While out in Norway, I had the opportunity to trek up Kragstøtten. This is a statue of Hans Hagerup Krag (1829-1907), an engineer and the head of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration in 1852 who essentially spearheaded the planning and construction of all the roads in and around the Oslo area. His statue looks down upon the western part of the city and the valley below.

As a Londoner, whenever I take the London Underground, I’m not expecting much. I take a train, it enters a small tunnel, it’s dark outside, you get off and leave. For the Oslo Metro however? This just won’t do!

Taking the Line 1, Blue on the Oslo Metro Map, we rode up to Voksenkillen Station (Adult Hill when translated literally into English). This train quite literally climbs a mountain! Looking out of the window, I was mesmerised by the view of the city below, with clear views for miles around! By the time we got towards the end of the line, I was disappointed to get off, knowing that there could be more to look at just a little further down the line.

Getting off at the station, the viewpoint was about a mile and a half (2 kilometers) down the road. Being at a higher altitude and at the end of March, the air here was cooler and therefore a lot of snow was still laying about. Of course I got excited by this, quite literally never seeing this much snow in my life!

Yes, I slipped on my a*se two or three times, my leg sank and was stuck on a section of light snow a couple of times and by the end of the trek I was absolutely soaked, but this was all very much a part of the experience they say! (I should add that while in Norway, I met up with a friend of mine who gave me a guided tour of the city and showed me around some of the cooler places…I hope you found that bridge you wanted to show me mate! 😉)

Arriving at the viewpoint, the view was possibly better than I was expecting. Thought that train one was good? This was so much better! If you could also climb to a slightly higher vantage point behind the statue, there was also a bench giving you quite literally the ‘best seat in the house’ looking down at everyone below.

We spent a good 40 minutes or so up here, just resting, talking and enjoying the area. It wasn’t too cold fortunately otherwise my damp clothes could have quite literally killed me, but there was definitly a chill which the piled snow created, and with so much of it left, I possibly went at the best time of the year where things were balanced.

Trekking down, I did get to enjoy more of the train before finding a small restaurant and treating ourselves to reindeer steaks (a meat I’ve only had the pleasure of eating twice before, both times in Finland, one as a roast and the second in burger form).

I certainly enjoyed my trip to Oslo and I’ll definitly be back again for more.

Michael
London, England