The one and only Andrea Bocelli in Oslo

A bit of a bucket list trip for me at the end of March. I’ve been to Oslo twice before and loved it but when we saw that Andrea Bocelli was playing in Oslo, it was a no brainer to return. My taste in music is quite varied and I love rock music, country rock and reggae mostly (Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger, Tom Petty, the Eagles, Bob Marley etc etc), but opera is one of my guilty pleasures and over the years I’ve become a huge fan of Andrea Bocelli. He did not disappoint! We had 3 nights at our favourite hotel in Oslo, the Continental – which also did not disappoint!

We arrived to snowy landscapes and below zero temperatures and took the train from the airport to the station just a couple of minutes’ walk from the hotel (funnily enough no planes or trains were delayed or cancelled due to weather in Norway – UK take note!). We settled in to our spacious junior suite and in the evening wandered up to the harbour for our dinner. Afterwards, despite the cold (about minus 7 I think at the time!) we sat on our balcony with a bottle of wine and played some Bocelli music on our Spotify play list.

The following morning we woke to more snow and everywhere was white and so very pretty. A walk around, a visit to our favourite record store, Rakk and Rolls for a good browse, then some lunch and another wander by foot and tram. That evening we had the most fantastic meal at the 3 michelin star restaurant Maaemo. 16 courses and every one of them photo-worthy and every one utterly delicious. I dare not mention the cost, but let’s just say we had very little change out of £1,000 for the aperitifs, food and wine pairing!! Worth every penny though, we were in there for 4 hours and were thoroughly entertained by the “show”!

On the Thursday we had a late lunch at the oldest restaurant in Oslo, Engebret Café – a place stuffed with charm and character as well as great food – then back to the hotel to get ready for the highlight of the trip. We headed off to the Telenor Arena, just a couple of stops on the tram and joined the buzz of excitement. Bocelli came on to do a couple of numbers, then some guest musicians did their bit, including a fabulous violinist and a stunning soprano, some numbers with Bocelli, some without. Later Zucchero joined the stage (remember him? – he had a hit with Senza una Donna hit in the 80s. I only knew that song of his but he did others and was surprisingly good and I’d love to go and see him again). Then Bocelli again. The encore was the masterpiece with 4 curtain calls (some of the audience crazily left after the first one thinking it was all over, but oh no!), and finishing with the iconic Nessun Dorma and rapturous applause. WHAT an evening!

Would I go back to Oslo? – YES. Would I see Andrea Bocelli in concert again? – another big fat YES!