“The message is that it’s fantastic what one person can do,” she says, sipping a coffee in the center’s café, which overlooks the harbor. “And if we can in one way or another have an effect on people’s minds, and get them impressed by the Nobel Peace Prize laureates or by the exhibits on display, then they will think, ‘It’s possible I can do something too.’ So I don’t think we will have an influence on world politics; that’s not why we are here. We are here to have a kind of influence on individuals who visit here. And I hope we will make them optimistic and make them think that if you have a kind of force, you can get results.”

This might not have been what Erichsen meant, exactly, but after leaving the Peace Center, I reflected on my time in Grunerlokka and on my seaside walks, and realized it was possible for me to do something, too: enjoy Oslo without taking out a loan to do it.