Oslo; Saturday, 02 December, 2017

The hotel was clearly designed for conferences, so on a Saturday morning in early December the massive breakfast room looked deserted, even though there must have been about 30 people having breakfast.

After a filling breakfast I packed up my bag, checked out and headed back to the terminal building to catch the train into Oslo where I changed onto the tram replacement bus – the tram stops by the hotel having been closed for roadworks – and caught that round to the hotel.

I thought I would be way too early to check-in and would have to leave my luggage – but the hotel already had a room ready for me and let me check-in really early, so I was able to dump my bags and headed out into the city.

First stop was to wander down through Vinterland near the National Theatre – their Christmas market – though the thought of paying nearly £10 for a small cup of mulled wine slightly dented any idea of fully participating in the Christmas market feel.

I headed on down towards Akyr Brygge and had a wander around there, an area that had changed massively in the less than four years since I was last here. From Akyr Brygge I caught the tram round to Majorstuen and then the metro up into the hills to Frognersterene to take in the views over the Fjord as a very early sunset approached.

Back down in the city centre I headed back to the hotel to take advantage of the free afternoon waffles that were included in the room rate, and then went for a bit more of a walk around the royal palace area where the hotel was.

I didn’t wander for long as the time of the free dinner that was also included in the room rate was approaching so I headed back to the hotel and had that.

After dinner I wandered back down to the Fjord edge and then on up into the castle area to take in the views at night.

By now it was starting to get really cold, and I was feeling quite tired, so I headed back to the hotel and turned in for the night.