First stop (not counting an overnight at Heathrow), Oslo, the Norwegian capital, sometime home to Munch, Ibsen, Jo Nesbo and Mariella Frostrup. And current home to the Nobel Peace Prize, of course.
Because of flight delays, time here was even more limited than planned but we tried to make the most of a brief stay, opting on the second day for a faster paced guided walk around the city to gain an overview.
The weather was perfect for a spot of sightseeing, with sun and blue skies, though perhaps becoming a tad too hot for all that walking.
Oslo is a mix of old and new, with plenty of green spaces, a regenerated waterfront, museums and galleries, an impressive opera house that you can walk all over, statues everywhere, a stitched version of a famous scream, coffee shops and restaurants lining the route to the palace and much more.
As expensive as it's rumoured to be? Possibly. We simply didn't bother to do the currency conversions.
Next: heading northwards.
