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White Nights & Jazz: 10 Summer Festivals in Norway
Norway, renowned for the beautiful fjord scenery and railway journeys that offer spectacular views of ravines, waterfalls and mountains, also boasts a thriving jazz scene. Every year from May to August, when the days just don’t turn into nights, no less than 10 festivals take place across the country. Hamar Jazz Festival Also known as AnJazz, this festival takes place in Hamar over five days in early May. Located on the shores of Mjøsa, Norway’s largest lake, this medium-sized town in eastern-central Norway is about an hour and a half away from Oslo either by car or train. Maijazz As the name suggests, this is another jazz festival…
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Fjords & Jazz: Explore Norway in 9 days
23rd of June 1998. I first set foot on Norway exactly 20 years ago. This was the day that Norway beat Brazil in the World Cup. It was also the day that the critically-acclaimed music video for Madonna’s ‘Ray of Light’, directed by the Swedish Jonas Åkerlund, was released on VHS only to become the best-selling video singles of the Nielsen SoundScan era. It was almost midnight when I first watched the iconic video on MTV, high-speed images of Madonna dancing, whilst Norwegians were celebrating all over Oslo. Outside, there was still daylight. Madonna’s iconic ‘Ray of Light’ directed by Jonas Åkerlund. 20 years on, I am still…
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The Traveling Psychiatrist
“I’ve won!” six-year-old Alex exclaimed, as he moved his pawn to Oslo. Born and bred in Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece, I would spend hours and hours playing ‘Traveling in Europe’, the board game that introduced me to traveling and to Europe. Once I learned all the continent’s countries, capitals and major cities, I moved to ‘Traveling in Greece’ and got to know every single island of my home country. Then came ‘Traveling in the World’ and soon afterward I was onboard my first plane. Spending two weeks in Far East Asia expanded the horizons of the eight-year-old me, brought me in contact with different civilizations, religions…