Archive for category Uncategorized
The White Lady, Halden
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on October 30, 2010
All self-respecting fortresses have their resident ghost, and Fredriksten is no exception. The White Lady in Halden Fortress has been spotted by several eyewitnesses over the years, many of them soldiers keeping watch at night, back in those days when Fredriksten was still an active garrison. A pale figure dressed in white, whose feet don’t seem to touch the ground, the White Lady is usually seen walking away from the Kommandantbolig (the chief officer’s residence), setting guard dogs barking and disappearing into the night after one last wave of the hand. She has been linked to one of the officers at the fortress, a young lieutenant said to have been murdered in a jealousy drama in the early 19th century, and whose corpse was found under the Clock Tower in 1926. It has also been claimed that she was the officer’s mistress, and committed suicide after he was killed by Swedish forces. But no-one really knows who the White Lady was, and why she is still haunting the grounds of the fortress perched high over Halden.
Did you know? About Gamlebyen
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on October 24, 2010
- Gamlebyen is one of Norway’s most popular man-made attractions, visited by hundreds of thousands every year. But the Old Town also counts 300 permanent residents.
- The statue in the middle of Gamlebyen’s main square is that of Frederick II. The Danish king founded the town, which is named after him, in 1567, although he never actually visited Fredrikstad!
- Gamlebyen was ravaged by fire several times throughout the course of its history. The town burnt to the ground no fewer than five times in the first two centuries of its existence, the last time in 1764.
- 200 canons once guarded the Old Town, which was until as late as 2002 still used as a garrison town. Today around 80 canons (most of them replicas of the original weapons) can still be seen on the ramparts, although their use is no longer military, only decorative.
- Local businesses in Gamlebyen include shops, restaurants, cafes, galleries, a post office and a museum, but also three schools, various offices, a doctor and a dentist surgery, and even a funeral parlour.
- Gamlebyen’s latest attraction is its model railway. The work on a local enthusiast, who took five years to build it, it is one of Scandinavia’s largest, with almost 3kms of tracks. And it’s already a huge success – visited by 5,000 curious rail enthusiasts in the first month of opening alone.
- In cold winters the water in the moat around Gamlebyen freezes over, turning the star-shaped moat into a huge ice rink, much to the delight of local children.
Blocks of rock become works of art
Posted by admin in Art, culture and literature, Uncategorized on September 21, 2010
Johansen’s Stone Quarry, Skjeberg
Posted by admin in Art, culture and literature, Uncategorized on September 21, 2010
Ever been to a stone quarry? No, neither had I. Until, urged by a local acquaintance, I visited Johansens Monumenthuggeri in Skjeberg near Sarpsborg last month. Turned out to be very interesting, as it happens. This quarry, the largest of its kind in Norway, produces gravestones, cobble stones and the like, but what makes it really special is that it also attracts its fair share of artists.
Some 80-90 of them come to work here every year, including some big names like Kristian Blystad, one of Norway’s most famous contemporary sculptors. Even Morten Harket and Magne Furuholmen, of a-ha fame, both of whom are keen amateur sculptors, have spent some time here. Really. The quarry even has its own artist in residence, Kazuhiro Nomura, a Japanese sculptor from Nagoya, who has been coming to Norway for several years now. He spends his summers in his outdoor studio at Johansen’s, making good use of the natural light and a vast array of very specialised tools the quarry puts at his disposal.
The quarry imports stones from all over the world, as well as using local stones such as Iddefjord granite or Larvik stone (Larvikitt). The blocks of white Italian marble that were used for the new Opera House in Oslo were cut here. The quarry, now in the hands of the fifth generation of Johansens, handles a lot of similar big projects.
Walking around all these statues in the making is a surreal experience. Behind the workshop is a big open space where discarded artworks await their fate amid big blocks of rock and piles of gravel. Last summer they held a light and sound show here. I can imagine the quarry walls, cut straight in the mountain side, making quite a special background for it. I’ll most certainly check it out next year.
Skjebergveien 206, Klavestadhaugen (offices). Tel: 69 16 36 33, www.johansenmonument.no. Visits by appointment only.
Win a weekend at the Quality Hotel Fredrikstad
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on August 25, 2010
An hour’s drive from Oslo, and stretching all the way to the Swedish border to the south, Østfold is home to beautiful nature and many great attractions, yet this county is still relatively unknown outside Norway. Heard of Gamlebyen, Scandinavia’s best-preserved fortress town? Or the stunning Hvaler archipelago? Fredriksten Festning? The Halden Canal? All are located in Østfold, where you’ll also find, among many other things, prehistoric rock carvings, top art galleries, Europe’s first marine national park, and Scandinavia’s last manned fire-watch tower. All this, plus acres of forests, myriad lakes, and miles of coastline. Direct flights from several European cities to Rygge Moss Airport mean it’s easier than ever to get here. And now you even have the opportunity to win a two-night stay in one of the best hotels in the region.
WIN A WEEKEND AT THE QUALITY HOTEL FREDRIKSTAD
To celebrate a year of blogging, www.elusivemoose.eu, your (unofficial) guide to Østfold, has teamed up with the Quality Hotel Fredrikstad to run a competition, and offer one lucky winner a two-night stay for two here in Østfold. The Quality Hotel Fredrikstad, which opened in October 2009, enjoys an excellent location right on the main pedestrian street in central Fredrikstad, with the riverside bars and restaurants only a few minutes away. This is a great base to explore the town, and the rest of the county. So now there is really no excuse not to come and visit Østfold.
All you have to do is leave a comment, anywhere on the site, before 31 October. So get involved, and share your views (you can use the ‘search’ function or the tag cloud to the right to look for topics that interest you). We’ll draw a winner among all the entries in November. Good luck to all of you!
* Please note that the prize is subject to availability, and only applies to weekends. Travel to and from Fredrikstad, Østfold, is the responsibility of the prize-winner. For more information on the Quality Hotel Fredrikstad visit www.choicehotels.no/hotels/hotel?hotel=NO117
A Norwegian invention: The cheese slicer
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on August 14, 2010
The cheese slicer, the brainchild of Thor Bjørklund, a carpenter from Lillehammer, turns 85 this year. Bjørklund came upon the idea on a hot summer day back in 1925, when he found out the cheese in his packed lunch had all but melted. He took a sheet of steel, bent it and cut it, and bingo – the cheese slicer was invented. Soon friends and family, who could see a good use for this new kitchen utensil, were demanding their own too, and later that year Bjørklund got his invention patented. Mass production started in 1927, and the rest, as they say, is history. Well, at least in Scandinavia, where the cheese slicer can be found in every kitchen drawer. Norwegians eat a lot of cheese, particularly hard cheese, hence the popularity of Bjørklund’s invention, which over the years has become a bit of a national icon. The appeal of its sleek design has not been confined to Norway though – the ubiquitous cheese slicer has become a popular souvenir to take home with foreign tourists. It is also sold in 20 countries in Scandinavia and Europe. Thor Bjørklund & Sønner AS in Lillehammer was until last year Norway’s only producer of cheese slicers. It had manufactured 50 million of them. The company was taken over by GIAX in 2009. More info at www.bjorklund-1925.no