Posts Tagged Østfold
Where to eat: Bakgården, Halden
Posted by admin in Food and drink on August 30, 2010
This restaurant, in a side street just off Halden’s main pedestrian street, is a reliable option for both lunch and dinner. You can sit in the secluded patio in summer, and make the most of the sunshine, or opt to eat inside in winter. The main dining room is cosy, with its wooden interior, original art on the walls, table cloths and candle light, and there are a couple of additional smaller rooms, as well as a room reserved for private functions, should you want more privacy. The reasonably priced menu features brasserie-style food at lunchtime, including salads, sandwiches, omelette, tapas and even English breakfast and fish and chips (yes!), while in the evening slightly more elaborate dishes make their appearance (often featuring locally caught fish or meat from the grill) and prices go up a notch – but not as much as one would expect. Pleasant atmosphere and service, together with good food, make this a good all-round choice.
Storgate 22B. Tel: 69 18 82 90, http://bakgarden-halden.no. Expect to pay around 100-150Kr for a main course at lunchtime, and around 200Kr for dinner.
Modern design in ancient landscape
Posted by admin in History and architecture, News on August 26, 2010
The Solberg Tower (Solbergtårnet)
Posted by admin in History and architecture, News on August 26, 2010
The brand new Solberg Tower (Solbergtårnet) by the E6 motorway in Skjeberg was officially opened today. The tower, which is almost 30m high, and cost 50 million kroner to build, was designed by Todd Saunders, the Canadian architect behind the popular Stegastein viewpoint in Aurland, western Norway. It’s a joint project between the Norwegian Public Road Administration (Statens vegvesen), the county of Østfold and the municipalities of Sarpsborg and Fredrikstad. The view from the top floor is enticing enough, but the main reason for building the tower here was to highlight the many sites dating back to the Bronze Age along the nearby Oldtidsveien. Facilities at the Solberg Tower include a lift, toilets, rest area and information panels (in Norwegian and English) on the various attractions in the area, as well as maps of the different sites.
More on Oldtidsveien at http://www.elusivemoose.eu/2009/10/26/
More on the Stegastein viewpoint at http://www.elusivemoose.eu/2010/04/stegastein-viewing-platform/
Photos of the Solberg Tower under construction at http://www.sa.no/lokale_nyheter/article5185109.ece
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 30 September. The more comments you leave, the more chances to win. 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 October. 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 http://www.choicehotels.no/hotels/hotel?hotel=NO117
Busters Notater
Posted by admin in Art, culture and literature on August 22, 2010
Today is Photography Day here in Norway, so I thought I’d post a link to a great local photo blog I’ve been following for a while now: http://bustersnotater.blogspot.com/
Buster, a bit like Elusive Moose, would rather remain anonymous, and let his photos do the talking, although he kindly agreed to answer a few questions I put to him earlier (see below). In a nutshell, though: Buster lives in Fredrikstad, he is passionate about photography, and he is very talented. The photos on his blog can be of anything, from abstract rocks and water shots to flowers, pets, family members, buildings, you name it. He also likes fun compositions (often with a witty pun as a title – although that will be lost on my non-Norwegian speaking readers). Photos that make you think, and/or giggle! Great stuff!
…
Buster, I’m impressed with your pix, and I suspect you might be a pro. Tell the truth…
I have some education in photography, and I had photography for a living years ago. Now I’m an amateur photographer like anyone else.
What kind of camera(s) do you use?
I usually use a Canon 5D with a telephoto lens when doing pics for the blog. I recently bought a compact Olympus-camera. When I learn to be friends with it, I hope that’s going to be my number one.
What are your favourite motives?
My favourite subjects are people. I don’t show much of them in the blog, though. And of course I love taking pictures at Hvaler and everywhere I can find the combination of stone and water. I like to play with words and humour, and you can find many of my favourite pics under the label ‘Jiiiha’.
And the best places to shoot in Østfold?
A 10-minute walk from Vikerhavn on Asmaløy, Hvaler, you can see the horizon and get the most beautiful light in sunset. Amazing.
Why did you start this blog?
I have no intentions of making money or change the world. The blog is a way for me to keep my mind occupied. It’s like therapy. The name ‘Busters notater’ is taken from a book called ‘BusteR BrenneR’ by Jan Erik Vold, by the way. He writes short stories that at first glance have no meaning.
Did you know? Ytre Hvaler National Park
Posted by admin in Nature and the great outdoors on August 20, 2010
- The national park was opened on 9 Sep 2009. It is Norway’s 31st national park, and Europe’s first marine national park (jointly with Koster NP in Sweden). It covers a surface of 354km2, although only 14km2 of it is land (see map above).
- The national park features many unique traits such as deep soft and hard bottoms (over 200m below), very exposed shallow sediments and rocks and deep water coral reefs. The deepest point in the park is 462m deep. The area also boasts a great variety of marine species (around 7,000), including invertebrates, fishes, sharks and seals.
- The national park is also a great place for bird-watching: sea birds and wading birds in particular are plentiful here – more than 260 species have been observed on Akerøya alone.
- Some 50 shipwrecks lie on the seabed in the area, the most famous of which is the frigate Lossen, which sank off the island of Vesterøy on Christmas Eve 1717.
- Tisler has the largest inshore reef in Europe, 1,200m long and about 200m wide. It is home to species not found anywhere else in Europe. The reef was discovered as recently as 2002.
- The waters between Heia and Torbjørnskjær are an important pupping area for common seals. They keep to the most remote areas to avoid the worst of boat traffic.
- On land you’ll find rare plants and flowers such as the musk orchid or the horned (yellow) poppy for example – 32 of them feature on the Norwegian Red List (i.e. are threatened) and should not be picked.