Oslo Day 3. Holberg near the National Theatre

We had planned to take a boat trip for a sightseeing tour of the islands in Oslo Fjord, but the weather had other ideas. Rain had been forecast, and unfortunately the forecast was right. It rained and rained and rained, and was a day for umbrella and rain gear. We got a bus right over to Aker Brygge from our apartment and arrived at the port with plenty of time to spare. A stop for breakfast in a very popular little eatery, a bit of a wander in the rain around the National Theatre (these are Holberg's feet on his memorial near there), the University and the Royal Palace, and then it was time to make the decision: do we or don't we go on a boat for two hours when the weather's so bad?

We didn't. Instead we did some shopping for most of the afternoon, with a lunch stop thrown in a pit stop in a fine old bar/restaurant later on. We'd thought first of exploring the Ice Bar, but thought better of that and went to Grünerlokka instead, which various guide books recommended as a happening place. They were right. Bar Boca is described as "mixing the best drinks in Oslo" and that's a pretty accurate description. It's a tiny place, but full of atmosphere. Food was the next item on the agenda. Our first choice had finished serving, and we finished up in a French restaurant where prices seemed at first to be more reasonable than most places. As it happened, it wasn't all that reasonable after all (especially the house wine, a bottle of which cost the equivalent of 45 euro!).

Our rained-on attempt to find a bus home failed and we had to get a taxi (also very expensive for such a short trip).