Travels thru Life: 5/25 -- Explore More of Oslo

We walked over to the July 22 Center, which is less of a memorial and more of a teaching moment about the horrific events here on 7/22/11. A native Norwegian, upset with the multiculturalism emerging in Norway, planted a car bomb at the building that housed the Prime Minister and walked away to his getaway car. When the radio report sounded like the devastation wasn't enough for him, he proceeded, dressed as the National Police, to an island youth camp of the same party as the prime minister and proceeded to shoot the children and adults on the island.

When we approached the building, the area under the trees
was all shattered glass, part of a temporary memorial.

This is where the bomb-laden van was parked,

This is a huge graphic of what the building front looked like.

We heard first from a woman who teaches about this event, using it as a catalyst to support critical thinking and to help students understand the issues with conspiracy theories. (Have you ever seen a baby pigeon? No? Well, that must mean the pigeons you see are really robots spying on us). After the talk, we wandered through the various displays. including a room with the pictures of all 69 people who were killed as a result. There was also a room with an event timeline, and it demonstrated the complete failure of the local and national police to address the shooting going on at the island.

The ferry captain who took the terrorist over saw him shoot his (the captain's) wife, who worked there, and he radioed police and tried to get people onto the ferry to leave. Although there was a lot of focus on the Oslo bombing, the police response for the island was underwhelming in the extreme. The National Police identified the license plate of the getaway car, but failed to send it to anyone. When the terrorist called in to announce his deed, the police hung up on him and he kept hunting down and shooting people for another hour. It took two hours after the shooting started for the police to go on the island, meanwhile, the shooter kept hunting people down. The movie of survivor stories was enormously poignant: students and others who escaped or were shot and survived really brought the day home.

The terrorist was convicted and although his 21 year sentence seems light, he will not be automatically released after 21 years, but each 5 years, must petition for release, which can and probably will be denied until he dies. He has no internet access and lives in isolation. His only human contact is his lawyer and guards..Soon, the country will start rebuilding the structure that was destroyed as a way of denying the terrorist the satisfaction of having ruined the building.

Above and below: photos of the devastation,

Then we boarded a tram to walk along a key river that flows through Oslo. It used to be the 'wrong side of the tracks' and was occupied by textile and saw mills and other manufacturers. The river ran in many colors due to the textile dyes, making for very colorful rats. When girls became 15, they were typically pushed out of their homes to work and ended up in these factories until they died. A mayor in 1917 decided to turn the river into a 'smile' and began the process of relocating factories and cleaning up the sewage and other pollution which led to the charming area we walked in today.

Above and below: home and stables of an original brewery
owner across the street from his factory. It is currently
being restored to its original glory for use as a restaurant.

Textile factory workers.

We started about a mile from the fjord, where the river empties, and above several waterfalls. We walked down a busy and charming walkway and then diverted into what was called the hippie area. There was a food festival going on near a food court where we stopped for lunch.

The red x marks where we started. Not sure
where we stopped. Probably by the upper
three markers.

Replica of the type of hut that was on the river.

Former silos turned into student housing

Fish ladder beside the falls.

Starting point for kayakers. They come out at the Opera
House in the harbor.

Above and below: the hippie area.

After lunch, we took the tram home in time to call Kristen to honor her birthday as usual. Then it was time to collapse and make up for missing sleep. We went out again in the late afternoon and had 'dinner' at a Ben & Jerry's and walked up to the castle and back before packing up for our departure tomorrow.