Peace and Oslo

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In Oslo, part of the streets have snowflakes in them! 
Since I was on høstferie (fall break) this week, I was able to go to Oslo. I visited Oslo in January during my trip to Norway, but it was the coldest day during my stay, it was dark and I was freezing so bad I was beginning to feel very unwell. I had the chance to go back to Oslo and experience a few of the things we didn't get to do earlier in the year.  It was still cold, of course, but hey, it's Norway and I don't think there's really any escaping the cold.

First stop (other than IKEA) was the Nobel Peace Center. Norway is a rather peaceful country though they're not a neutral country. I think that's a common misconception. Global Peace Index <---This year, Norway is in 18th place which has put them back several spaces in former years, but generally they usually fall under the top 10 if not top 5 most peaceful countries. However, they are responsible for handling the Nobel Peace Prize.

Arild in front of the building. 
What I find interesting about this is Alfred Nobel, the man who decided to acknowledge "noble" people worldwide in Nobel Prize ceremonies, was Swedish, but he thought Norway was more peaceful and thus decided to let Norway be in charge of the Peace Prize.

In the Peace Museum, we can "walk for peace" and will be placed on a screen.
I think we look like the walking dead. 
Currently in the Nobel Peace Center there is an exhibition on Gandhi. Who surprisingly was nominated 5 times for the peace prize, but never won it. Top 10 People Robbed of the Nobel Peace Prize 

Something else I found from the same site concerning the Peace Prize was this ----> Top 10 Controversial Nobel Peace Prize Winners.

A garden of peace prize winners. 
While Norway is not a member of the EU, just yesterday, the 2012 Peace Prize Winner was announced as the European Union for uniting Europe and working together. Wars have broken out between different European countries for years. As one of the Norwegian Nobel Committee members stated, "Today, war between Germany and France is unthinkable." EU Peace Prize

Parliament Building and The Grand Hotel. After the Peace Prize
ceremony, the winner will greet people on the balcony of the Grand Hotel.
I've provided a link below for you to see last year's winners at the Grand Hotel.
Grand Hotel Speech
In one of the Alt for Norge episodes, on syttende mai (17th of May)
their competition was to go around Oslo and take pictures of famous
monuments. One of them was this tiger. 
The Oslo fjord from the Opera House. 
And here we are approaching the Opera House. 
Overlooking the city from a top the Opera House.

Comments

Julie said…
great read, thanks
January 7, 2013 at 2:17 PM
Albert Jackson said…
Beautiful photos of Oslo, which camera you used?
BTW Thanks for sharing your experience :)
November 22, 2013 at 5:56 PM
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