£7.75 for half a pint of chuffing beer!

Flew to Oslo today. Early start. I was up at 04:30 and didn't arrive at my hotel until about 13:00. Then having to go into the office makes for a very long day.

The hotel is nice and clean, but rather sparse and lacking in facilities, e.g. no room service and no tea/coffee making facilities. I can't recall visiting any other country where these weren't considered standard.

The travel allowance wouldn't stretch to dinner in the hotel so I took a walk along the side of the fjord in the hope of finding something to eat and something to photograph. I was on the verge of giving in with respect to the former when I stumbled upo a rather ramshackle place that had a certain appeal to it - looked like something you might stumble upon in America. I took a chance and sat at a table. The choice was limited but the prices were better than the hotel and I could eat within budget - just. I had Moules frites and I have to say I've never seen mussels as large as these. They really were very nice and the frites went down a treat with the garlic mayo. I could really have done with a pint of cold beer to go with this, but a 33cl bottle of Kronenbourg was £7.75. I think that is easily the most expensiv beer I've ever had. I clearly won't be getting fat or drunk whilst I'm in Oslo. No wonder everyone looks so fit and well - they can't afford to be any other way.

Speaking of fitness, I was impressed by the number of people I saw out and about getting exercise. I was also impressed with the range of actvities - cycling, jogging, roller blading, nordic walking and skiing. Yes skiing - on caterpillar tracks.

Almost got locked in the office with Gabi tonight. We quite at 5:30, which seemed early to me, but almost everyone else had gone by 4, another sign of a healthy lifestyle, getting the work/life balance right. Something we can be so poor at in this country. Anyway, the security on the doors goes up a notch after 4:30. Would have been good to know that at about 4:29 and our passes wouldn't work on the doors. After waving every pass we owned between us (5 in all), one of them got us as far as the lobby but wouldn't get us out of the front door. Luckily, we managed to tailgate someone from another company into their section of the building and exited through their front door which was still open. I really didn't fancy a night stuck in the office with a heavily pregnant woman that I barey know and only a packet of roasted almonds between us (and a big belly of course).