I feeeeeeeel good. You must see the movie called the burial with Tommy Lee Jones and Jamie Foxx. Well, you don’t ‘must’ but I think most people would feel good after watching it and hearing the feel good lyrics in this movie. I felt good walking the streets of Oslo, and it gave me the peace and quiet I needed to find out the meaning of this very likeable city. So I perused the first edition of the ‘Will Boag’s dictionary of meanings’ you can’t find anyone else. The meaning is actually in the word itself – ‘Oh So sLO. There seems to be no great rush in Osloians legs. They probably know that if you leave 15 minutes before your usual time you are never late. And the cars in Oslo also move so slow and quiet you may not notice it and walk straight into it.

The buses, the trains, the trams, they all suffer the same affliction. They all move slowly and quietly. So what I am noticing is that silence goes hand in hand with slowness. In the next edition of my dictionary I will look further to include this phenomena and call the city by an alternate name – Oshhhhhhhlo. No-one need say this word because noise does not happen. At breakfast it was crowded with scores of guests, but if I had walked in blindfolded I would have been shocked by the large numbers. I walked through malls and markets and many were drinking but they were relatively quiet.

We both noticed a reservedness about them where they don’t take the bait, possibly wanting another type of conversation but when I walked outside this morning there was a man kneeling down over an elderly man crying on the footpath. As he knelt he held a pram in one hand, a mobile in the other, while one of the siren-men, in answer to that call, jumped out, held his hand and concerned, started chatting to him.

In geographical terms the river Akerselva is performing a decathlon as it pours from the mountain snow, jumps over rocks, bounces off nearby banks, shoots through pipes, sneaks under houses, sidles up to cafes, refreshes the multitude of dogs, amuses everyone, and herein lies its magic. It is for everyone, it’s like a community magnet. Waterfall after waterfall, each is vastly different, puts on individual displays – it’s free and on in all weathers, you can attend at any time, no dress code and you can eat and drink. But there is one thing missing; while I was there no-one clapped as they left, but I did, it seemed to be the right thing to do. On the lower side there are cafes, on the other you sit on slopes of grass like chairs. As I sit back on my grassy slope chair I ponder our lovely quiet, long walks in all directions.

We completed walks around Oslo as we gave ourselves time to look for the start of this walk. We found it and there is lots of snow so it will suit us perfectly as we arrive in a town, choose our hikes, and then continue like this until we reach Trondheim. For those who are carrying packs and keeping to the pilgrims’ path, it is crucial to know that the track is not fully open until June 2nd each year