Paul and Jean visit Norway: Day 1

First impressions of Norway

Arrived safely after a good flight from Gatwick. The flight was late arriving at Gatwick due to “heavy snow in Oslo earlier in the morning”. Good to know it is not just the UK that has problems when it snows. There was plenty of snow around the airport area but apart from some snow mounds, not much evidence of it in Oslo.

The hotel is very basic but clean and comfortable and very near to the train station. Our room overlooks the Opera House and the Stock Exchange building. By the time we had unpacked a few things and had a coffee the sun was out and it turned into a lovely afternoon so we went out to make the most of the remaining daylight hours.

We first walked across to the Opera House which is an impressive building, designed to look like an iceburg. White paved areas either side allowed visitors to walk up to the roof from where there were some impressive views over the Oslo Fjord and the city. We could even see the ski jump at Holmenkollbakken which is 6 miles north west of Oslo.

We then walked around the grounds of the Akershus Castle and Fortress which was quite impressive and gave some nice views of the Oslo Fjord and Ferry Port.

We then walked down to the Akke Brygge area which is alongside the ferry port and has a lot of bars, restaurants and shops and was very lively. It was now getting dark and the temperature seemed to drop quite a lot after the sun went down. We walked on and saw the Nobel Peace Centre, Oslo City Hall, National Theatre and the Parliament building before stopping at “The Scotsman” pub for 2 of the most expensive burgers ever. I ordered a hot chocolate which came in a tall glass with a plastic straw ?? As we were leaving we got caught up in a very big demonstration against “female harrassment at Universities”. The procession was noisy but good natured and peaceful but it was almost impossible to get through them to cross the road to the Cathedral, which was next on our list of things to do.

We got back to the hotel about 8.30 and had a hot drink and early night. Snow is forecast overnight but there is a lot more we want to see in Oslo so will be up and out quite early tomorrow.

Some photos of our first day in Oslo.