Oslo, Norway - Vigeland Sculpture Park

The Vigeland Park in Oslo is the world's largest sculpture park by one single artist. It features over 200 works by Gustav Vigeland in bronze, granite and wrought iron. With more than one million visitors each year, it is one of Oslo's most visited tourist attractions. The bronze statue of the little Angry Boy (shown below) is among the most famous sculptures in the park. Notice his shiny left hand: this is due to so many tourists who wish to be photographed while holding his hand.

This park is a beautiful place to spend a few hours wandering around and admiring the artwork.

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Oslo, Norway - Ekebergrestauranten

As many of you know, my brother married a lovely girl from Oslo some years ago, so it is a city that I return to often. On a recent trip I enjoyed a new dining spot with gorgeous views over Oslo Fjord: Ekebergrestauranten. It is a simply stunning spot to watch the sunset and enjoy an al fresco meal in the summer months. They also have a more formal indoor dining room with a fine dining menu, and the food is delicious. It is also worth taking a walk around the surrounding park to view the various art sculptures and installations. 

The restaurant itself is housed in a listed building. Designed in the Functionalist style in 1929 by Oslo architect Lars Backer, the original restaurant was built as early as 1916. On a beautiful summer evening it is a fantastic perch to view Oslo.

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Tromsø, Norway - Northern Lights Adventure

(Guest blog by Leigh Brody)

DAY 1
We started our Northern Lights trip with an early connection through Oslo and finally onto our final destination of Tromsø. On the first day we walked through the small town and got used to the climate of the Arctic Circle, which is colder than I anticipated. Luckily, there was plenty of appropriate shops open for me to stock up with hand warmers and other cold weather provisions. 

Our first night was spent at a camp called the Tromsø Villmarkssenter, where we slept in these teepee-like structures and waited for the Northern Lights to come out. Sadly, there was nothing to see that evening, so instead we curled around the fire and had a local meal of reindeer soup. 

DAY 2
We were disappointed not to have witnessed the Northern Lights the night before, so we cheered ourselves up with a husky dog sledding adventure (also organized by the Tromsø Villmarkssenter where we stayed)! The dogs were so adorable, I wanted to adopt all of them. Luckily, our camp also happened to be the largest husky dog breeder in Norway, so I got to play with all of them.  

After our sledding adventure, we checked ourselves into the Rica Ishavshotel hotel for a proper shower and warmth for a few hours until the next adventure began- a snowmobiling excursion to see the Northern Lights through Lyngsfjord Adventure. The tours are all very organized there; we got picked up from our hotel and driven the 90-kilometres to the start of our 3.5 hour tour.

This was by far the coldest night, reaching -15C at the moment we got off the bus. The tour company supplied us with suits to keep us warm, so the temperatures were bearable. What made them so bearable was the amazing show of the Northern Lights we actually witnessed that night. It's such a strange sight to see the sky suddenly turn bright green, it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen!

DAY 3

Our final day was spent shopping at the local stores and included a visit to the local museum. The town is small, so we decided to revolve our last day around a big meal of seafood. 

We had a three hour meal at Fiskekompaniet on the harbor, which tasted as good as it looked. We didn't necessarily need all that food, but we definitely enjoyed ourselves. 

The last night we went on a Northern Light chase, however it was too cloudy to see anything. The guides all agreed that the show we saw the night before was the best they had seen all year, so we were happy to have experienced that sighting. All-in-all, it was an amazing holiday and I highly suggest it to anyone looking to experience the Northern Lights. 

I'm on twitter (twitter.com/l3ighbrody) and Instagram (Leigh.Brody) for questions, suggestions or photographs.

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