PinayOdyssey

Woot! It’s been a month since I posted an entry here. I have lots of travel stories to share and to blog about, but life always gets in the way! But now that I’m taking a break from the languge school and just waiting for my next travel plan, I guess I have some time at hand. 😉

“A long spasertur in beautiful Bærum”. WTH is a spasertur, you ask. 🙂 Well, two months ago, I created an account on a Norwegian dating site (only to delete it after a couple of weeks due to loss of interest). One of the vocabulary I learned there is the word ‘spasertur’. It basically means a walk, a stroll, a tour. No heavy planning required — just a destination perhaps and a GPS to avoid getting lost in the Norwegian woods. I did not find a potential match on the dating site, but I had found a word I fell in love with — SPASERTUR. ❤

So, this entry is about the long spasertur, ca 15 kilometers, with my friend N in Bærum, Norway. It was a beautiful weekend in autumn when we decided to go where our feet would lead us. The destination — the coasts. We wanted to enjoy the colorful nature and the delightful weather that day.

You would probably read about many spasertur entries on this site, but keep in mind that this one is a favorite. It was an accomplishment. My friend and I walked 14.64 kms from Bekkestua to Fornebu, a popular business and recreational venue in the city. Fornebu used to be Oslo City’s main airport, until it closed in 1998 and was replaced by the one in Gardermoen.

The peninsular area also serves as the headquarters of Telenor, a Norwegian telecom giant. Telenor. I had had some nasty experiences with Telenor-Denmark, so I’m not going to give any further comment about it. But I am giving Telenor-Norway the benefit of the doubt that they are doing a better job. Nordea-Norway is, anyway! Ahh I love Nordea-Norway! ❤

One of the main attraction in the vicinity is the Telenor Arena, or Fornebu Arena. It is a multi-purpose indoor arena which “serves as a venue for a variety of events, including concerts, exhibitions, action shows, family shows, TV and sport. It has a capacity for 15,000 spectators for sports and 23,000 for concerts, including 40 luxury boxes and club seating for 1,200. The venue has a fixed roof and an asphalt floor. The venue was opened ahead of the 2009 Norwegian football season as a replacement for Nadderud Stadion. It cost 585 million Norwegian kroner (NOK) to build, of which NOK 300 million was for the sports venue.” (Src: Wikipedia)

Aside from Telenor, other big companies have their Norway offices situated in Fornebu. For instance, you will find the headquarters of SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System), Norwegian Air Shuttle, Statoil, Norgesgruppen, and EVRY, there. There are also nice residential buildings within the area. We also spotted some on-going construction of, maybe, more residential houses.

How would you like to be in two places at the same time?

Taking a spasertur is not all joy and fun. My friend and I also missed some roads and paths. Luckily in Norway, Norwegians taught us that if you know your destination and you can sense it from a distance, then, all you have to do is find a way to get there.

After an hour or two, we finally reached the coasts. It was a very pleasant sight! A wonderful and relaxing spot to behold! The coast is long, but fate led us to this particular area. We saw three big ducks, a dating couple, and some joggers and spasertur-takers all immersing themselves in the awesomeness of the beach and the place.

And we sat.. and talked.. and enjoyed the beauty of the little Norwegian beach.

Too bad, we did not bring anything except water and our phones, so we did not stay that long. But the spasertur continued and we reached a fantastic port nearby.

It would have been spectacular to sit by the Fornebu beach during sunset, but noontime was all we could afford. Nevertheless, I understand now why Fornebu is a place-to-explore on www.VisitOslo.com. 😉

If the goal was to put business and nature together through the creation of Fornebu as it is today, then, the Norwegians succeeded. Lovely paths for walking, running and cycling, and benches for relaxing, chatting and meditating, are in the area. Awesome spasertur, indeed!

Aah.. I can feel some draft right here in my room. This is bad. Winter is coming and the least I would want is draft in my room. Y.Y Oh well.. have a nice autumn and see you in Fornebu!