Anyway! The word mela means meeting point, and the Mela Festival we have here in Oslo is one of the biggest in the world outside of Asia. Although it’s still not very big. ;-) But it’s definitely worth a visit. It’s been held annually at various places around the city since 2001. The past few years it’s been held in City Hall Square, right by the harbor. It doesn’t cost anything to get in. There are music, dance and theater performances from various far-flung parts of the globe (they often have people there performing who are big stars but that most Norwegians have never heard about :-). There are various stalls selling clothes and gifts, and of course there are lots of stalls selling food! Lots of yummy food from exotic places. If you aren’t hungry when you get there, you will be pretty soon after wandering around in all those delicious smells for a while … ;-) It’s mostly pretty cheap too, so no sense in controlling oneself. :-)
We weren’t there very long, we didn’t have a lot of time, we just wanted to stop by and soak up the experience for however long we could. Of course I took some pictures though. :-) Next year the festival will be on August 14th through 16th. If you’re in Oslo then, don’t miss it!!
You can read a little about it in English here.
Inflatable (??) elephants guarded the entrance.
I love elephants. :-)
Various exotic music was played on the main stage. Probably by someone really famous, but unfortunately, I can't even keep up with what's happening on the music scene in this country, so when they start bringing in pop stars from Pakistan and Indonesia or wherever, I'm lost.
There was a huge turnout, crowds everywhere ... ! and lots of beautiful outfits to admire.
Me by one of the decorations. It was cool, I kind of wanted it ... but where would I put it. ;-) Taking this picture was tricky because people wandered in front of the camera constantly ... but we managed it in the end. :-) Check out my cool Leonard Cohen t-shirt!! :-)
Anéa eating Greek food. She was soo happy when she discovered that there was a stall selling Greek food; she loves Greece and all things Greek. :-) I think this is a really great shot of her. If I do say so myself. :-) But of course it's easy to take good pictures of her, she's so beautiful. (Don't argue, Anéa, you know you are. ;-) She is in Rome this month and seems to be having a wonderful time there, even though it isn't Greece. ;-)
Akershus Fortress in approaching twilight.
I bought a souvenir in one of the stalls, but I don't have a picture of it ... so maybe later. :-)
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9 comments:
nice pics madam, liked the colour,
Thanks! :-)
afraid to say much :(, but pity there was no lions and tigers and....
Those were cool elephants!
I know, aren't they?? I wonder what they do with them between events ... :-)
The colors in those pics are wonderful. Looks like a great event. I like taking in other cultures.
My favorite part was the food ... there were soo many delicious smells, I wanted to eat at every stall. Everything smelled so good. :-) But there were so many of them that that would have taken me days, I had to pick one. :-)
paz: no lions or tigers or bears, but elephants, at least!! Did you see my tiger picture from the zoo in Sweden this summer??
I know this isn't of any real particular relevance to your post, but I just wanted to say that I'm so glad that our blogs crossed paths - I really enjoy reading about your adventures.
Aww, thanks, mombi!! That's so nice of you to say. I really appreciate it. And the same to you!! I'm sorry you didn't get to see your extracted wisdom teeth, but at least you had a good time in Paris! (Hint hint ... am I subtle or what)
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