After a week of living in hotels, hostels, airports and planes, we finally landed in Oslo. And it was certainly quite different to how I remember it. For starters, it was the first time I'd seen summer in Norway.

We stayed at the apartment of some friends of Rannveig, Marte and Amund, which was central, big and sweet. Just after we got there, there was also a 'heat wave'. I shouldn't really use inverted commas—it implies that I'm being patronising which, to be truthful, I am but even this was almost too much for me. It was over 30 for 6 days in a row (I think 5 days over 30 is the official heatwave threshold), but the days weren't the problem—it was the nights that were difficult. Being in an apartment in the 5th floor meant there was a lot of heat buildup and it never got cold at night.

So we spent a couple of weeks doing very traditional Norwegian things, including the 17. mai celebrations—Norwegian national/independence day. As a side note; Norway have been owned by just about every nordic country at some point and they eventually got their independence from Sweden in 1905, although the Germans also briefly took that away in WW2. Shortly after they found oil and went from being a third world country that ate potatoes three times a day to being one of the richest countries in the world. That ate potatoes three times a day. Anyway, 17. mai is a very important day for the Norwegians and they all dress up in their traditional costume. Each costume has different patterns on it depending on what region of Norway you are from and even if you're married or not.

Another great tradition is Kubb. It's a game where—and bear in mind I'm summarising—you through wooden sticks at other wooden sticks. It's pure genious. Kind of the Norwegian equivalent of playing lawn bowls crossed with chess and drinking. Except way more primative and viking-like.