Trondheim to Oslo

Monday 4^th June

We were up early to catch the 8:25 train to Oslo, an interesting trip but the scenery not quite as spectacular as that on the Bergen line, however there was plenty to look at.

The train route varied greatly one minute we soared to travel along a mountain ridge with steep valleys below, then travelled along more gentle slopes with broad valleys dotted with farms below us and more green pasture than we have seen for weeks, before gently plunging into a valley to follow a route along a fast running river.  The other noticeable thing was there wasn’t as much snow on the mountains. 

Something that caught our eye, was the fact that several farmers had spray irrigation systems operating and in a village we saw a person hosing his garden, this in a country where it has rained nearly every day that we have been here.

One of the stops on the route was at Lillehammer, the home of a winter Olympic games and two very large ski jumps on the hill as we entered the town was an indication that this is still an active ski resort.  Leaving the town the train followed around the edge of a large lake for over one and a hours, it probably contains enough water to supply Australia for a year.

Arriving in Oslo we walked to our accommodation, a lot quicker than on our first visit over three weeks ago, we now know which directions the streets run.  Arriving at the hostel they had no record of our booking, even though they confirmed it on our last visit but there were some empty rooms so we don’t have to sleep in the park.

Checking out things to do in Oslo I found information about the Oslo Card which provided free entry to museums and free travel, we had researched these city cards in other towns and didn’t think we would be able to visit enough museums to make it worthwhile.  The 48 hour Oslo Card was only 25 Kroner dearer than the 24 hour card and visiting three museums we will “break even” without using it on public transport.  We could do that in a day.

We have just visited a supermarket and purchased enough food for the three days before we leave for home, we still have to pay for one night’s accommodation and have to decide if we will need any more cash before leaving or use it all paying for our room.  We managed to spend our last two Euros at Amsterdam airport so we will see if we can leave Norway without any Kroner.