Oslo

 A couple of weeks ago we visited our youngest son who now lives in Oslo.  What an amazing place.  This photo shows you what it is like 5pm on a Friday just ten km's from the centre of Oslo. Notice the lack of pollution and traffic. 

Here you can see his block of units on the RHS of the road and his office on the LHS. This photo was taken just to show how far it is he has to travel.  If you look in the distance you can see a red roofed building.  There are traffic lights there and if he wants to go to work during rush hour, say between 8.30am and 9.00am then he has to walk all the way up to the lights and then back down to his building.  Needless to say he doesn't go to work until 10 so as to avoid the traffic!

While we were visiting it was Paul's birthday and so Richard proudly gave him a true Norwegian souvenier...  a HUGE ceramic moose head.  Just what one needs when flying..huge and breakable.  He suggested we could take it in our hand luggage but I thought it might be considered a weapon die to the weight and size.  Luckily Wilbur survived the flight home and now has pride of place in the pool room (refer "The Castle").

And last but not least this waterfall is just behind Richard's place.  This river runs through the centre of Oslo, providing one of the most idyllic walks I have encountered in a built up area.  There are no free standing houses in this area.  All are medium or high rise but there are many beautiful parks and walks.  Just a merely 4km from the city centre there are three wonderful lakes and all are accessible by regular public transport.  Definitely a place worth visiting. 

If you like cold, snow and lack of sunshine then it would also be a great place to live.