How can you not admire the Norwegians at a time like this? Last night I attended a memorial event downtown along with my classes and all of Oslo. The streets were full of people all throughout the city as an estimated 150,000 demonstrated their solidarity. We couldn't even fit into the square at City Hall where the event was supposed to take place. I ended up on a side street where there were speakers from which I could hear the Crown Prince and Prime Minister. Everyone held their roses in the air as a show of support and love. Since there was so many people, the planned parade was cancelled and instead everyone made their way to the site of the bomb blast and cathedral on their own.
My friends and I made our way first to the cathedral. There was a large area where people were lying down their flowers and candles.
We then walked the streets to where we could see more of the damage. The police had opened up much of the area since this weekend when a couple block radius was shut down. We still couldn't walk up to the main blast site of course... this area is structurally unstable for even rescue and clean-up crews to complete their work. Yet, we could see the building from farther back... every single window was blown out and some curtains hung their raggedly. Debris and glass still littered the ground in certain areas. Other building had boarded up places where the windows had shattered. A nearby clock was blown out as well.
Throughout this entire walk, the streets were filled with people. They were determined to show their solidarity. They were determined to show their condolences for the victims. And they were determined to not back down.
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| Here we are with our roses. |
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| Walking towards the cathedral on Karl Johans Gate. |
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| Outside the cathedral. This is the place where everyone layed down their roses. |
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| Police crews under a damaged building. |
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