Morning dawned on our last day in Oslo. The temperature had risen to a balmy -2oC. Blondie was first up and went out shopping despite the hefty prices and came back with a shirt. By 11 we were packed and ready to go. We left the Hotel Norrøna and headed west to walk around the royal Palace. Unlike the UK were the monarchy are, for some reason, notable tourest attractions the Norweigian equivalents are much more down to earth. The palace is situated in the centre of it's own park at the end of the main street, Karl Johan's Gate. Unlike Buckingham Palace, you can walk right up to the Palace. 
It is still guarded by armed soldiers, but there is a much more relaxed atmosphere about the place. As we stood in front of the building watching a changing of guards, a door to the first floor balcony opened. Were we about to top off our visit with an appearence from a royal, perhaps even Harald V? Sadly not as it turned out to be a workman carrying a step ladder. Nevermind. We returned to the hotel, wandering past Oslo University, to have out final pølses before wandering back to through the station to the bus depot. It was now that we filled in our postcards and I ran back to the post office to get some stamps. 
The system is very confusing because the post office doubles as a bank with different counters for each function. There was no evidence of any English instructions and all the counter staf simply ignored me as I approached. Then I twigged that there was a ticket system to determine wo was served hence the lack of attention. I pressed some random buttons on the front kiosk (again no English) and got my ticket.
The bus ride back to the airport was quicker due to a lack of extra stops. The daylight helped us see the Norweigian countryside and the snow - nearly all gone in central Oslo, was still here, as thick as ever. As the bus wound through the countryside we passed engineering works busy constructing a tunnel for the motorway that would end up being 5km long! 
At the airport, there was a much larger presence of Ryanair passengers. Thankfully, most of them were going to London (well: Stanstead), so once again we were able to check in very quickly. We abandoned our attempts to sell our Oslo passes on (they were still valid for a further 2 days) as Torp Airport had absolutely no arrivals in the half hour we spent loitering in front of arrivals. After passing through passport control we had yet another final round of pølse and sat waiting for our flight. The duty free was surprisingly cheap given how expensive the bars had been, most spirits were only a few pounds over UK prices. Norway has a 25% VAT rate and the government taxes alcohol pretty hard to avoid the problems of excessive drinking - indeed, beers over 4.75% have to be sold in specially licenced shops. The flight back was hassle free (although the darkness and continuous low clouds made the window seat I aquired a touch pointless). The most interesting feature was that the plane was de-iced before takeoff to ensure that we didn't suffer ice on the leading edge of the wing.
Once again Ryanair demonstrated their cost-cutting determination by handing out the "complimentary" copies of their inflight magazine (November 2005 edition no less) before demanding them back as we approach the English coast. We arrived back in Newcastle on time. This time there was no hassle at customs - the "interview in progress" light was on indicating someone else was perhaps enduring a probing interview...Blondies car was still there (although why we parked at the far end of the massive car park I don't know) and we managed to avoid the tail end of rush hour to arrive back at Trevs - amazingly absolutely nothing had gone wrong: no flight delays, missed busses, hard to find hotels, money problems or even boredom.
On reflection, we all had a fantastic time. Oslo, although a small city, always felt open and friendly. Norweigians apparently have the highest quality of life and I ca see why. The honor system on the public transport is adhered to, the city is clean and free of pollution and the scenery is stunning. We set out with only 3 definite things to see: Holmenkollen, The Viking Ship Museum and the Vigeland Park, but found many other places, the best of which for me were the Peace Museum and the Mini Bottle Garery. The most appealing thing is that a return trip in the summer may needed - the city completely changes. Holmenkollen is awash with bright greens and vivid colours from the indiginous flowers and the ski-jump landing area becomes a 25m deep lake, Akker Brygge fills with people, sitting outside thr many bars and ferries regularly run across the bay and fjord. The temperature rises allowing the parks to be filled with sun-seakers and the sun can remain out until the early ours compared to the 4pm darkness we experienced. Almost like a completely different city. Oslo is definitely the type of place I would love to live: a big centre and filled with amenities as only a capital can be, but without the hustle-bustle and lonliness of somewhere like London. The thing we will miss most though? The underfloor heating in the bathroom - house 3 lacks any kind of heating in the bathroom...
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