‘I’ll have your bill ready for you in a second, Mr Greene. Have you had breakfast? The restaurant is open all day today. The breakfast on 17th of May is always special. If you’re lucky there might even be Champagne and strawberries left,’ she said in the singsong accent he had noticed most people had when they spoke English.

Champagne for breakfast? Weird brew, he thought. But he had had enough of restaurants for a while. ‘No, thank you. I’m fine. I’m sorry to be so blunt, but what are you wearing?’

‘Oh, this is a bunad,’ she said, blushing when she smiled.

‘Is that like a work uniform? Because I didn’t see anyone wearing a costume like that when I arrived last night. And now it’s everywhere,’ Jack said.

She laughed. ‘Today is 17th of May.’ She seemed a bit taken aback that she had to explain the obvious to him.

‘Yes, I know that, but why all the ruckus?’ Jack noticed that there were flags inside the reception as well. Even the flower decorations had flags, and the flowers were red, white and blue.

He was distracted by a group of people entering from the street. They were dressed for a party, all suits and dresses. Almost all of them had red, white and blue ribbons attached to their jackets or coat collars.

‘Constitution Day,’ the receptionist said with a huge smile now.

Jack smiled back. She was cute. ‘I know that too, but I have no idea what it means.’

‘It’s the day we celebrate our constitution. It’s a really big deal in Norway. Everybody dresses up, eats and drinks, has fun, gives congratulations to each other. There are parades of school children all over the country. It’s one of the best days of the year, especially if you’re a kid. You’ll see when you go outside.’

‘Right. So all this is normal?’ he said and pointed to the chaos outside.

‘Only today. Tomorrow we all get back to our boring selves. With massive hangovers for some of us, of course.’ She was laughing at him now. ‘Would you like a ribbon? If you don’t mind me saying so, you look a little underdressed.’

Jack looked at the ribbon she held out to him and shook his head. He didn’t think it would improve much on his jeans and sweater. Probably should have taken the suit, he thought. ‘Thank you, but I don’t think so.’

He gave her his credit card and paid for the room.

‘I’m supposed to take a boat from here to this island.’ Jack pushed a note towards her. ‘I’m sorry. I can’t pronounce it properly.’

‘You can get the boat from Risøy. Walk straight down here, cross Haraldsgaten and Strandgaten, go across the bridge and go right until you come to the jetty. It’s easy to find and should take you about ten minutes to walk.’

Jack thanked her. He pointed to the left. ‘Just go that way, right?’

‘Of course. You can’t miss the bridge even if you try.’