Tuesday 5th March, Flam to Oslo

The hotel graciously opened the dining room an hour early so we could have breakfast before we jumped on our wee train!  We did the Backpacker thing, and included a nice take-away sandwich of ham and cheese, wrapped in a serviette, in the package!!  We were going to be on the road for several hours!
The first 40 minute leg of the journey was on the famous little Flam Railway which wandered along the most gorgeous scenery, more frozen and partially thawing, rivers, frozen waterfalls, and cottages snuggled into deep snow.  There were only three others on the train, so we could wander about from side to side, depending on the best view.
We had to change trains at a town called Myrdal.
Heaps of twenty-somethings again boarded, all decked out in ski gear, and proceeded to eat and drink for the entire trip.  Really;  mountains of food continued to appear out of back-packs, and disappeared equally quickly!  It must be very strenuous exercise - skiing, they were all built like greyhounds.....
Finally, at a ski resort, whose name escapes me, they mostly left the train, and all was rather quiet again.
There have been heavy snow blizzards criss-crossing Scandinavia over the last week it seems, but we appear to have escaped them.  Today was mostly clear and the sun was trying to peek through light cloud, but we could see that literally hundreds of cottages were buried up to the tops of their roofs in deep snow.  Obviously no residents in sight, and equally obviously, these were Summer cottages;  all dotted along what would no doubt be stunning lakes, but which at the moment are frozen solid.   Too many photo's.....  How many is too many??
Arrived in Oslo mid-afternoon, and went out exploring on foot.
Very nice town, could be nowhere else but Europe - buildings remind us of some German cities.  It's still very cold, about -5C, but clear.   After a couple of hours' walking, we were dying to shed our hot outer clothes, at least I was - Arthur was not so over-dressed as I...   As usual, EVERYWHERE is so hot inside, that it's a constant problem - dressing and undressing...
We've finished our wine, so had a small Bundy before we ventured out for dinner.   Found a nearby restaurant, and had a bowl of pasta;  small serve, about our entree size, one glass of beer each, and about $100 later we left.....    God, everything is SO expensive here!!!! 
Went back to our hotel and thought we'd have one more beer before retiring...   So bravely, ordered a Norwegian Draft beer - too horrible to drink, but we took the glasses up to our room, planning to have a decent Bundy later!!!   Early night...