Day 26, 8 July 2014, Oslo, Norway - Time for me to be moving along methinks. Aside from a thoroughly unseasonal heatwave gripping Oslo (with positively Sydney-esque humidity), I now have my own clown. Say what? That's right, my own clown. There are essentially two forms of beggars in Oslo - firstly the ones rightly or wrongly identified as Roma or gypsies. Secondly, the damn clowns. Dressed up like clowns, making balloon animals out of the goodness of their hearts for children - whilst sticking out a third hand for a handout from mum and dad. Or for the non-childed like me, just sidling up and saying "hello" with a toot on their clown horn and a shake of their money-tin. Maaaaate - if getting strangers to give me money was as easy as tootin' a horn, I would have been in on it years ago! Anyway, was approached by a white faced & dressed clown yesterday. Hello? No. Toot the horn? No. Shake the money? No. I was like a stone. Today he sidles up to me 3 blocks away and says (rather hopefully - like I might have had a fit of charity and a loss of memory over night...) "Hello again?" "No. Again". Toot the horn... shake the tin. One doesn't like to be rude... but I was getting mighty close. Anyway, speaking of daylight robbery (it's the middle of summer... it's always daylight in Scandinavia) - Postcards in Oslo are apparently not mass produced but handcrafted by hard up clowns somewhere in the suburbs. Seriously - they must be. 8-10kr for a small/regular card - that's around $1.45 for the 8kr card. Gave in finally today and bought one. Handed over a 10kr coin and had to stand there pointedly waiting for my 2kr change. Don't even try to pull the clown trick on me lady... toot toot!