……continued
On a bit, to the Lampeland hotel, where I’d been promised a traditional meal of meatballs, boiled potato, peas and gravy. And it was true……
Nice to know another country does mushy peas 🙂
Nice hotel too. Looked nice inside. Receptionist went to all the trouble of showing me to the cafe area 🙂
I was thinking of stopping. That’s how nice it looked.
Rode on, suitably filled. This was brunch.
Twisties started ending, though the sunshine continued.
I was begining to wish I had stayed, as the post-big-lunch sleepiness was taking hold.
Saw a Marche sign and pulled in.
Coffee and brownie sorted me out.
Filled up.
Rode on.
Still some 30km out, and the traffic started. But the traffic was moving.
Lots of water and boats, clearly visible, close to the harbour.
Came into Oslo.
Saw a big promenade, a pedestrian area, and just inside, a bunch of bikes parked.
Parked.
Hey! Wednesday night is bike-night in Oslo 🙂
Some chat, then I went off to find Tourist Information, and hopefully get a room. The web-sites had been unhelpful.
First stop was city hall. An impressive building, started in the 1930’s and finished 20yrs later.
Funnily enough it reminded me very much of Toronto’s New City Hall on the inside. Except for the porcelain…..
Stoke-on-Trent really was a world leader for everything china!
Found I had to go to the railway station.
Asked at a few hotels. No room at the inn.
Walked by Norway’s parliament building…..
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Found the railway station, and the big metal tiger.
Tourist information was busy and tried to help, but all they could do was suggest a place.
Turned out that was full. Apparently Tuesday and Wednesday are the most popular nights for business travel.
Tried a few other places as I walked back to the bike.
No room at any inn.
So looked south, and found Moss. Turned out to be an inspired choice. Whilst Oslo was big and vibrant, all it did was remind me of Lviv. A much more expensive version of Lviv. But Lviv non-the-less.
Came into Moss, and scored a room with a view. Of the church, and square.
TLC for the bike.
Then asked where I could have a bowl of soup. Was sent to a place with real beer, and OUTSTANDING fish soup…….
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ps: Moss is close to the Swedish border. I realisd that I still had lots of Norwegian money, 600KRR, about $100CDN. How could I spend that in one night? Turns out that 3 beers and a soup will do that. But no complaints! Magnus (the owner) has every right to feel proud of his beer. And he gave me some homemade ice-cream to go with the Imperial stout. The stout that sat on the counter all evening, so it would warm up to a better temperature. And Magnus was right. The ice-cream and stout complemented, perfectly 🙂