Christina & Henrik Schartum
📍 Oslo, Norway | Couples Edition
Why Christina & Henrik?
Christina is one of my wife’s best friends. They met in Chapel Hill at Pantana Bob’s the library. She was born in Haugesund (west coast of Norway) to a Tar Heel father and a Norwegian mother. We recently went to Oslo for Christina and Henrik’s wedding. The Schartum’s were incredible hosts - we were spoiled by Henrik’s cooking and knowledge of wine. I loved getting to spend time with their family and friends, while getting to know the various Norwegian customs and incredible countryside. Norway needs to be on your travel bucket list!
Scroll all the way to the bottom to see my favorite Norwegian customs
💼: Christina, Head of Comms for an industrial investments company | Henrik, fund manager in a boutique investment firm.
Self-Description
Henrik: organized and structured outdoorsy Norwegian who loves his family and good wine
Christina: 50/50 Norwegian-American who loves dogs, working out, traveling, and the finer things in life
🔗Link Summary
Products: Norrøna, Artipoppe baby carrier, Zalto wine glasses
Digital: Sculpt Society, History in Memes
Books: Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin, All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, The Lars Kepler series
Shows: Big Timber, The Bridge / Broen, Max Manus
Honorable Mention: Scandinavian sour candy
Recommendations written in their own words
🛒Consumer Products Recommendations
The best outdoor/hiking/skiing gear (as seen on Harry and Meghan…) We love it. It’s sustainable and super functional and durable - you’ll have their stuff for years and years.
This is one of our all-time favorite baby items. We used this nonstop for our little one. Super soft, stylish, and perfect for traveling or naps on the go. Love this thing.
Henrik loves his wine and these are the best to sip the liquid gold. Mouth-blown super thin glasses but dishwasher safe!
📲 Digital Product or App Recommendations
Sculpt Society (Christina)
I’ve loved working out from home ever since the pandemic and actually don’t know if I’ll ever pay for a studio class ever again… great for squeezing in a short workout and I love that this app has a bunch of pre/postnatal classes too!
History in Memes (Henrik)
Hilarious IG account. Trust me on this one. Usually leads me down a very long Google / IG rabbit hole.
💪 Habit Recommendations
Walking/hiking
We live in a super walkable city and close to miles and miles of trails. We walk on a daily basis and go on at least one decent hike every week. It’s our favorite thing we do as a family!
We hiked Saksa, a 3.7 miles hike that covers over 3,000 feet of elevation. Norwegian hiking is no joke!
Two single duvets vs one big one
Sounds silly but this has been amazing for our sleep! It truly helps us both sleep more soundly. No more hogging covers!
🧾 Content Recommendations
Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin (Christina)
Best book I’ve read in a long time. A really good story about love and grief.
All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (Christina)
One my favorite books of all time. It won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and is just so so good!
The Lars Kepler series (Henrik)
The kind of books I’ll get up early and stay up late to finish.
🍿 TV or Movie Recommendations
Big Timber (Henrik)
On Netflix. My kind of reality show. Don’t really know why I’m so obsessed with it, TBH. Something about watching half-crazed loggers with admirable perseverance on a remote island off the coast of Canada that gets me… Christina definitely doesn’t get it.
The Bridge / Broen (Netflix in Norway. Not sure about the US).
We’re generally obsessed with Scandinavian/Nordic noir series and this is by far the best one. Might actually be our favorite drama/crime series ever!
Max Manus (movie)
On Amazon Prime (double check if it’s available in the US). I had to include another Scandinavian favorite. Solid war story based on a true story. Really good!!
🎁 Best Gift in Recent Memory
A one-night staycation with a night at a hotel, dinner and babysitter included! It’s just not something we would treat ourselves to these days but is SUCH a great gift.
🥉 Honorable Mention
Thank you Christina and Henrik!
Now….sharing my (Rob) favorite Norwegian recommendations from our trip:
Wool slippers - Elizabeth bought these for our mothers (and herself ☺)
Colored hats for marital status - Norwegians wear one of three colored cross-country skull caps to single prospective suitors. Green = single, orange = complicated, red = taken.
Norwegian wedding customs - when either the bride gets up from the dinner table, the women form a line to give the groom a kiss on the cheek. This is also done when the groom gets up from the table.
Two duvets instead of one large duvet - Christina mentioned this and I need to echo the recommendation. Somehow our covers always end up on one side of the bed (guess which) and this helps alleviate the problem.
Use of shorn horns - sure, this isn’t specific to Norway per se, but when you are constantly in boots it can be a game changer. I have a bad habit of sliding on shoes and after a few months destroying the heel wall of the shoe.
We loved these hotels that we stayed in Amerikijan (Oslo), The Hotel Union Øye (Norangsfjorden), Storjford Hotel (Near Alesund).
Love this week's email. I went to Oslo, NO about 6 years ago for the first time to visit and fell in love with the city and the entire country. Been back four times since then and keep going back!