Velkommen til Norge

Oslo, Norway.

In a mere 3½ air hours, we had left 35°C in Greece far, far behind for a mild 15°.  And no humidity!  Welcome to Norway where there’s no bad weather, only bad clothing (so we’re told…). 

Oslo is a pretty city centred on a spectacular harbour.  On a sunny day it makes you want to go sailing.  No wonder the country has a past so closely linked to seafaring.  The first thing you notice in Oslo, aside from its cleanliness, is that tall, blonde, fit and healthy describes locals.  There are green spaces everywhere and riding bicycles seems to be a national pastime - although fitness probably comes more from time spent Nordic skiing!  We also noticed a distinct lack of attachment to mobile phones – people communicated in the old fashioned way and seemed rather to be enjoying it.  We pinched ourselves for a minute. 

Had we landed on the set of The Truman Show?

So, on a beautiful (mild) summer’s day, we set off on a walking tour – a hike - suggested in our Free Map for Young Travellers (and laugh if you must!). 

Our destinations included “vintage shopping, hipsters in parks, multi-culti Toyen and colourful Gronland”.  Walking time: 90 minutes; we took 4 hours…  Our hike  covered everything from Indian fabrics, the local prison, botanic gardens, grills cooking in the park, to Paddington style cool.  And, at a nearby Thai Restaurant, time for fanging - our first red curry for quite some time!

This is the 2015 Intrepid Scandinavia & Baltic Tour
we had signed up for.  It kept us busy for almost a month.