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Danmark!

A new day, a new country! Well, actually Danmark was the only one of the Scandinavian countries I had actually been before, although I didn’t see much of it, and I definitely didn’t try the craft beer bars then…

But before I even got there, I still had a couple of hours to go on the MS Nordic Crown. Since the sun rises quite early that far north, so did I, and before eight, I was already enjoying the very extensive breakfast buffet, again in the Kull restaurant. 

Since I had already packed my bag, I had plenty of time to observe the arrival process. It certainly seems to be precision work!

Finally back on land, I hopped on the train for a couple of minutes to get to my hotel. To my delight, Wakeup Copenhagen already had a room ready for me. That meant I wouldn’t have to come back to check in, saving me quite a lot of time.

Just down the street was one of many Original Coffee outlets, which satisfied my coffee needs for the morning. 

Then it was just another short walk to the National Museum of Denmark. There I learned that Danmark once was quite a bit more imperialistic than I ever realised. 

After a coffee and a rye bread smørrebrød with chicken at Sonny, I headed all the way to Mikkeller Baghaven, which was not even on my original itinerary, because it was quite far…

A bus and a metro—with a light show in the station—then brought me back to another hip part of town, for a coffee at Prolog Coffee Bar

Just around the corner was Fermentoren, an awesome, quirky beer bar I would love to have in my neighbourhood. 

But I really had to go to Warpigs Brewpub for at least some of their locally brewed beers, and some of their Piggy Poppers.  

For a proper dinner I went to Chicky Grill, where I had Flæskesteg (roast pork). Love a bit of pork crackling!

After that I was up for a few more beers: one at Mikkeller Bar Viktoriagade—they didn’t have more than one that appealed to me on the menu anyway, but I did get my stamp—and a few more at the half-in-Tivoli-embedded Anarkist Bar

One more…

A last half day in Oslo, before setting sail to Copenhagen… That’s just enough time for one more museum, one more coffee, one more Norwegian lunch, and one more Norwegian beer bar! 

Like any day, it started with breakfast. This time I went to Rent Mel, so well integrated in the hotel, it not only gave a discount, but it even had an entrance to it from within the hotel lobby! 

The museum of the day was the Historisk Museum. While the highly recommended The Viking Ship Museum Museum of the Viking Age is closed for renovations until 2027, some of its artefacts found a home here, for now. 

For lunch today I finally—since apparently they are closed on Mondays—made it into the Mathallen. First, coffee at Solberg & Hansen. Then, the Tipsy Moose Burger at Helt Vilt. To finish, a last Norwegian beer at Hopyard, which according to UntappdHere Come the Vikings!—was exactly the 150th Norwegian beer I ever had. 

Then it was time to check out of my hotel, an into my Go Nordic ship for the night, the MS Nordic Crown. I was welcomed in my Commodore Class cabin with some bubbly, and after the ship set sail, I headed to the aft deck bar for some Svaneke beers, and to enjoy the views of Oslo disappearing in the distance…

Soon it was time for my pre-booked dinner in restaurant Kull. On a table near the window, I enjoyed my Duroc spare ribs with Nordic BBQ sauce and chips, and my selection of Nordic cheeses. 

After dinner I had one beer in the Anker pub where there was a musician playing, but the main show was outside: a sunset at sea…

An Oslo Odyssey

Time for some history and some more culinary discoveries today! And for the last time this trip, a run… 

There was no breakfast served in the hotel, but in same building there were a couple of options available. My first morning in Oslo proper, I went to Spor av Nord, for an egg salad sandwich and a kardemommebolle

Then I was off to the Norsk Folkemuseum. Like Bokrijk in Belgium, it’s an open-air museum, filled with buildings from all over the country, taken apart at their original location, and carefully put together again in their new home, thus saving them for posterity. 

Back in the city centre, it was time to try some of that famous brown cheese—brunost—and apparently it is quite good on a waffle. So I went to Haralds Vaffel, and asked for the ‘superclassic vaffel’. Not bad at all! 

Tim Wendelboe is a well-known name in the coffee world apparently, so obviously I had to have a coffee there!

And since just the waffle was not quite enough to be considered a whole lunch, I also stopped at Syverkiosken for a pølse med lompe, a hotdog in a potato flatbread.

Before my last run, I still had time to try two more bars: Brygg Oslo and Café Fiasco

But then I really had to get back to the hotel, change into my running kilt for the last time this trip, and catch a tram to the run start. Since it was Oslo H3’s run 2001, it took inspiration from the famous Kubrick film, and was titled “A Hash Odyssey!” We were very lucky with the weather this time, and had some great views over the water. 

Running & Reindeer

The last day of InterScandi—including a short run—but the first day of properly exploring Oslo! Well, I mostly discovered the bars, since it was a bit late for museums already…

But first the coaches took us and our luggage a bit closer to Oslo centre. We got off the coaches to start our Hangover Run, the luggage was then further transported to Pakkhuset Oslo, where our run finished. A final Circle and a sandwich, and that concluded InterScandi 2026

My CityBox Oslo hotel was only a couple of hundred metres away, so I quickly checked in, had a shower and a change, and I was ready to discover the rest of Oslo!

A quick coffee or two at Hakone Coffee, and I was off to the Amundsen Bryggeri & Spiseri. Lovely people behind the bar, and some really nice beers, brewed in the tiny brewery just behind the glass. 

Next: Dr. Jekyll’s Pub—with a cool hidden toilets entrance—and RØØR.

Finally time for some Norwegian cuisine, and Elias Mat & Sånt had exactly what I was looking for: finnbiff! This reindeer stew with bacon, mushroom, onion and carrot, double cream and brown cheese sauce, was served with mashed potatoes and lingonberries, and it was delicious. 

Sufficiently fed, I was ready for some more beer, trying to keep my selection as local as possible. Luckily Mad Goat Tap Room and Brewgata both had plenty of choice. 

InterScandi Saturday

Regular readers will know by now: the Saturday of a weekend-long hash event always includes a long run during the day, a nice dinner, and a party. InterScandi was of course no different. 

After breakfast, colourful groups of participants took off at different times for each of the different difficulty levels of trail. For the trail I chose—simply know as the “long” trail—the start was actually from Snippen, a train station one stop away from our accommodation in Kjelsås. From the train we could already see what to expect: lots of rocky climbs and descents, dense woods, and rain… While clouds and mist obscured some of the views, it was still a beautiful 16km run/walk/climb.

For dinner we had a tasty and satisfying Indian curry—I guess my exploration of Norwegian cuisine will have to wait until Sunday evening—and some kind of crumble for dessert. 

The party—themed “Circus”—included live music by “WrONg DirectiON”, a group of musical hashers. Oh, and I found out Face ID doesn’t work if I’m wearing a clown’s nose…