In the July/August issue of the European Travel Commission's newsletter, they highlighted several new and upcoming hotels in Europe. We'll be taking a closer look at some of these hotels this week but we're always interested in hearing your recommendations for hotels in Europe. So send 'em our way.

Come September 1, Norwegian capital Oslo is getting a really ambitious hotel. The Grims Grenka Hotel has this to say about itself:

Our goal is to become Norway's best hotel, and the hotel will in many ways appear to be revolutionary with regards to interior design and service. Our ambition is to make Grims Grenka so exhilarating that guests won't want to leave.

So how exactly do they

Shiloh is pissed: Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel are still chasing the Brangelina Super World Traveler title while Mr. Sexyback is on tour in Europe. We left the pair in Sweden, where they were seen holding hands before hopping on the private jet to Oslo, Norway. The still-denying-it couple went jogging, ate lunch at the Viking institution T.G.I. Friday's and took the lovefest to the Royal Palace, the home of Norway's monarchs which is open for tours during the summer.

Justin told England's The Sun tabloid that he wishes he had gotten the chance to backpack around the world for a year before he became a famous face. At least now, he travels in style--backpacking is no picnic. Stay tuned -- Justin performs in Goteborg, Sweden tonight, followed by stints in the Netherlands, Ireland and five nights of shows in London.

Related Stories:
· Hotels in Norway [HotelChatter]
· Super World Travelers coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Hollyscoop]

Oslo, the most expensive city in world, can be difficult to navigate while on a budget. Back in March, we posted about the cheapest places to eat, shop, drink, and have some fun. Faced with the prospect of losing tourism dollars due to its reputation for high prices, Oslo came up with its own cheap guide. Last month, our buddy Benji Lanyado at the Guardian flew to Oslo to check out the guide and documented his experience. We've picked out some highlights from his trip with additional Guardian reader suggestions, all after the jump.

Astrup Fearnley Museet for Moderne Kunst: This private gallery shows cutting-edge art from around the world. They have a large permanent collection featuring over 30 influential contemporary artists but are mostly known for rotating exhibitions. See work from artists like Damien Hirst, Cindy Sherman, Jeff Koons, and Andy Warhol, among many well-known locals.

Saigon Lille Cafe): Benji calls the Grønland neighborhood Oslo's Brick Lane, "where low rents have pulled in a largely immigrant population (mostly Pakistanis -- Grønland is sometimes referred to as 'Little Karachi'), and more recently the gifted-but-broke arterati and a proliferation of trendy bars." In this area, we recommend Saigon Lille Café. There are countless authentic and cheap restaurants here, but Saigon is family run and has excellent food served in extra-large portions (not so common in Norway).

Nasjonalgalleriet:: The National Museum for Art, Architecture, and Design houses a good number of interesting and famous works, including one of the original series of Edvard Munch's The Scream. (This Scream was stolen in 1994 and recovered a few months later.) The museum shows about 16 unique exhibitions per year.

Vigeland Sculpture Park: The Vigeland Sculpture Park is free and a great place to spend an afternoon. The expansive park is filled with statues by renowned Oslo sculptor Gustav Vigeland. When the Guardian's Benji Lanyado visited, hundreds of families sprawled out with barbecues and freshly cooked sausages. It costs about $5 to rent grill and buy sausage.

Guardian Reader Suggestions

Ark Pocket: Oslo is rife with secondhand book stores and cheap comic book shops. Check out Ark Pocket, one of the city's coolest places for comics; pick up Norway's hometown cartoon, Nemi -- a strip about a goth girl dealing with serious issues -- or Pondus, the most popular comic strip in Scandinavia.

Bit: Sometimes in expensive cities, the best way to save money is to avoid sit-down restaurants. Street food isn't always the healthiest option, but it's a way to learn more about what the locals eat. Bit serves up cheap and excellent calzones and salads. They have a number of different flavors and combinations.

Thon Hotel Munch:: If you need a break from pricey rooms and aren't into the hostel scene, try the budget Thon Hotel Munch. It's basic, cheap, clean, and centrally located -- all you could want for budget accommodations. Rooms from $113.

-- Amanda Kludt

It’s a first, according to Norwegian officials, and no doubt more user-friendly than this country’s process. 

There’s a new travel blog in town: Globorati, a daily digest for the luxury-travel minded. Globorati rounds up “jet-set intelligence” for those with too much money, and not enough time to wait for their monthly issues of Town & Country Travel, Condé Nast Traveller, and Wallpaper* to hit the mailbox. According to Cool Hunting, they officially launched today, but there is archived content on the site dating back to November, 2006. Topics hit all the required stops on the to-do lists of the pampered–the latest luxury hotels, resorts, spas and shopping–and their posts are all tagged with one of 15 minimalist categories such as “Air,” “Journey,” “Culture,” or “Tech.” Their picks for today: spas and thalassotherapy on Madeira, or dogsledding and other winter pursuits at Lake Baikal and Norway’s imminent far-north design hotel, The Other Side.

Uh-oh. Scandal has hit the Hilton-owned Scandic Edderkoppen in Norway's capital, Oslo. A bunch of Cubans planning to visit Oslo for a travel fair this month have been turned away from the hotel they've previously stayed in five times.

No, they didn't get blacklisted after holding a wild party in their room, nothing as scandalous as that. In fact, it wasn't their fault at all, apart from holding Cuban passports. Since the Edderkoppen hotel had been taken over by the American Hilton chain since their last visit, our not-at-fault delegates were refused a booking because of the US embargo on trade with Cuba. Oops. Norwegian trade unions and social rights groups are up in arms about the

Argentina
– “Maté obsession knows no class, age boundaries” (San Francisco Chronicle)

Brazil
– “In Lapa, Rio de Janeiro, the Samba Never Stopped” (NYT)
– “Discover ‘Black Gold’ in Ouro Preto, Brazil” (Houston Chronicle)

Car-less California
– “A freeway-free coastal journey” (LA Times)

Chile
– “Surreal Patagonia” (San Francisco Chronicle)

Mexico
– “Chiapas, Without Reservations” (Washington Post)

New Orleans
– “Back to New Orleans, Gently” (NYT)

Oslo, Norway
– “Norway’s grand prize” (LA Times)

Protecting World Heritage
– “Saving the Great Wall From Being Loved to Death” (NYT)
– “Wearing out our welcome” (LA Times)

Senegal
– “7 hours away” (Guardian)

It doesn’t matter how good you have it, there’s always something to complain about. In the same way that your parents made you clean your plate because children were starving elsewhere on the globe, Norwegians have been told to stop whingeing about their comfy state-supported lifestyles, as the UN Development Programme has declared Norway the best place to live on earth. Now eat your spinach Norway. Based on criteria including life-expectancy, income and education, the UNDP’s annual Human Development index ranks 177 countries around the globe. This is the sixth year that Norway has taken top honors, with 40 times the average wealth, twice the life-expectancy, and five times the literacy of last-place finisher Niger. But according to the Associated Press: “Despite wealth, high levels of education, low unemployment, and an economic boom, Norwegians often complain of high taxes and of shortcomings in their cradle-to-grave welfare state, such as waiting lists at hospitals, and a lack of public care for both children and the elderly.” In response to this nit-picking, Aid minister Erik Solheim was quoted as saying: “There are unsolved problems in Norway, but let us battle this culture of whining, and look at the future with optimism.” Second through Tenth places this year went to Iceland, Australia, Ireland, Sweden, Canada, Japan and the United States, while 17 countries – including Iraq and Afghanistan – were omitted due to “insufficient data.” (via Jaunted)

Elsewhere:
– “Stop moaning about best country in the world, Norwegians told” (IHT)

(Image via Skyecap’s photostream)

Museum curators in Norway's have discovered that the easiest way to attract visitors is to give them a little bit of sodomy. Der Spiegel reports that Oslo's National History Museum has launched the world's first exhibition of homosexuality in the animal world. Entitled Against Nature?, the exhibition includes dioramas and photographs of the over 1,500 species that have been documented as having same-sex relations in the wild. There are dioramas of male seagulls and dolphins caught in the act, pictures and more. The reasoning behind the exhibition? Sex attracts visitors. To quote Geir Soli of the Natural History Museum, "Normally... we just show pretty boring things: rocks, stuffed birds and the like." Interestingly, the exhibit also features cases of homosexual flamingo, vulture and stork couples that have managed to raise offspring. By all accounts, the exhibit has boosted attendance to the museum—Norway being Norway, complaints about the content of the exhibit have been at a minimum.

Oslo National History Museums [Official Site, English]
Homo on the Range: Gay Marriage in the Animal Kingdom [Der Spiegel]

[Neal Ungerleider]

Previously: Salon Unveils Literary Guides, Bookish Types Rejoice, Borrow a Nordic Bike, Europe For Tightwads, Oslo's Main Drag, Kiss the Norwegian Frog

Travel with a DIY streak seemed to be on the minds of travel editors near and far this weekend. The Washington Post turned in a piece on top hostels, as chosen by readers, and the Houston Chronicle and Boston Globe both headed for the hills, with pieces on hiking between the mountain refuges of Norway, and up a newly opened, limited-access trail on Mount Saint Helens, respectively. The London Times’ editors took it upon themselves to vet the Good Hotel Guide’s picks for the top 10 independent small hotels of the year, and find out if they’d earned the accolades.

On a slightly different note, the SF Chronicle did a nice job of combining news and travel coverage in a special section on Mexico, that looked at the post-hurricane redevelopment of Cozumel and Cancún, and the truth behind recent reports of violence and unrest across the country. This excuses them for laying on the “Mystical Mexico” treatment a little thick in a piece about the tradition of brujeria in Veracruz. The LA Times also did their part for informed tourism, with a piece about Art Nouveau architecture in Budapest, which dispelled the idea that the recent protests should prevent anyone from visiting.

Budapest
- “Budapest, so Nouveau” (LA Times)

Hiking
- “Hiking hut to hut” (Houston Chronicle)
- “Moon walk” (Boston Globe)

Hostels
- “High on Hostels, From Farmhouses to Chalets” (Washington Post)

Hotels
- “Small wonders” (Times of London)

Mexico
- “The magic of Los Tuxtlas” (SF Chronicle)

- “Protests, passion part of Mexican culture” (SF Chronicle)

- “Winds change Cancún’s course:
Resorts renovated after Wilma steer clear of spring-break image” (SF Chronicle)\

- “Cozumel rebuilds, new ports sought” (SF Chronicle)