Blog entry from the middle of a Swedish Forest at 0900

Norwegian flag, Oslo
Originally uploaded by rtw2007.

Helen is still asleep (and will be for the next couple of hours, I predict) so I have grabbed control of the laptop and started typing…

When we came to Oslo, it was a bit of a shock to the system after a week cruising around the fjords and ferries of rural Norway. We headed straight for ‘Ringway 3’ which appears to be a carbon copy of our own North Circular Road. And so began “Michael and Helen City Navigation – Part II”: junctions that don’t exist, tunnels not marked on the map, one way streets etc. Remarkably tempers didn’t fray and we made it to the much recommended Sculpture Park – Ringelandsparken. This was created ages ago by a guy called Gustav who produced many sculptures in return for a studio and house in Oslo. The sculptures were pretty impressive, if a little odd in places, my own person favourite being the copper (?) man having a good old pose-down – penis to the wind – on the bridge. The photos are on the site so feel free to admire his handywork. They include the world’s largest granite statue which is the obelisk sculpture of people clamouring over each other.

From the park we continued into the city and eventually ended up at one of the outrageously expensive Parking Houses. With me bitterly muttering about the cost of it all, Helen dragged us into the centre (via a Bagel shop) and we mooched around the streets. It seems that the Norwegians primarily like their clothes shops and their Burger Kings. We did have a quick flit round the National Gallery and saw Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” (which I thought had been stolen, but it was still there – either recovered or possibly a fake??) as well as watching the changing of the guards outside the Royal Palace. Then, postcards bought, internet checked and fjord-front strolled along, Oslo was done and dusted.

A few kilometres south of the city we tried a campsite that was shut – who would visit Norway in April? So we ended up staying in the large car park outside. We were soon joined by some oddly dressed people who looked like they were from Central Asia, who put up tents and stoves nearby in a kind of impromptu refugee camp. Although bizarre, this at least alleviated my fear that we were sitting in the middle of Oslo’s hottest dogging site. The police came for a brief drive-by inspection; finding no-one to arrest but ensuring that no-one slept all that easily.

Next morning, up early (Michael) and dragged kicking and screaming from bed (Helen), we crossed into Sweden and drove through the forest towards Stockholm. The Swedes do like their forests, miles and miles of them in fact – so after a good 200km or so we turned right on the smallest road possible and ended up here: a small grassy lay-by that required driving over a few small Christmas trees just to park the van. Unfortunately it has rained for the first time during the night and I am anticipating that our rock solid lay-by may just have become a slushy mud pit that we will never escape from. Hmmm.

Update at 1700.

You will be no doubt be relieved to hear that we made it out of the Swedish forest having not sunk into the mud. Though we did have to move a fallen tree to get out of our overnight clearing. We spent today driving east towards Stockholm via Örebro, which is a really pretty town with old cobbled streets; a castle right in the centre of town; painted houses by the river; and lots of pavement cafes. We are now in Uppsala, the university city just north of Stockholm. We will head into the capital tomorrow at some point.