Oslo has always been a city on my travel list, just never got around to visiting said place. However, seeing as I have only two countries left in Northern Europe to wander around (the other being Latvia next month), now seemed the appropriate time.
In preparation for our flight from old Heathrow, we arrived in ample time and, unlike flying to Zagreb, LHR pulled out their finger meaning that we had ample time to wander to the gate. I swear Heathrow employ whoever they wish regardless of their intelligence level as said staff at the gate failed to comprehend the importance of talking directly with the ground crew to ensure that they are clear on how to operate Superbunny! Ahh well, all turned out well for the short flight to Norway…
Like Zagreb, Oslo airport is pretty quiet in comparison to the epicentre of the UK which is Heathrow, the only difference this time was being greeted by the cold and heavy rain (you can never trust Weather apps nowadays?). The former meant for a rather quick experience through passport control etc.
Now, as Superbunny weighs approximately 100kg, major airports are required to use specialised equipment to transport it to and from the plane (unless you are traveling from Bristol where only strong manpower is used). This equipment varies from country to country so what could it be this time?? Only in Norway, Superbunny was treated to an airfield tour on a forklift before being graciously delivered to oversized baggage (only took around 40 minutes)!
The next quest was to arrive at the hotel, we achieved this using Flytoget which utilises the only high speed railway line in the country (reaching speeds of 130mph…thanks Wiki!) to provide a link from the airport to Oslo Central Station (where the Scandic Byporten is conveniently located within…I wonder who booked that??) in just 19 minutes.
Before I came to Oslo, I read numerous articles about how inaccessible the Flytoget rolling stock currently is hence I was expecting to be sat in the doorway. However, I was pleasantly surprised, I mean, it COULD be more accessible but it’s way more than the DEATH train! Essentially the guard has to come to pull out a ramp stored on the train…easy as that…plenty of room to maneuver…just don’t shoot up and fall down the steps for the opposite door!
As mentioned above, we are staying in the Scandic Byporten hotel in Oslo, the accessible rooms are pretty much what you would expect from a Scandinavian hotel…I swear that more and more hotels across Europe are being equipped with actual shower chairs…so much easier!
The strategy for tomorrow is to explore central Oslo taking in the sights such as The Barcode Project and the Oslo Opera Centre which, unbeknown to me, you can walk up to and on the roof…should be fun!