Cecilie Moestue

Fancy a trip to Norway this summer? In Gudbrandsdalen you can experience the true Norwegian fairytale at Vågå Gardshotell. Stay in historic buildings in unique farms. Take a trip in the neighbouring area and visit Lom, where you can have a look at the old church and not to miss: eat at the famous bakery “Bakeriet i Lom”. Bliss!

In May my sisters and I went to Paris for a weekend. Two days before we left I saw a tweet from Christopher Haatuft on Twitter: “Preparing the menu for a secret restaurant in Paris this weekend”. Haatuft is a chef at the Norwegian embassy in Paris, food writer and a blogger: “Spiseplikt”. A few hours later the table was booked! So there we were, four Norwegian girls in a bohemian chic Paris apartment in the middle of the Marais area. Thanks to Twitter. And what a night! Christopher Haatuft, in a short moment out of the busy, tiny kitchen… Fresh white aspargus, marinated herring and freshly made ravioli…and the wines were all “vins naturels”. These are untreated, unfiltered, unmanipulated wines from small producers, all from the wine bar/shop “Le verre volé” in the neighbouring area. Fillet of rouget fish with fried pigs ear (!!) One of Christopher´s favorites, suckling pig. Here served with corn bread, an excellent combination. It doesn´t look that impressive in the photo – but – the taste: marvellous! Unfortunately I don´t have photos of all the courses, but we also had sweetbread, dashi, Norwegian cured leg of lamb (fenalår) and an unforgettable dessert with “la boule” as one of the best – white chocolate ball with rhubarb soup inside! How cool! We were seated in the office of one of the owners, a designer, who is inspired by robots and Elmo from Sesame Street..

Berlin! Haven´t been there in a long time… And I was definitely not staying in this fab hotel Honigmond in Mitte. In the old days I stayed at UFA Fabrik in Kreuzberg. But next time..

Friends recommend Ammos hotel if you´re planning on a beach holiday with kids in Greece. Nice!

Ace Hotel is the place to stay according to John Willoughby, Gourmet magazine´s executive editor. He writes: “There’s a new breed of hotel out there. They’re inexpensive, for sure, which is their initial attraction, but when you arrive at them, they don’t seem cheap. Instead, they feel like a place you belong..”. Read the full article here. All photos: Ace Hotel, New York. Looks cool, but I can´t decide whether I would stay in this place or choose a more ordinary hotel when going to New York.

This place looks gorgeous! Having spent a year in Avignon when I was younger, I am always on the lookout for nice places to stay in that area. And this I found on one of my favorite travel websites i-escape.com. Or try Maison Felisa´s hompage for more information. All photos: i-escape.com

Lucky me – I´m going to Budapest this spring. When searching for a nice hotel I checked out several, but when I found this, I knew that this was the place. Gerlóczy Rooms de Luxe it will be.

This interesting hotel is situated in Nesflaten, near Suldal in Rogaland, Western Norway. Once a part of a hydro-electric power plant, when the building was used as the dining hall. Nowadays local people have turned the place into an exclusive hotel in collaboration with the architects Helen & Hard. The building was designed by the renowned architect Geir Grung in the 60s, and is listed among the 12 most significant modern buildings in Norway. Read the story in English here, or in Norwegian here.

Story Hotel opened in March 2009 – a bohemian chic hotel at Stureplan, Stockholm. It looks great! The rooms draws inspiration from urban New York restaurants and bohemian Paris hotels. And the coolest feature – automated self check-in and check-out facilities, code locks for guest rooms and complimentary wireless Internet.

One of the blogs I follow, La Tartine Gourmande, had a story about cranberries in october. It´s amazing to see these photos of the harvest. In Norway we don´t have these berries, and I was particularly amazed about the way they flooded the bog.