Nordic Reach

A House in the Trees Is a House for Me

Who stays at the Treehotel? [Kent] says guests come from all over the world: China, New Zealand, England. A family from Spain will celebrate New Year's Eve in the Treehotel, far from the hullabaloo of noisemakers and fireworks. What will greet them instead is silence and darkness. A night for two at the Mirrorcube will cost you SEK 4200 ($633), and at the Bird's Nest sek 3800 ($573), which includes a breakfast buffet at [Britta Lindvall]'s Guesthouse (where you check in). The rooms have coffe...

An Evening On Oslolfjord

We were sitting at plank-built tables on an open deck. In front of us piled mounds of unpeeled Norwegian shrimp, served buffet-style from a large bucket; and around us spread Oslofjord, panoramic and beautiful in the lingering evening sunlight. Our ship, Johanna, is one of three historic sloops making 3-hour excursions on Oslofjord from central Oslo. Though now propelled by dieselpowered engines, Johanna, built in 1892, has retained its pinewood mast and intricate 19th century rigging. Peekin...

Downtown Discovery

In what is scarcely more than a hole in the wall we each had a glass of wine and shared its signature dish, a Scandinavian-inspired crepe, loaded with smoked salmon, scrambled eggs and dill crème. From our barstool perch we had a good view of Raul, the crepe-master, standing in the tiny kitchen a few steps below, whipping up one mouth-watering crepe after the other. Some were savory buckwheat with classic French or inventive Scandinavian fillings (including herring); others were flour sweet c...

In the Footsteps of Ibsen Grieg Munch

Ole Bull, the great virtuoso violinist, known as the "Paganini of the North," had just established the first Norwegian theater in Bergen, and, seeing what a promising young man [Henrik Ibsen] was, engaged him as a "scene instructor," with the condition that he write one play every year. The engagement lasted six years - crucial years in Ibsen's life, during which he learned about the theater from the ground up and was given opportunities to travel to Denmark and Germany to study stagecraft. I...

Lotta Djossou Jewelry

"Before I started making jewelry I had never bought a piece of jewelry in my life," Lotta says. "I was never really that interested in jewelry." "A lot has happened since," Lotta explains. "At first we drove around and sold it directly out of the car. Eventually we started working in silver. But I got restless and we bought a house in Paris and moved there. We also began showing at important fairs like Bijorcha, were I was the first Swede to attend, i filled our display case with moss! People...

New York, Nord-Trøndelag

From the book Dum og andre steder i Norge (meaning "'Stupid' and Other Places in Norway") by writer Silje Kathrine Sviggum and photographer Knut Egil Wang. The book, published by Cappelen Damm Forlag a/s is available in Norwegian only.

Sceneries You Don't Want First-Hand

Even his neighbors find his devotion a bit unbelievable. "It is early January and I am on my way home with the sail bag over one shoulder and the camera case over the other when I run into a neighbor," Colbing relates. "'You can't possibly have been out to sea today!' is his astonished remark. 'Sailing! You can't expect me to believe you've got a boat afloat now, in the depths of winter? Boats are supposed to be hauled out at the beginning of October! And it's twelve degrees below... You camp...

The Bickley House

"The décor is simple,'1 explains Sandström, "with floors and walls done in white concrete with built-in heating coils. The rooms have extra big beds and walk-in showers. I always pay extra attention to everything being very, very clean, sheets and bathrooms and so on. I've also made sure all rooms have a place where you can retire, when you feel you want more privacy." "My talent is to make people feel good," says Sandström, who in Sweden owns Koloni, a restaurant that features ecological foo...

Wearable Couture

"In Paris I'm known for my knits, and in Hollywood I'm known for my gowns!" says Nina Skarra, a Norwegian designer worth taking a closer look at. Skarra's designs are unique and Nordic in their simplicity, with an added French femininity and elegance - just take a close look at the complexity of the seams. "This year's collection was inspired by the ballet Swan Lake, and the 2011 spring and summer collection is inspired by a Norwegian painting," she says, "I get inspiration from anything, a p...