[ May 2019 ] We went to Oslo in Norway for the first time during the Spring Bank Holiday towards the end of May.
Oslo was one of the remaining capital cities we had never been in Europe, though we have been to Bergen in Norway for the fjord tour.
Norway is known as one of the most expensive countries to travel around.
On the other hand, the flights from London to southern Europe become very expensive in Spring and Summer, but those to northern Europe remain reasonable, so we decided to go there this time.
The first thing we noticed at the Oslo airport was that the floor was made of wood.
I always thought of Norway as an oil-producing country, but it produces a lot of timber, too.
We had read online that the cheapest way to get to the city centre from the airport was by bus, which costs about £8, €9, $10, so we looked for the bus stop.
First, we had to find the information office, which had been moved because of some work and the officer there told us “Only the FB2 bus, which starts at bus stop 11, goes to the centre” and that bus was running only once an hour.
Finally, the bus came and the driver came out of the bus and started selling the tickets at a fixed place at the bus stop.
He accepted only credit cards.
The fare was 190 kroner (£18, €20, $22), which was very different from the online information.
At least it stopped just in front of our hotel, so I could not complain.
The name of our hotel was Hotell Bondeheimen.
It seemed a well known hotel.
The passport controller at the airport, who was nice and friendly, told me “It is located right in the centre”.
This hotel has a history dating back to the beginning of the 20th century and there was a big book in our room talking about it, but the interior of the room was rather cheap, reminding me of Ikea.
I suppose that is the way in northern Europe.
The only impressive thing was an ironing board was cleverly folded up in a drawer.
We were hungry, so we went down to the self-service restaurant attached to the hotel and had a meatball dish.
The meatballs were nice and tasty but the small glass of ordinary red wine cost about £9.50, €10.50, $11.80.
We had a discount on the food as the guests of the hotel but apparently not for the drinks.
The cashier said “in Norway, we have strict rules regarding alcoholic drinks. We are prohibited from discounting any alcohol drinks”.
The breakfast the next morning was satisfying.
They had many fish dishes, such as smoked salmon, which is typical in this country, I suppose.
My husband picked something, imagining it was potato salad, but in fact it was shrimp salad, which made him disappointed as he is not willing to eat seafood for breakfast.
