PinayOdyssey

Despite all the horrible things that are happening in the world today, I remain hopeful. #hope

To deviate my thoughts from the negativism and bad vibes present in humanity right now, let me post an entry about  one of Oslo’s most visited attractions. 😉

It was the second meeting between my Greek friend and I, and we decided to go to the Hollmenkollen National Ski Arena. They say that Norwegians are born with skis on their feet, so the said place is a must-visit! The day before, we roamed around Oslo and visited two museums, the Botanical Garden, and the Vigeland Parken. Yep, we tried to squeeze all of them in one day. 😀

We decided to meet at Majorstua T-bane station, and from there, we took the metro going to Frognerseteren. After getting off at Holmenkollen station, we joined a crowd, possibly all tourists, up the hill and on to the Ski Arena. Once you see the sign below, you’re on the right track!

As we continued going up the hill, we saw a very nice red house which turned out to be a hotel. But the red building is more than just a hotel. It used to be a sanatorium. I’ve never heard of the term before so I had to look up on the web. A sanatorium is a place where sick people were stationed to help them recover fast from a serious illnesses, such as TB. The first one was opened by the German doctor, Herrmann Brehmer, in Poland in 1863. A decade before, the doctor claimed that TB could be cured by making the patients live in a relaxing environment, and eat nutrious foods. According to him, that would strengthen the patients’ immune system and survive from TB.

Eventually, when antibiotics and other effective drugs were discovered, sanatoriums were put aside. And that included the red house in Holmenkollen. You can read here the rest of the story about the building.

So, what will you find on top of the hill? There’s the Ski Jump Tower of course, a Ski Museum, some shops, a ski simulator, and a cafe. The awesome jump tower is 60 meters in height and is made up of 1000 tons of steel!

From the top, we walked around the arena to get a better view of the jump tower. The view was really amazing!

Upon reaching one side of the arena, we came across the People’s King, Olav V’s huge monument! Interestingly, he was a Danish prince named Alexander Edward Christian Frederik. But when his daddy became King of Norway, he was given the Norwegian name, Olav. He married his first cousin, Queen Märtha of Sweden, and their son, Harald V, is the present King! ;P

Another famous architecture in Holmenkollen is the Kapell, or Chapel. It was built in 1903, and has become a famous church for celebrating the Christian sacraments since then. It was Sunday and there was a service going on, so we didn’t manage to enter.

 So, what do the Norwegians do on a hot summer day? Let’s find out..

There they are! Still skiing even in summer. XD I have no pictures to show, but if you were there, you would have to be careful as several are skiing down the dusty road! Or skating. And it  is true for all ages. The person jumping on the picture above is a little girl in pink ski suit! So adorable..

We finished exploring Holmenkollen early, so we decided to take a long stroll across residential areas and forests to Sognsvann Lake. That lake is where most Norwegians go to cool down from the not so hot (Filipina perspective 😉 ) Norwegian summer weather. So, I’ll see you again next time with that entry!

Looking forward to visiting Holmenkollen again this winter. 😀 Ha det!