Trysil is not only a famous ski resort but also a popular destination in the summer. At the Trysil River, you can spend your holiday rafting, canoeing, kayaking, or drifting slowly on a timber raft. These activities can be rented at the local campground. If you don’t want to sail for several days, you can rent equipment for a few hours or the entire day, and the staff will pick you up wherever you finish.

Trysilelva (Trysil River) is part of Scandinavia’s largest watercourse. The river has the highest population of grayling in Norway, along with a considerable number of trout.

The first evening on the canoe trip, and the only day, when it didn’t rain.

Day two, just a few hours before the rain started.
Strangely, there were no signs or barriers warning of the power station ahead. We saw it on the map and spotted the buildings well before the waterfall, so we made sure not to sail over the edge.
We took the canoes ashore and carried them about a kilometre before putting them back into the river.

After a long day on the river, we finally found an empty boathouse. It had been raining all day, and we didn’t want to set up our tents if we could find better shelter.

The hotel is located in peaceful, rural surroundings, offering a setting of calm and tranquillity without any loud traffic noise. In the summer, you can watch the sunset and enjoy bright, starry evenings. The Holmenkollen winter sports arena is just a stone’s throw away from the hotel.

Art and culture are important parts of the hotel’s history, reflected in its many pictures and decorations. Some parts of the hotel date back to 1894, when Dr. I. C. Holm, a renowned Norwegian surgeon, built a sanatorium for his tuberculosis patients. This building has been preserved and is now part of the hotel.

This is a view from the ski jump tower at Holmenkollen in Oslo. During the summer, there are many activities on weekends, including live bands performing on stage and water festivals held here. The view of the town from this spot is definitely worth the effort to get here and the entrance fee. There is also a nice exhibition on Holmenkollen’s history.

The statue is located at the harbour in Oslo.

This is the story of the famous war hero:

PEDER TORDENSKJOLD (1691–1720) was an eminent Danish naval hero. He was the tenth child of alderman Jan Wessel of Bergen, Norway, and was born in Trondheim on October 28, 1691. As a young boy, Wessel was wild and unruly, causing his pious parents much trouble. Eventually, he ran away by hiding on a ship bound for Copenhagen. There, the king’s chaplain, Dr. Peder Jespersen, took pity on the friendless lad and nurtured his love for the sea by sending him on a voyage to the West Indies. Jespersen later secured him a vacant cadetship.

After further voyages to the East Indies, Wessel was appointed 2nd lieutenant in the royal navy on July 7, 1711. Shortly afterward, he became captain of a small 4-gun sloop named Ormen (The Serpent), which he used to patrol the Swedish coast, gathering valuable intelligence. In June 1712, despite the Danish admiralty’s doubts—who considered him too reckless for command—he was promoted to captain of a 20-gun frigate. His main supporter was the Norwegian admiral Lovendal, who recognized his talent.

Wessel quickly became known for two things: his bold attacks on Swedish vessels regardless of the odds, and his exceptional seamanship, which always allowed him to evade capture. During the later stage of the Great Northern War, when Sweden’s fleet mainly transported troops and supplies to its German provinces, Wessel’s daring raids severely disrupted Swedish operations. He frequently captured transports, raided fjords where enemy ships hid, and intercepted Swedish frigates.

In July 1714, Wessel engaged a frigate commanded by an English captain en route to Gothenburg. The battle lasted all day, was paused overnight, and resumed the next morning, ending inconclusively. His boldness earned him many enemies in the Danish navy, and he was court-martialed for allegedly endangering the king’s ships. However, his spirited defense and disdain for less courageous officers impressed King Frederick IV, who dismissed the charges and promoted Wessel to captain.

In 1715, when Charles XII returned from Turkey and reinvigorated Swedish forces, Wessel distinguished himself in numerous battles along the Pomeranian coast. He caused great damage by capturing enemy frigates and destroying transports. Upon returning to Denmark in early 1716, he was ennobled with the title “Tordenskjold” (Thundershield).

Later that year, when Charles XII invaded Norway and laid siege to Fredrikshald, Tordenskjold forced him to lift the siege by attacking the Swedish transport fleet anchored in the narrow Dynekil strait, destroying it almost entirely with minimal losses. For this feat, he was promoted to commander but made an enemy of his superior, Admiral Gabel, by acting without consulting him.

Tordenskjold’s first major command came in early 1717, when he led a squadron tasked with destroying the Swedish Gothenburg squadron, which disrupted communications between Denmark and Norway. Due to some officers’ disloyalty—they resented serving under the young adventurer—he failed to fully achieve his objectives. His enemies exploited this failure, and he faced another court-martial in 1718. Again, his patron Admiral U. C. Gyldenløve defended him, and the charges were dropped.

In December 1718, Tordenskjold brought King Frederick IV news of Charles XII’s death and was promoted to rear admiral. His last notable achievement was capturing the Swedish fortress of Marstrand, where he partially destroyed and captured the Gothenburg squadron that had long eluded him. He was rewarded with the rank of vice admiral.

Tordenskjold did not live long after the war ended. On November 20, 1720, he was killed in a duel with Livonian colonel Jakob Axel Staël von Holstein.

Although his victories (except Dynekil) were less significant than those of Sehested at Stralsund and Gyldenløve at Rügen, Tordenskjold is, after Charles XII, the most heroic figure of the Great Northern War. His courage matched that of “The Lion of the North,” but he lacked the absolute self-control that gave Charles XII’s bravery its almost superhuman character.

Akershus Fortress and Castle have a long history. Construction began during the reign of King Håkon V Magnusson (1299–1319) and was completed under King Håkon VI Magnusson (1343–1380). In the 1500s, the fortress was burned and besieged several times.

A new phase of construction took place during the reign of the Danish-Norwegian King Christian IV (1588–1648), giving the fortress much of its present appearance.

In 1815, Akershus was abandoned as a fortress and repurposed for public offices, a jail, and an archive. German troops occupied the complex from 1940 to 1945 during their occupation of Norway.

Today, it houses a royal museum and is used by the government for official representation and by the Department of Defence.

Carl Johan, King of Norway and Sweden, is said to have personally chosen the site for the Royal Palace during a horseback ride—on Bellevue Hill, west of what was then the city centre. Architect H.D.F. Linstow was commissioned to design the palace, and in 1825, the king himself laid the cornerstone.

The palace was originally planned as a large H-shaped complex, but the plans were simplified due to financial constraints. After Carl Johan’s death in 1844, it quickly became clear that the palace was too small for the new king, Oscar I, and his family. The Storting granted funds to enlarge the wings and improve the exterior. The disliked roof was lowered, and the main façade was given a monumental temple front with columns. The Royal Palace’s expansion was officially begun in the summer of 1849, in the presence of the entire royal family.

Since the early 1990s, the palace has been under continuous renovation and rebuilding. Technical installations have been modernized along with the overall building structure. Work on the new Royal Apartment is still ongoing.

May 17 is Norway’s National Day, celebrated throughout the country with music and children’s parades. In Oslo, thousands of children march up Karl Johan Street and past the palace to greet the royal family assembled on the palace balcony.

THE VIGELAND PARK covers an area of 80 acres. The park contains 212 sculptures, all modelled life-size by Gustav Vigeland himself. He also designed the architectural setting and layout of the grounds. The sculptures are arranged along an 850-metre-long axis divided into five main sections: the Main Entrance, The Bridge with the children's playground, The Fountain, The Monolith Plateau, and The Wheel of Life.

The Vigeland Park showcases a large collection of Gustav Vigeland’s works, including 212 sculptures in bronze and granite as well as several wrought iron gates. Vigeland modelled all his sculptures in full size without assistance from pupils or other artists. The carving in stone and the casting in bronze were entrusted to a group of skilled craftsmen.

At the highest point of the park, on the Monolith Plateau, circular stairs lead up to the Monolith. The sculpted section, featuring 121 figures, is 14.12 meters tall, and the total height including the plinth is 17.3 meters. The Monolith was carved from a single granite block, which is the origin of its name (mono: one, litho: stone). While the Fountain expresses the melancholy theme of the eternal life cycle, the Monolith suggests a very different meaning: man’s longing and yearning for the spiritual and divine. Could the column symbolize man’s resurrection? The figures are drawn heavenward, expressing not only sadness and restrained despair, but also joy and hope, accompanied by a sense of togetherness, holding each other tightly in this strange feeling of salvation.

The first small sketches for this giant column date back to 1919. Vigeland modelled it life-size in clay in his new studio at Frogner during 1924 and 1925, completing it in just ten months. It was then cast in plaster. In the autumn of 1926, a granite block weighing several hundred tons was transported by sea up the Oslofjord from a quarry near Halden. The block arrived in early 1927 and was erected the following year. A shed was built around the stone, and the plaster model was placed beside it.

The process of transferring the figures began in 1929 and took three stone carvers 14 years to complete. In 1943, the final parts of the plaster model were dismantled and taken back to the Vigeland Museum, where they can still be admired today. Before the shed was demolished around Christmas 1944, the public was allowed inside. Nearly 180,000 visitors climbed the shed’s steep stairs to study the work up close.

Two old wooden ships are moored in the harbour of Oslo. In the background, you can see Akershus Fortress.

Thor Heyerdahl built this 45-foot-long replica of an ancient Egyptian papyrus vessel in 1969, with the help of members of the Burundi tribe from Chad in Central Africa. Constructed at the foot of the Pyramids and named after the sun god Ra, it was later transported to Safi in Morocco, from where it set sail for Barbados.

After about 3,000 miles, problems arose with the stern’s construction, which could not withstand the strain. Just a short distance from Barbados, the ship had to be abandoned.

Ten months later, four Aymara Indians from Bolivia, who still mastered the traditional art of building reed boats, built Ra II. This vessel successfully completed a transatlantic crossing, covering the 4,000 miles to Barbados in just 57 days.

The voyages of Ra I and II demonstrated that transatlantic contacts between ancient civilizations and the Americas had been possible.

Fridtjof Nansen proposed building a small ship of 170 tons that could carry provisions for 12 men for 5 years. It would have an engine capable of a speed of 6 knots and be rigged for sailing. The ship was designed to withstand the pressure of the ice by sitting on top of it rather than being crushed. Nansen named the ship FRAM, which means "Onward," and predicted it would take 3 years to cross the Arctic Ocean.

Nansen hired a Scottish shipbuilder, Colin Archer, who developed several plans for the ship. One design was finally agreed upon: not beautiful, but practical.

The hull’s shape was designed so that the ice pressure would push the ship up onto the ice rather than crushing it, unlike previous expedition ships. The sides were rounded, the bottom flat, and the ship was one third as wide as it was long. At sea, it was said, "She sailed with the smooth aplomb of an old barrel, but in the ice she performed splendidly."

The hull consisted of three layers and was over 2 feet thick, made of matured oak and greenheart, a West Indian hardwood. The greenheart formed the ice-resistant outer skin. The hold looked like a cobweb of beams, stanchions, and braces. The bow and stern were rounded and smooth so the ice could not grip the ship.

Nansen wanted the ship to be as small as possible. He reasoned that a lighter ship could be made proportionally stronger, and a smaller ship was better suited to navigating among ice floes. The final measurements were: 402 gross tons, 307 net tons; 113 ft at the waterline, 103 ft keel length; 36 ft breadth; 17 ft depth. The draught was 12.5 ft with light cargo (displacement 530 tons) and 15 ft with heavy cargo (displacement 800 tons). Freeboard ranged from 3 to 6 ft. The ship carried enough coal for 4 months of steaming at full speed. It was rigged as a 3-masted fore-and-aft schooner with a 220 hp engine, allowing a speed of 6–7 knots.

The saloon, or dining room, was located in the middle of the ship, surrounded by the cabins. The walls and ceiling were carefully layered to provide insulation and protection against the cold. The layers consisted of felt, paneling, an air gap, reindeer hair stuffing, more paneling, linoleum, another air gap, additional paneling, and finally 4-inch thick deck plates. The ship also had a skylight protected by three panes of glass. This design helped prevent moisture from condensing on the walls, which was a common problem on Arctic expeditions, as the condensation would otherwise run down into the cabins and bunks and freeze.

The balsa wood raft Kon-Tiki was built as a replica of a prehistoric South American vessel. Constructed from nine balsa logs collected in Ecuador, a crew of six men sailed the raft from Callao, Peru, on April 28, 1947, and landed on the island of Raroia in Polynesia after 101 days. This successful voyage of approximately 4,300 miles demonstrated that the islands of Polynesia were within the reach of this type of prehistoric South American vessel.

Another picture of Kon-Tiki.