Oslo; Sunday, 19 December, 2004

After a very comfortable night's sleep and a very large and filling breakfast I headed out. As the morning was so sunny (not a cloud in the sky, not a breath of a breeze & only -2°C!!) I decided to head up into the hills (mountains) above Oslo and to the TV tower for the views.

After a beautiful ride up the side, on what must be one of the steepest and most beautiful metro rides in the world, I reached Voksenkollen and walked the remaining 15 minutes up to the tower. The climb, despite being very up hill, is well worth it, if only because it fills your lungs with lots of clean mountain air!

From the top of the tower you have spectacular views over the whole of the Oslo Fjord & surrounding area right over to the Swedish border. The only downside in the middle of winter is that the sun never rises high enough not to obscure the view of Oslo itself!

After walking back down to the metro station, I caught the train on the one last stop to the end (and top) of the line, at over 550m above the level of the fjord. The views from here are not as all round as those from the top of the TV Tower, but of the fjord are less obstructed (as there is no glass in the way!)

I caught the train back almost into the city centre & then caught the tram round to the Akershus fortress. It is in daylight as impressive as it is during the night.

After spending a little time wandering around the grounds, and by pure chance catching the changing of the guards, I went to the Norwegian Resistance Museum.

The museum is, soberingly, located in the same building that the Gestapo used to torture people in during the occupation. In the area in front is the memorial to those who were executed on that very spot. The museum tells the story of the occupation & resistance movement within Norway during WWII.

After spending a little longer in the fortress, and wandering around the grounds I headed out of the city centre to one of the major parks in Oslo, Vigeland Park. Despite the darkness the park (which is open 24 hours a day) is very tranquil & beautiful.

I had intended, after leaving the park to catch the tram back to the hotel, drop my stuff off & then go for dinner, unfortunately on arrival at the hotel I found it had been evacuated because of a fire alarm, so instead I walked down the main street to the Royal Palace & had dinner at that end of town before heading back to a now re-occupied hotel & my bed.