When we arrived in Oslo we attempted to find the tram but it wasnt immediately obvious and after about 10 mins my back was severely aching after walking around with 17kg on it so we took the easy option and got a cab! The taxi driver was telling us that Norway was the richest country in the world....whether that is true we dont know but it could have been considering Norway prices!!!! The 5 min journey cost 15 pounds!!!!! He was so taken with the fact we were away for 6 months he asked to take a photo of us on his phone. Sam got one of the 3 of us with him too. I shall try and upload it at some point.

The Anker Hostel was ok.....probably not as nice as the one in Bergen but as I kept telling myself it was only a bed for the night. I was so glad I had packed my Havaianas tho when I walked into the bathroom and was greeted with a floor soaked with water and toilet paper. The second nights sleep here was better than the first in Bergen as there were no interuptions!!!!

The next morning we headed into Oslo and grabbed a panini from the 7-eleven shop. These are everywhere in scandinavia and have such a good selection of food - hot, bakery etc. They even have a selection of chewing gum bigger than the selection of chocolate. The main thing we wanted to see today was the new Opera House on the waterfront. The name of the architects escapes me at the moment but it was a magnificent building. You could climb on the roof basically. Google it if you can, its hard to describe. Sam managed to blag a private tour in english with just the 3 of us into the as yet un-opened auditorium, which was stunning inside. Timber everywhere and everything down to the design of the seats was carefully considered for accoustics. After this we headed to the architecture museum where we saw some displays on buildings by Gehry, Steven Holl etc. There was a room on Japanese Architecture with a film about one of the buildings - couldnt tell you which one tho as I fell asleep as the background music was so relaxing!!!!!!

We were all lagging by this point and decided to go to a coffee shop just down the road from the museum to re-fuel. The hot choc and brownie I ordered were so rich I was on a sugar rush for the rest of the day! We saw the palace some more of the harbour and parliament before heading back to the hostel. We chilled in the communal area playing cards....and sam found a friend in a spanish guy who had lived in literally every country in europe! He saw sam was reading the Da Vinci code and promptly started talking about religion and politics!!!!! Bit heavy!!!! For dinner we went and found an american restaurant - where we all had burgers and then headed to the Opera House at night which was lit up and looked stunning.

Yesterday we left Oslo about lunch time but in the morning we literally grabbed breakfast at the hotel next door and hung around in the hostel lobby until it was time to leave. Two main things to note about Norway - the prices are astronomical and EVERYONE speaks english fluently...... not just the educated as you find in mainland Europe.