Oslo Local Custom Tips by Maria_75 Top 5 Page for this destination

VORSPIELS & NACHSPIELS...

I have many non-norwegian friends who thinks that the vorspiels and nachspiels are a very strange tradition. I have never actually thought about it before they mentioned it - but as it is a very normal custom in Norway I thought I might write a bit about it.

Having a vorspiel is very normal in Norway, nachspiels too - but maybe not as often. I'm not quite sure how it started, but many say it started because it's so expencive to go out here, so it's better to drink something at home before you go out. Others say it's because norwegians are so shy and cold that they have to drink a bit before they can go out and have fun...

Many times when you are going out with your friends, you all meet in the house of someone to drink and have fun before going out. Everyone brings their own drinks. Because it's so expencive most people can't afford buying drinks for everyone that is coming. So if you are invited to someone; bring what you want to drink. Normally the people who have the vorspiel don't expect a present, but some people bring along a bag of potatochips or something. If they serve drinks or food it's nice to give them a bottle of wine.

Around midnight most people call for a maxi-taxi and head for the city. Other times people have so much fun that they just stay there instead. This is a good way of saving money, and also avoiding the neverending discussions about where to go as most people want to go to different places... ;)

Nachspiels are for the people who don't want to go home when all the places are closed. Most of the time they head back to the place of the vorspiel to finish off the rest of the drinks. Nachspiels tends to don't be as much fun as the vorspiels, as many people are very drunk and tired at this point. But it can also be a lot of fun. Sometimes nachspiels can even last so long that it turns into a vorspiel again, but that's a different story... ;)

BARBEQUING

There is one thing that we norwegians love doing, and that is barbequing. As the summer is not so long we will use any oppurtunity for having a barbeque. The most usual is to buy a engangsgrill (one-time disposable barbeque) and some pølse (sausage).

On the warmest days in summer it can be almost impossible to find a shop that still has more barbeques, because everyone wants to make a barbeque when we finally have some sun... :)

Another funny thing is that we tend to look more on the calendar, than the temperature... The picture is a good example of this. It was in the end of May and we were going to have a barbeque on a terrace. After a while it got quite windy and cold, but did we go inside the house? Oh no, it was summer so of course we had to sit outside!

We just found some thick blankets and warm jackets and enjoyed our barbeque outside... :)

EAST AND WEST...

When you come to Oslo you might notice a difference between the east and the west of the city. There is actually a very big difference and it has deep roots in a person who has been born and raised in the city.

I don't know exactly why, but I heard a story once that might explain some of the differences: The river Akerselva runs through Oslo and divides it into east and west. In the old days there were lots of factories along the river, and the wind blew all the smoke towards the east of the city. The workers got small apartments on the eastside, while the upper class had big villas on the westside. If you go walking from Sagene, where many of the factories were, and towards the west you will see good examples of this.

Most of the areas in the east are still the cheapest in the city, and the west is the most expencive. With some exceptions of course... Many people have a lot of prejudice against the other area, and if you ask someone where to go their answers will most likely reflect if they are from east or west.

In general you can say that it's more likely that someone from the west will put on their Gucci-sunglasses and have a 'latté' in Bogstadveien, Majorstua, while someone from the east will sit in a dark pub in Grønland, watch a footballmatch and drink cheap beer. But this is very, very generally speaking... ;) And as I said before, there are lots of exceptions.

CABINS

Another thing that the norwegians love is to go to cabins. Many people have their own, some companies have cabins that the employees can use and there are plenty of cabins for rent.

In summer people like going to cabins close to the sea, where they can go out with boats and enjoy the sealife. In winter it's more popular to go to mountains close to winterresorts, where people can go skiing.

Some cabins are very luxurious with jacuzzies, saunas, swimmingpools etc. But you can also find many that are the complete opposite. Without water and electricity, and where you almost live like they did houndred years ago. These cabins are often decorated with old furniture, many times made by someone in the family a long, long time ago.

It's really nice to go to cabins like this, surrounded by things that someone in your family made and have used for generations. And it makes you really appreciate all of the things that you normally take for granted, like f.ex. water and electricity.