On my last visit to Oslo, I was struck by how peaceful the city felt. It seemed a world away from the commotion and angst that comes with the 24-hour news here in the US. I couldn’t help but take notes: Parents park their baby carriages on the sidewalk as they abandon their infants for a few moments to step into a store to do some shopping.
You can hear birds in the city center, which is nearly traffic-free. And when you do see a car, it’s usually electric (the best-selling car in Norway is the Tesla). A "congestion fee" keeps most cars from the center of town.
And where traffic used to clog the harborfront, a tunnel takes cars under the city rather than through it. Matching memories I have from my childhood visits, down at the harbor I notice a weather-beaten sailor standing at the stern of his boat. He’s hoping to sell before sunset the last of the shrimp he caught before sunrise.
Across the pedestrian boulevard, the old yellow train station is now the Nobel Peace Center, which explains the vision of a man who dedicated the wealth he earned inventing dynamite to celebrate peacemakers. Nearby, the brick City Hall – where the prize is awarded – is decorated by statues glorifying noble workers as it towers high above the harbor action. There's a light mist.
A sturdy harborfront boardwalk glistens as if happy to be the city's dance floor. I stand at the edge of the scene and marvel at about a hundred Norwegians swing dancing to the tunes of a disc jockey under an umbr.
