Oslo sentrum

I made the most of the sunny morning and started early. I grabbed some breakfast from a convenience store and headed down to the harbour to eat it. I walked around the opposite side of the harbour from yesterday, passing Akershus Fortress and the Oslo Opera House (which you can walk/climb up).

I ventured back to the apartment with one more place in mind. Given I didn't have a lot of time and was yet to get out for my Oslo run, I decided to run to Frognerparken while doing my best to avoid the Oslo Marathon. A lovely park with numerous statues representing the circle of life in the middle (Monolitten).

A train back to Oslo Airport, and I was on my way to Bergen.

After backing and forthing between the car park and the terminal, I finally found the car rental stall. I met Raleigh at the terminal exit, and we drove to his student accommodation. We were unable to find anywhere to park, so we decided to park at a nearby plant shop to unload my luggage.

Upon returning to my car, I had received a fine. There was nowhere else to park; needs must, I suppose.

We parked at a supermarket with 2hr parking and grabbed some dinner. We jumped on the tram back to the accom to make dinner before hunting for another park. It was getting close to the 2hr mark, and dinner wasn't quite ready. I decided to head back to grab the car and try a place we passed earlier. It turned out to be a kindergarten, which I could park in for at least the weekend. I walked the 10mins or so back to the accom and enjoyed my salmon dinner (turns our salmon is cheaper than chicken in Norway). By this time, Roberta (Raleigh's wife) and Tarik (Raleigh's brother) had returned.

Given it's a Saturday night, what better way to embrace the culture than a night out. Before heading out, I indulged in some local beer and mjød (which I'm considering trying to make once home).

We jumped on one of the most wild tram rides I've been on to get to town. There were a bunch of what looked like work colleagues with a large speaker, jumping around and singing songs that everyone was getting involved with. This made the sardined tram ride much more enjoyable.

We went to the only bar/club in town that we knew would let Tarik in (still 19 and they have very weird laws around where he could get in). Later in the night, Raeligh and I split from the others to try and meet up with a few of his friends. We had a 50/50 chance of choosing the right venue before the 2am lock out, and it turns out we choose wrong. This was no issue as we were quickly making friends and having a laugh while we were at it.

We left at closing time and headed straight for Burger King. We also had a chat with a few people here, including a guy who was trying to convince us he was a ghost writer for some US rappers (pretty sure he was hunting for an after party). We jumped on the tram back and saw a group of people we had been speaking to earlier, in the Burger King. Turns out one of the girls was a local and gave Raleigh all the inside tips about Bergen. Including where I could park my car.

We packed it in for the night as we've got a bit of driving ahead of us tomorrow.Read more