time to sell something....

---

---

Oslo..... Oslo, Oslo, Oslo.......

After waking up in paradise where the only noise was Ash's snoring, we drove today to Oslo which is a bit more hustle-y and bustle-y. We drove past yet more stunning scenery on brilliant roads which seemed to have even more of these scary 'automatic toll ahead' signs.... Sadly, the moose warning signs didn't pre empt any actual loose moose though. The drive was straight forward, easy roads, a lot of tunnels, including one that goes pretty much the whole way under Oslo itself, and some more toll signs........ the only hairy moment involved passing a bunch of police with some kind of radar guns and spending the next 20 miles convinced we were about to get arrested. Eventually I cracked and spent quite possibly fifty quid on internet charges on my phone looking up how you pay tolls in Norway. Turns out we needn't have worried, they just bill you at home at some point in the future. The only worry with this is that given the prices over here, I may need to sell a kidney to pay for it. Oh God and for the internet on my phone. Oh.....,...



So, anyway, we rocked up at camping Ekeberg, conveniently placed on a hill above Oslo itself and right next to a bus stop. We parked up and headed in to town. Oslo was not what we expected. Can't really explain why except that it didn't have the quaint olde worlde charm you might imagine and although there's a lot of building work, the modern all singing all dancing element also seemed missing. Having said that, its a lovely city worth a look if you're in the area.



In an attempt to find free WiFi ( we have brought the internet with us in the form of an EE router thingy but we're trying to conserve its use) we ended up at the world's most expensive MacDonald's for a drink and no WiFi. A walk round town found the 'Magic Ice Bar' I would suggest that there is no magic involved here, just a big freezerbut at least it was somewhere cool. Very cool. And very empty but at sixteen quid a go ( but you get to borrow gloves and a coat for that!!!!) I can see why it wasn't exactly packed.



More wandering and we found the harbour and many statues. Two cups of tea, actually bowls of tea, for six pounds later we headed back up to find somewhere to eat that wasn't going to bankrupt us. This did not happen. All main courses are a minimum of fifteen quid here and that's for the most basic of foods in tgi Fridays. Next time, I'm bringing a pack up. Even s bottle of water was over three pounds. So after a bit of busking and begging with a Starbucks cup to get the money, we ate, borrowed much free wifi and then headed back to get the bus. in my self congratulatory excitement at having found not only the bus station but also the stop for bus 34 to the campsite, I forgot to check which direction we were headed in. Cue 25 minutes on a hot crowded bus before we realised that we were going totally the opposite direction, albeit on the correct bus. I suspect some Norwegian CCTV operator is still chuckling at the sight of two tourists jumping off the bus, crossing the road and waiting while it went round the roundabout to pick them back up again. Still at least we got more use out of our 24 hour ticket eh?





Things I learnt

1. Norway is expensive. Properly muchly expensive. Only come here for a couple of days or, save up. its easily more expensive than any other city I've visited including new York and London.

2. You don't have to prepay tolls on Norway,they'll bill you later - hurrah

3. If you go into a shower on a campsite, just because you need a card to get in does not mean it automatically locks when you're in there. Other people with cards can also get in....,...

4. Buses go both ways on a route

5. Norway really is supremely beautiful and calming

---