Expat Perspective: Chris in Freiburg - Summer Night in Oslo
Welcome to the latest instalment of Expat Perspective, a new series of posts by guest writers who come from X but are living long term in Y. Here's the second post from Chris Mavergames, an American librarian who's recently settled into family life in Southern Germany.
Recently, I had to attend a work meeting in Oslo, Norway. As I live in the south of Germany, I wasn't prepared for the summer sun to burn quite so bright. It was my first experience with a Scandinavian night and being less than a week before the summer solstice (longest day of the year), it was incredible. The sun burns bright well past 9pm and it remains daylight until around midnight where it just dips into dusk/dawn and resurfaces around 2. By 5am, it looks like noon would in most of western Europe or America (I'm originally from Georgia).
Oslo is fairly small for a capital (approximately 500,000 people) and very walkable, if not inexpensive (roughly 10 Euros for a pint in some places!). There are some museums you're not likely to find anywhere else, such as the Nobel Peace Centre, Thor Heyerdahl museum and Viking Museum. The food is excellent (though, again, very pricey). And, generally, the city is quiet and pleasant and it's nice to simply (and easier on the wallet) to have a walk around. I was, however, happy to be back in the Black Forest in southern Germany if not only to see my wife and 5-month old but also to get some sleep, as that midnight sun can be detrimental to one's sleeping cycle. I'd recommend having a few beers to get to sleep when it's so bright out in Oslo - that is, if you can afford it!
11:30 p.m. in Oslo, from my hotel window
Photography by Chris Mavergames © 2007
Interested in contributing travel photography to this blog? Click here for details.
Recently, I had to attend a work meeting in Oslo, Norway. As I live in the south of Germany, I wasn't prepared for the summer sun to burn quite so bright. It was my first experience with a Scandinavian night and being less than a week before the summer solstice (longest day of the year), it was incredible. The sun burns bright well past 9pm and it remains daylight until around midnight where it just dips into dusk/dawn and resurfaces around 2. By 5am, it looks like noon would in most of western Europe or America (I'm originally from Georgia).
Oslo is fairly small for a capital (approximately 500,000 people) and very walkable, if not inexpensive (roughly 10 Euros for a pint in some places!). There are some museums you're not likely to find anywhere else, such as the Nobel Peace Centre, Thor Heyerdahl museum and Viking Museum. The food is excellent (though, again, very pricey). And, generally, the city is quiet and pleasant and it's nice to simply (and easier on the wallet) to have a walk around. I was, however, happy to be back in the Black Forest in southern Germany if not only to see my wife and 5-month old but also to get some sleep, as that midnight sun can be detrimental to one's sleeping cycle. I'd recommend having a few beers to get to sleep when it's so bright out in Oslo - that is, if you can afford it!
11:30 p.m. in Oslo, from my hotel window
Photography by Chris Mavergames © 2007
Interested in contributing travel photography to this blog? Click here for details.
1 comment:
i love the picture. after all our talk of it, i'm happy you got to experience the longest day.
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