The embodiment of Easter in Norway is to head for the mountains, huddle in a cabin with family and/or friends, eat oranges, chocolate biscuits, and marzipan, and to ski.
We’re not amongst those nations who have had enough of the snow when it comes to April, you see. We like to chase after it, to make it last as long as possible. And true to the purpose, the royal family leads by example.
King Harald and Queen Sonja have reported that they will be spending a traditional Easter in Sikkilsdalen, with occasional visits from other family members. Today, the whole family met at Oslo Central Station, to take the train to the area. The missing members of the family were Mette-Marit, who is spending the holidays working on her final assignment for her Master’s course, and her son, Marius, who presumably will be spending the holidays with his father.
Crown Prince Haakon is a single parent for the beginning of the Easter, traveling with Ingrid Alexandra and Sverre Magnus. Princess Märtha Louise brought her husband and their three daughters. It will be an easter filled with children for the King and Queen.
Pictures from the arrival at the central station can be found here.
Sikkilsdalen is situated in Jotunheimen, which is a large mountainous area in the south of Norway. It is the location of Prinsehytta (The Prince cabin) – the king and queen’s winter holiday residence, and hunting lodge.
Prinsehytta was constructed for the Swedish princes Gustav Adolf (later king), Wilhelm and Erik, and finished in 1902, when Sweden and Norway was in union. Later, Crown Prince Gustav Adolf gave Crown Prince Olav the cabin as a coming-of-age present in 1924, and the cabin has been a holiday retreat for the royal family since then. The retreat has been expanded various times over the years, and now encompasses various buildings around two “town” squares, with different buildings having different purposes – from old Norwegian farming traditions.
The royal family traditionally participates in the Easter ski competition in the area. Queen Sonja is allegedly an excellent skier. On the other hand, the photographers rejoiced in 2007, when they got a snapshot of the King falling over on his skis.
Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit had their own winter cabin built in Nore og Ulvdal last year, and have an official event in that area on the 14th of April, so they might spend the last part of the holidays in that area.
Happy Easter!