Thursday, 6th June – Oslo

Last night while preparing for our day of sightseeing in Oslo we found out there was a huge storm warning for the city later in the afternoon. So via bus then train we made our way into the city of Oslo as soon as work peak hour had finished. By the time we got off the train we’d been kindly advised by at least three different locals that there would be a big storm. I guess we really do look like tourists.

Oslo is a spectacular city. It’s a perfect mix of new buildings and old historical architecture with loads of green space and flowers as well as interesting sculptures.

The Hard Rock Cafe in Oslo is housed in a very distinctive building.

The Town Hall (Rådhuset) proudly hosts the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony each December.

The walk along the Aker Brygge on the banks of the Oslo Fjord is fantastic and the breeze off the water was appreciated on such a warm day.

We left the waterfront and headed into the city where we noticed that there was an unusual protest going on. A protest isn’t that unusual, but the strange thing was that they were all over pension age. They had been demonstrating in front of the Norwegian Parliament building.

The beautiful gardens of Studenterlunden Park make the perfect walkway towards the National Theatre and the Royal Palace.

The Royal Palace is a very popular landmark.

On the way to the train station the weather was certainly changing. We made it back to the apartment with little time to spare as the loud thunder made it clear the much publicised storm was very close. The apartment had a great balcony overlooking the Oslofjord and so with a glass of wine in hand, we sat watching the storm hit the city and come across the fjord to make its way toward us.

Within a couple of hours the storm had passed and now we were being treated to the most spectacular sunset. This was the beginning of some very long daylight days with todays sunset at around 10.30pm. The average day in June has only six hours of darkness and even less in many of the locations we were going to visit.

Unfortunately still no Moose!