June 13
On Saturday we split up. Bonnie and I explored the rest of the list of must sees.
Nobel Peace Center – this museum profiles history of the Nobel peace prize winners since early 1900’s. A Norwegian Committee chooses the winners each year. They include Mother Theresa, the Dali Lama, Martin Luther King…and Barack Obama – for his hope and change campaign slogan? The special exhibit is about Mahala, the Packinstani teen who is an activist for education and was shot by the Taliban.
The Norwegian Resistance Museum is located in a underground vault in the Akershus Fortress which sits on a hill overlooking the Oslo harbour. The museum tells the story of the Norwegian experience during WWII – during the Nazi occupation there were 400,000 German soldiers in Norway and prison camps for people brought in from all over Europe. Hitler was worried that the Allies would try to use Norway as an entry point. The museum was well done, but a dark remembrance of a sad time in our recent history, just one generation back for our family.
View from Akers Fortress over the Oslo Harbour after visiting the Norwegian Resistance Museum. Ran into Bill, Les and Barb.
City Hall – each of the city halls in these Scandinavian capital cities were works of art, more like the churches in Southern Europe. The outside of the City Hall was decorated with wood carvings of Norse mythology. Inside the walls are painted with murals of Norwegian history and it is here that the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in December.
National Gallery – this art museum is a collection of paintngs from Norwegian artists and some international. Highlights include paintings by native Norwevians Edward Munch and Johan Christian Dahl. Overall it was 2 star sight in my opinion, no comparison to art museums in other cities.
Jazz band on a Saturday afternoon. Bonnie and I came across a little locals bar that featured a jazz band at 4pm. We stayed for part of one set. Cozy little locals hangout for older set.
Oslo is a bustling city, lots of public transportation here…buses, trams, troll lies and ferrys. There are not the bikes here though that there were in Copenhagen. Again, had dinner in the hotel and enjoyed reviewing the day with each other. Les continues to terrorize the locker rooms at the museums for various reasons. Early to bed tonight as we leave by train at 8:30 am…hmmmmm
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