Oslo
For some
reason, Oslo is
very busy at the moment, and I was struggling to find accommodation, until I
tried the MS Innvik B&B which had a last minute cancellation, so could fit
me in.
The B&B
is on a boat, which also comprises a theatre, cafe and disco. Since tonight is Brazil's
national day, there's a whole program of events onboard to mark it, culminating
with a concert and an after party. Since
I'm staying here, apparently I get free entry to all of it, though I barely
need that as I can very clearly hear the band playing from my cabin/room! You can see a live picture of the boat with
along with the construction of Oslo's
Opera house which is going on across the water at www.msinnvik.no
Been
wandering around the city centre most of the day, doing bits and bobs including
the National Museum, which had lots of impressive artworks, including (among
tonnes of Munch's work) 'The Scream', which was somehow stolen from the gallery
in 1994, and then recovered. Even more
amazingly, a different version of the painting was stolen from the Munchmuseet
along the road in 2004, and was also recovered.
By the way,
I think the Scottish word 'Bairn' must come from Norwegian...
Here's a
guy playing 'Imagine' on wine glasses, in two part harmony. Quite impressive, but if only he'd chosen a
more imaginative song, I might have given him some NOKs.
Back to the
subject of prices, I had a Subway (my first foray into fast food that's
available in the UK),
and for a half foot BMT, I paid just over £5!
No sign of Gap here though, H&M seem to have the market fully
covered, and I've not yet seen a Starbucks.
Tonnes of McDonadls and Burger Kings though.
This
evening there was some kind of big bikers gathering, and they gathered to be
addressed outside the City Hall, then revved up and meandered around the
town. Having seen some of them up close,
I think many are closely related to the vikings!
Little and
large:
