National Day in Oslo is May 17th. It is a truly remarkable day in that pretty well everyone dresses in their Regional attire and comes together in the main streets of the city to watch the school children in a marching band parade. The King and Queen emerge on the Palace balcony and wave. It is quite a spectacular site! We stayed at The Thief hotel which is a modern hotel and well deserving of its ranking as the best hotel in Oslo. The rooms were slightly small but everything was beautifully appointed with designer Scandinavian wood furniture and international art pieces. It has that “super cool” low light Scandinavian vibe to it which feels like at any moment you might run into an international celebrity trying to keep a low profile. We ate at the hotel restaurant that had put on a special meal for National Day. I had been hoping to have their set multi-course meal with wine pairing but they didn’t offer it that day because of the holiday. Nonetheless I enjoyed Oslo and learning about the people and history of this interesting country.
