SUNDAY, 15 SEPTEMBER 2024

(Oslo, Norway)

Another day, another sleepy start, before falling out of bed in search of breakfast. Two courses of food later and it was time for Andrew to play for the classes, and me to go swimming.

Today I chose to walk rather than take the bike. I headed firstly to the scenic bay I had accidentally discovered yesterday, Bygdøy Sjøbad. This was about 1.3 miles or so, mostly around the farmland. On arrival, I double checked with some locals (who were having a grill on the beach) that it was ok to swim. They confirmed that it was legal, but said it was too cold… Not daunted by this, I got ready and waded into the water. It was a beautiful morning, very still water in the bay, with the scenic forest casting shade over some of it. This turned out to also mean that the water in this bay was indeed colder, maybe around 12C. Still, I enjoyed swimming out along the length of the bay, before turning around. At times I just floated on my back, not needing to move arms or legs in the salty water, and enjoying the sunshine.

Once out, dried and dressed, I continued my walk around the peninsula, passing Paradise Beach, and a monument, before arriving at Huk Bay. Yesterday I had gone to the main beach. Today I went to the nearer naturist beach which, perhaps due to its designation, was a lot quieter with hardly anyone there. When in Rome…(or in this case, Oslo). I decided to have a skinny dip for my second swim. Apart from feeling wonderful in the water, this had the added advantage of being a lot easier to get dressed afterwards, without having to discreetly wrangle out of a wet swimsuit under a towel. The water was warmer here, back to the 15C or so of yesterday. By now it was noon, so I headed for the 1217 bus back to the hotel, where I met up with everyone else for lunch.

After a very leisurely lunch, Andrew wanted to get out and see something, so we set off for a walk, back (for me) to Bygdøy Sjøbad. We took a route I hadn’t walked though, so it was new to me too. It had clouded over a lot and the scenery looked very different in the bay to this morning.

Back at the hotel, I happily had a rest on the bed, as my legs were tired, and my feet a bit sore from the walking. It didn’t help that I had a few cuts on them from the sharp rocks and shells in the sea, either.

Dinner was at six, and then it was time to ‘glam up’ for the gala ball, preceded by a group photo.

I took my customary position near the stage, ready to video and photo the proceedings, given I don’t dance  these days, as it aggravates my foot, knee…most parts really! However, I struggled to refuse an invitation to dance on just the second dance, so there is now rare footage of me dancing again.

After that I was careful to either disappear outside the room, or to be very clear about not dancing, so as not to hurt my foot. The band were very much on form tonight though, and the music was excellent, so it was fun just listening. After the dance it was, of course, time for the bar and a last chance to have long conversations with those you might not see for another five years… there was a lot of catching up to be done. Anyway, at around 0140, they kicked us out and we went to bed…