Arrived safely in Oslo!

Got away from home at 10.40am and had a smooth trip to Dublin. Claire had quite a bad cold but fortunately with little systemic disturbance. This was something that was kindly passed on to her by Willie who had had a similar infection the week before. Parked in the “Quick Park” which is rather more sophisticated than it used to be! It very helpfully now tells you which row to head to in order to find spaces – a far cry from Belfast City Airport! Got through security with a lot less hassle than in Belfast or London. Hoped to have a pub lunch in the airport but service was so slow that we voted with our feet and walked over to Burger King – lovely! Boarded our Ryanair flight to Sandefjord Airport Torp (known in Ryanair circles as “Oslo”!) after 3pm and by 3.40 we were away. Two hours later we were flying over the land of Willie’s Viking ancestors! The Norwegian country side looked lovely from the air – hills, valleys, fjords, lakes, forests and fields. Boarded the Torp Express bus for Oslo – a one-and-a-half hour journey. We hadn’t travelled far before we saw signs for a place called “Holmestrand” – Willie’s forefathers certainly left their mark on the country! It was getting dark around 8pm. (Norway is one hour ahead of BST) When we arrived at the bus station we were unsure how to use the trams so we walked to the hotel (Best Western Anker) which just took about ten minutes. The hotel looked a bit run down from the inside but the room was excellent – and it had free Wi-fi! The receptionist recommended a local bar “Café Sara” as a good place to get a light meal. Well, the meals we ordered (described on the menu as “small”) were pretty substantial and absolutely delicious. We ordered cider and were surprised to be given PEAR cider – not normally exactly Willie’s favourite drink but it was gorgeous. The brand name was “Somersby” - made by the Carlsberg Group and only available in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Belgium.

Weather:
Fairly warm and cloudy in Ireland with sunny spells. Cloudless evening when we arrived with the sun still in the sky. Just gorgeous! Noticeably cooler than in Ireland in daylight but night-time temperature in Oslo was similar to that back home (thanks to the Gulf Stream).