Most pleasant introduction to discover Norway’s past and present featuring our guest Kristin Skjefstad Edibe

Welcoming introduction to discover Norway’s culture featuring our guest Kristin Skjefstad Edibe : Although modern Norway has only existed for 200 years, the story of the Nordic lands is a long one. From the first settlers of this former glacial land to the modern era of engineering and technology, there’s so much to learn. The land now known as Norway emerged from the last Ice Age thanks to the warming effect of the Gulf Stream. The glacial land became habitable from around 12,000 BC. The long coastline and good conditions for sealing, fishing and hunting attracted people in numbers. Although it is believed that people arrived earlier, the oldest human skeleton found in Norway was carbon dated to 6,600 BC. See more details about the subject here : Kristin Skjefstad Edibe.

Hip urban cities, glittering fjords, northern lights, remote villages over the Arctic Circle, mountains, valleys – Norway is a long country spreading over a 25,148 km coastline, packed with many things to see and do. The main attractions of Norway are the varied landscapes that extend across the Arctic Circle. It is famous for its fjord-indented coastline and its mountains, ski resorts, lakes and woods. Popular tourist destinations in Norway include Oslo, Ålesund, Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim, Kristiansand and Tromsø. Much of the nature of Norway remains unspoiled, and thus attracts numerous hikers and skiers. The fjords, mountains and waterfalls in Western and Northern Norway attract several hundred thousand foreign tourists each year.

Home of Bocuse d’Or champions: Norwegian chefs have gained an excellent reputation abroad, with several wins and podium finishes at the world’s most prestigious culinary competition, the Bocuse d’Or awards. Since the competition was first held in 1987, Norway has won five gold, three silver, and four bronze medals, making Norway, together with France, the country with the most Bocuse d’Or awards. One of Norway’s most experienced competitive chefs, Christian André Pettersen, won his second bronze medal in the 2021 competition, after having also won bronze in 2019. Pettersen was awarded for his delicate and surprising flavours from the Arctic. Much of Pettersen’s inspiration comes from growing up with a Filipino chef mother and a Norwegian chef father in Bodø, just north of the Arctic circle. Norwegian cuisine is big and it’s here to stay. Have you booked your table yet?

Edvard Munch (1863–1944) is Norway’s most famous artist, a symbolist/expressionist painter who created The Scream, a world-famous piece and one of the most recognizable paintings in all art. Other notable painters and sculptors have brought Norwegian art to the public from the 19th and 20th centuries. Norway today is a destination for art and culture as expressed with the new MUNCH and the National Museum. Other highlights include the Tjuvholmen area with a unique architecture, home to the Astrup Fearnley contemporary art museum, which features key works by artists including Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, and Norwegian artist Bjarne Melgaard, as well as major temporary exhibitions. You will also find a number of Norway’s most cutting-edge contemporary art galleries in the area. Oslo also has incredible outdoor sculpture parks, including Ekebergparken and the must-visit Vigelandsparken. There’s also lots of impressive street art along the way.

Classy rainwear and high-end fashion: Norway has many designers that operate in the high end of the fashion spectrum. Several of them are sold in the most important fashion stores in places like New York, Tokyo and Paris. Norwegian Rain and Swims are classy rainwear brands, while Holzweiler produces a rather unique scarf collection in cashmere, silk and wool. The importance of seasons in Norway is underlined by a brand called Fall Winter Spring Summer that produces women’s clothing with a no-fuss Scandinavian aesthetic that equally balances femininity and masculinity. Another women’s fashion brand, byTiMo, creates garments inspired by vintage fashion, while Line of Oslo focuses on comfortable clothes for women with a busy lifestyle. The brand Johnnylove from Trondheim is an example of many exciting things happening outside of Oslo as well.

A new building has transformed Oslo’s skyline, nodding respectfully towards Norway’s bustling capital. In order to honour Munch’s legacy, Oslo has built the new MUNCH museum, one of the world’s largest museums dedicated to a single artist. Estudio Herreros designed the sixty-metre tall building, which has less than half the emissions of corresponding buildings. Many of the architectural decisions were climate driven. The building is clad in wavy recycled aluminium panels that have varying degrees of transparency. The exterior is designed to screen and reflect sunlight to maintain a stable temperature inside. Moving the fragile paintings into the museum was no easy job. The largest paintings, which are up to 50 square metres in size, had to be transported by water to the new museum. They were then lifted 21 metres by crane and maneuvered through a large opening in the side of the building’s sixth floor. Afterwards, the seven-metre high opening was sealed shut – for good.

The most popular sport in Norway is, by far and away, football. While football only comes third by television viewership (after biathlon and cross-country skiing), the sport is the most popular one in terms of active membership, with 8.5 percent of the population playing it! Even though the national team is lesser known, Norway has produced famous players and managers such as Erling Haaland and Ole Gunnar Solskjær