Oslo attracts tourists with cafes, saunas and cultural centers – 11/08/2023 – Tourism

On the banks of the icy (and sometimes frozen) waters that bathe Oslo, three large cultural spaces have opened in the last three years within a distance of less than two kilometers. The new developments, added to the culture of specialty coffees, have helped to extend Copenhagen’s reputation as a cool destination in Europe to the Norwegian capital.

The main one of these new developments is the National Museum, which opened its doors in June 2022. With a permanent exhibition of approximately 6,500 items, it is the largest museum in the Nordic countries, according to the Oslo tourism office. Of these thousands of pieces, the one that stands out most is “The Scream”, a masterpiece by Edvard Munch (1863-1944), the most famous Norwegian painter.

The canvas, a famous representation of feelings of anguish and anxiety in the visual arts, has four versions (two tempera paintings and two pastel and crayon drawings), as well as a lithograph with dozens of prints.

The first version, from 1893, is at the National Museum and two others, in addition to six lithograph prints, are at the Munch Museum, reopened in 2021.

The Munch Museum, however, never displays more than one version at the same time. A canvas made with tempera, one made with crayon and a lithograph are located inside the wall with windows that open alternately every hour.

Dedicated almost entirely to the painter (with the exception of some rooms for temporary exhibitions), the Munch Museum has existed since the 1960s, but two years ago it moved to the new building, with eye-catching architecture and located right next to the Oslo Opera House. .

In the same neighborhood as Bjørvika is another important cultural space. Deichman Bjørvika, a public library opened in June 2020, has an unusual environment. Instead of silence, the institution encourages socializing and activities that go beyond reading. There is, for example, a sector dedicated to the creation of objects, which can be designed on computers and materialized by 3D printers.

Deichman Bjørvika also houses the Future Library project, with manuscripts that will only be published in 2114. They are stored in drawers embedded in the wooden walls of a tiny room that is only allowed to be entered barefoot. Writers such as Margaret Atwood, from “The Handmaid’s Tale”, and Han Kang, from “The Vegetarian”, have already deposited texts there.

But Oslo isn’t just about art and culture. A tour of the Norwegian capital cannot leave out an experience in one of the city’s saunas — there are even companies that operate spaces on the seafront (sometimes even inside boats). In winter, even with subzero temperatures, visitors have the habit of diving into the almost frozen waters of the sea after the sauna. It may not seem inviting, but diving into the ice after the heat of the sauna triggers a pleasant sensation (even if it leaves the body slightly numb for a few moments).

In terms of gastronomy, Oslo is far from the effervescence of the Danish capital Copenhagen. Despite this, it has starred restaurants, such as Maaemo, with the highest rating in the Michelin Guide, as well as less popular addresses that serve great seafood — Norway has one of the longest coastlines in the world.

The Vaaghals restaurant is one of the most popular restaurants to discover local cuisine. Located in the trendy area known as Barcode, it serves dishes such as delicate cod from Lofoten (archipelago north of Norway) with prawns and seafood sauce with dill, for 285 Norwegian kroner (around R$140).

It is in the cafes, however, that Oslo stands out. With its light roasts that almost always result in cups full of acidity and fruity notes, the city offers drink lovers a level that is difficult to find elsewhere in the world.

It is in Oslo, in fact, that Tim Wendelboe’s coffee shop is located, one of the pioneers in the field, already described as the René Redzepi of coffees (in allusion to the chef at Noma, voted the best restaurant in the world five times). An obligatory stop for coffee geeks traveling through the region, the place offers a kind of coffee tasting menu, with four different beans roasted in-house for 180 Norwegian kroner (around R$90). It is also possible to order specific coffees, with cups costing more than 60 crowns (R$30).

For those who don’t mind such gourmet coffees, there are cheaper options. Norway is, after all, the fifth country with the highest per capita consumption of the drink in the world, with an average of 8.19 kg of coffee per year — almost double that of Brazil.

One of the easiest options to find is Espresso House, a chain that is a kind of Nordic Starbucks. The very fruity strains, with quality above the franchise average, cost around 40 crowns (less than R$20).

There are no direct flights connecting Brazil to Oslo, but it is possible to reach the Norwegian capital by connecting in cities such as Paris, Lisbon and New York.