As the indoor jumping season gets underway the FEI brings you a special press service to accompany the Western European League legs of the 2007/2008 Rolex FEI World Cup™ series which is celebrating its 30th year. Watch out for city snapshots, historical ramblings and some strolls down memory lane as the season progresses.
The cities of Oslo in Norway and Helsinki in Finland play host to the first two legs of the 2007/2008 Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping season which travels to 12 venues before the final is staged in Gothenburg, Sweden, next April. Oslo kicks off the action this Sunday, with Helsinki following a week later.
Norway is ranked amongst the wealthiest countries in the world, thanks in part to the exploitation of its coastal oil and gas resources. But perhaps even more impressively it was rated the most peaceful country in the world in a 2007 survey.
Located on the western side of the Scandinavian Peninsula, which also includes the Kingdoms of Sweden and Denmark, it has a population of 4.5 million of whom 500,000 live in its capital city of Oslo.
Scandinavians like to embrace the great outdoors and leisure activities are an important part of life there. Norway’s mountains are the winter playground while its extensive coastline is ideal for summer sojourns. Hiking, skiing, mountain walking - it’s all horribly healthy and sporty, and Norway’s show jumpers have been taking their sport by storm in recent times. A professional, co-ordinated approach under the stewardship of Chef d’Equipe Sylve Sodestrand saw them qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games with a brilliant performance at this summer’s FEI European Championships in Mannheim, Germany.
The country’s best-known artist is Edvard Munch whose famous and haunting work “The Scream” is recognised world-wide, while the great romantic composer Edvard Grieg is revered. He created incidental music for writer Henrik Ibsen’s world-renowned play “Peer Gynt” - a little different perhaps to the sound created by show jumper and national team member Tony Andre Hansen and his pop group Ovation…..
Norway’s capital city of Oslo has plenty to tempt the tourist including its medieval Fighting Fort, built in 1330 and reconstructed many times since then. The Changing of the Guard takes place there every afternoon and the grounds play host to concerts and theatre productions.
The Munch Museum contains 5,000 drawings bequeathed to the city by the great artist. Ten years after “The Scream” was stolen from the National Gallery, masked gunmen snatched another version of the painting from here in 2004 but it was recovered in 2006.
The Norsk Folk Museum explains life in the Nordic environment but it is the Ski Museum that draws even more visitors fascinated by exhibits from Amundsen and Scott’s antarctic exploits. And of course no trip would be complete without seeing the Viking Ship Museum which houses ships brought ashore and used as tombs for nobility and containing all the desirable requisites to keep one happy in the after-life - including servants!
Finland borders Sweden to the west, Russia to the east and Norway to the north while Estonia lies south across the Gulf of Finland.
The sixth-largest country in Europe in terms of size, most of its population of 5.3 million is located in the south of the country with a low population density of 15.5 persons per square kilometres making it the most sparsely populated country in the European Union.
Most Finns speak Finnish, one of the two official EU languages – the other being Hungarian - that is not of Indo-European origin but a small minority also speak Swedish.
Once part of Sweden it became an autonomous Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire in 1809 but declared independence in 1917 and today is ranked amongst the happiest nations in the world! According to the World Audit Democracy profile Finland is the most free nation in the world in terms of civil liberties, freedom of the press, low corruption levels and political rights and it has adopted a neutral stance in wartime. A “Reader’s Digest” study released this month rates it the best country to live in when taking into account issues such as quality of drinking water, green-house gas emissions and education and income. So perhaps, the garden of Eden is located in Findland…
The capital city is in the south of the country and has a population of just over 500,000. The “Lonely Planet” guide describes its small-town atmosphere with no high-rise buildings and a market square surrounded by charming 19th century architecture. It’s like nowhere else in Finland due to Swedish and Russian influences.
Helsinki enjoys a better climate than the rest of the country due to its proximity to the Baltic Sea and the gentle winds of the Gulf Stream but winters are bitterly cold. June to September are recommended as the best months to visit. In July many local people close down their businesses and move to their country cottages for a well-earned break but the city stays alive and with pleasant weather, busy markets and charming outdoor cafes it has plenty to offer.
This weekend the Nordic nations come under the spotlight as the story of the 2007/2008 Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping™ series begins to unfold.
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