

Liked this? Try also My dad is fading away.