No Moss For Us

Thanks to the late night soccer shenanigans (Huzzah USA!!) we slept in a wee bit, but then rallied for Day 2 of Unlimited Oslo Pass-enable adventure.

Our first stop was the Norwegian Resistance Museum, which tells the tale of Norwegian’s role in WWII, including a long period of Nazi occupation of much of the country. It’s a dreary day, so our walk up to the museum is brightened by the fact that it is located smack dab on the top of an old fort overlooking the Oslo harbor!

Entering the fort

Though cloudy, the main port area of Oslo is beautiful.

Diving into the museum before the drizzle turned into anything worse, we were pleasantly surprised to find that: 1) This was actually an amazing museum; and 2) The story of Norway during WWII is filled with incredible strength of resistance and many movie-worthy acts of sabotage!

Outside the museum

The exhibits walkthrough begins with a swasticka made of AK-47s from the war. Powerful image to start.

The exhibits wove info with pictures and relics of the time.

And included some munitions for perspective…

We enjoyed seeing the ingenious ways Norwegians were able to hide, transport, and distribute independent newspapers and communications among themselves, while under the watchful eye of the occupying Nazis

Lucky, we dodged most of the rain while we were inside, so our walk over to the Nobel Peace Center is mostly dry.

Near the Noble Peace Center there was a long mural depicting multiple paintings of waves (Grant almost got hit by a tram while taking this picture… but fortunately a local said “Excuse me……” and he noticed just in time!)

Grant almost gets washed away by the Great Wave…

This “museum” showcases the most recent Noble Peace Prize winners (from 2014) as well as provides oodles of info on all past recipients with some of the most technologically advanced and interactive exhibits we’d ever seen. There was also a special exhibit on the Dalai Lama, who just turned 80 (and his birthday was the day we were there!).

Beautiful facade of the center

Creative exhibit inside, like pages of books with famous quotes

The 2014 Prize was awarded to two individuals — Malala, from Pakistan…

… and Kailash from India; both of which have been fighting tirelessly for women and children’s rights.

The center also has an amazing interactive exhibit which is a field of lights interspersed with tablets for each prize winner. The tablets automatically recognize when you are standing in front of them, and start to scroll info about that year’s winner!

Another exhibit was a wall of LCD screens where you could flip through and read about past winners using the scroller

Happy Birthday, Dalai Lama!

After that we peaced out (get it?) and headed home for a couple homemade grilled cheese sandwiches to warm us up. After a quick nap (we’re tired, believe it or not) we head out to dinner only to (again!) find our first choice isn’t serving. Realizing most restaurants will be in the same predicament of closed kitchens, we head to the Kebab shop near the house for Kebabs the size of your head. Grant basically melts his GI tract after say “Yes, very spicy, please.”

Mega kebab!

With absurdly full bellies, we are unable to update the blog (or move) so we celebrate the American tradition of Netflix, and enjoy a chill evening before bed for an early a.m. departure!

-G & J