For a city that was never planned to be more than a clothes washing stop between Iceland and Sweden, Oslo has turned out to be a great and entertaining place.

We flew in yesterday and made our way to the Haraldshiem YHA in Grefsen. This is the biggest hostel so far with 3 separate double storey buildings. Grefsen is 10 mins by train from the central station which was great after arriving to the first rainy day of the trip. And as the place is full, we got an upgrade. But enough of that ......

Today was the only day we had in Oslo and as we finished the washing last night we decided to go into the station and activate our Eurail passes ready for our early train tomorrow morning. We had an hour to kill so decided to take a quick look around the Opera House near the station while we waited for the booking office to open.

The city was very quiet as it is a Sunday but also the Labour Day celebrations. Great for photographing building without crowds.

The Opera House is an amazingly beautiful building with white marble angled around huge glass walls reflecting the surrounding harbour. Chris and I walked up the front wall towards the roof in awe of this stunning work of architecture. At the top is like standing on a presuppose looking across Oslo. Almost a giddy sensation at the edge. From here we could look down on the jagged glass sculpture on the harbour that began the sculpture park around the harbour docks.

After the Opera House we made our way around the shoreline towards the sculptures and had a bit of fun with the more interactive pieces like the orange forest and the ship horns. Chris even posed for a photo on the oversized chair.

We continued on around the shore past the Denmark ferry and the crowd pouring off it until we reached the gates to the Old Fortress and Castle.

The first part was a military barracks and the associated canons and tanks and assorted military hardware. However the buildings themselves were beautiful historic examples of the original fortress that Oslo grew from centuries ago.

After the fortress we crossed the old moat into the castle proper. Built originally in the 12th century as a medieval castle it was modernised during the renaissance. Now used for state functions by the federal government. There is very little access to the buildings, however the grounds are open to the public. I find this old architecture fascinating.

From the castle we wondered back to the station to validate out tickets on Eurail. We discovered that we needed our passports for this. So back to Grefsen to the YHA and return to Oslo Central. This actually worked out to our benefit. We were originally not going to come back to town after the castle. But we returned and found the city packed as there was a May Day parade. This worked so much to our advantage as we followed the parade around and saw so much more of the city.

After the parade we walked up a long road with fountains and buskers to the Royal Palace on the hill. Some undignified photos with the palace guards and then back to the centre of town to our first street cafe for a drink and watch the world go by.

Sitting in a town square drinking wine and watching the world go by is on all our bucket lists for this trip so I expect this will become a feature of this trip.

Oslo proved itself beyond anything we expected. The city centre is relaxed and interesting and catching it on a public holiday was a bonus. Tomorrow is one of our last early starts as we catch our first train. Off to Gotenberg, Sweden then through to Stockholm in the evening. Talk again from country #6.

Written by Rod