Ullevål Subway Station

This photo was taken at the subway station of Ullevål, the place where you'll find the national football statium of Norway (mind, it is actually not "subway", however, Norwegians call it subway).

Bjølsen studentby II

Still a lot of snow in Oslo.

Bjølsen studentby

Bjølsen, built in 2003, is one of Oslo's newest student villages. You need to pay up to 2840* Norwegian Kroner for an unfurnished single room (11-15 m2). Is that expensive?

*320 Euro; 422 US-Dollar

Cards

Playing cards is really a source of great fun during Norway's long winter nights.
Solution of yesterday's quiz (apparently a little difficult, I'm gonna make it easier next time): Voldsløkka, a park close to the center of Oslo.

Where in Oslo II

Second round: Guess where in Oslo this photo was taken!
*Solution tomorrow

Grønland Subway Station

You have already seen the subway station of Nydalen. Today you see the Grønland subway station, eastern downtown Oslo.

Snus

A used up portion of Snus on the floor – That's a common sight in Oslo (and all over the country actually). Snus is smokeless tobacco, and it is quite popular in Norway. It is consumed by placing it under the upper lip for extended periods of time, and unfortunately some addicts just spit it out afterwards (like here in Oslo's subway) instead of disposing it properly.

Peppes Pizza

I think Peppes Pizza is the favorite pizza of Norwegians. Everyone here knows this logo! However, it is expensive. A simple medium-size (30 cm) "Peppes Marguerita" is 136 Norwegian Kroner (which is 19,60 USD or 15,10 EUR today).

Snowbound

Sometimes cars are not directly accessible.

BI Norwegian School of Management

The BI Norwegian School of Management is the second largest business school in all of Europe. It consists of 18,500 students and has in total six campuses: in Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim, Kristiansand, Drammen and the main one located in Oslo (see picture above). The school is one of the 100 most recognised business schools of a total of over 4,000 such colleges in the world in the “Top Business School Worldwide 2008” survey. The building is very impressive I think.

Obama Superstar

"A moment in history" – The entire first page of Aftenposten, one of the largest newspapers in Scandinavia, is just about the hero today. Everybody is Obama-mad. But aren't the hopes on 44 too high?

Snø

You see really a lot of snow fell. Even for Oslo's climatic conditions. Snø* is the Norwegian term for "snow", by the way.
*with "slashed O" – it is a vowel and sounds most like is the vowel in "bird" or "hurt".

Tons of Snow

All right! It started to snow yesterday – at least 10 inches (*wild guesstimate) so far, and according to the latest weather forecast it will snow for a few days more!

Saturday Night

It's Stravinsky night club, Rosenkrantz gate, a popular place to go out.

Downtown Oslo

This is the area around the station, central downtown Oslo. You see the Postgirobygget (110 meter high), the station forecourt with the Trafikanten Tower and the Byporten and Oslo City shopping centres. The photo was taken looking out 34 SkyBar.

The Nobel Peace Center

There is not too much daylight amongst my photos, as some of you might have noticed. Why is that? The capital of Norway is characterised by large variations in daylight hours during the year. This is because of Oslo's high latidude. These days, daylight hours are very short. Yesterday's sunrise was at 09:06, solar noon at 12:26 (altitude 9°) and sunset at 15:47. That is a 6h 41m 41s day – not too long. If you want to check sunrise and sunset for your location and compare it with Oslo (and also local time for dusk, dawn and twilight, Sun distance and altitude and day length), come this way! Oh, by the way: What you see is Oslo's Nobel Peace Center, a museum that tells the story of Alfred Nobel and presents all Nobel Peace Prize laureates.

City Bus

No blemish, no graffiti. City Buses here in Oslo are anything but decrepit. They are not just very new, but always well-kept.

Akerselva River

Akerselva is a some eight kilometre long river with plenty of waterfalls. It flows from Maridalsvannet (a lake) into the fjord in Bjørvika. The river separates Oslo's East and West end.

God Jul

You see, it is still Christmas in Oslo.

The 34 SkyBar

The 34 SkyBar is my favourite bar. It is located on the 34th floor of that one. Do not fail to go there, if you are in Oslo one day. The picture was taken on Saturday.

Oslo Tram

This car of Oslo's tram I admit is little difficult to get to see. Exposure: 30 sec.

Still cold

The weather has somewhat ameliorated, but it's still bitterly cold.

The Plaza

Fio and Lindab, you're right! "Oslo Plaza" is Northern Europe's highest (117 metres) and Norway's largest (673 rooms, 1500 beds, 140 business rooms and 20 suites) hotel. It is located close to the main railway station. The building was opened on March 14, 1990.

Where in Oslo

You're on the spot today. Guess where in Oslo this photo was taken!

The Havnelageret

There we have it! The Havnelageret is a splendorous historical building located close to Oslo Opera House on the waterfront. Its construction started in 1916 and lasted until 1920. Once used as the main ship traffic hub, it now houses plenty of service sector companies.

Harbour Area

Today's picture shows a part of the former harbour. If you just turn 90 degrees left at this point, you will have the Opera House a stone's throw in front of you. You also see that prestigious orange illuminated building, tucked away behind the warehouse rightward? Tomorrow I will let you know something more about it.

Nobel Peace Prize 2008

Having shown you an exterior view of Oslo City Hall, we will now go into the grand ballroom. The picture was taken on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death (Nobel Peace Prize is presented annually that day in Oslo), and you see Jonathan Mann (Canadian journalist, working for CNN International) and 2008 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari. The picture was taken just some 5 minutes after the CNN interview.

The City Hall

Some call it "The pride of Norway", some others just "aggressively ugly". However described, you are supposed to know it, if there is a glimmer of interest and knowledge of Norway. The City Hall is located in Pipervika in central downtown Oslo, and it is probably the best known of all sights. It is also the place where Nobel prize for peace is given to the winner on 10th of December each year.

Days of Freezing

It is damned cold these days in Oslo: -9 degC (=15.8 degF) for now. Ice covers the paths, the streets, and parts of the harbour. However, the weather was clear today, and there was no snow. I am waiting for summer to come!

Nydalen Subway Station

Oslo's rapid transit system is called T-bane, and Nydalen is one of its most recent stations, located on the Circle Line. It is also the only underground station on the west of Nationaltheatret (just 16 of 105 T-bane stations are underground). In a departure from convention, it has a central platform with tracks on both sides rather than separate platforms on both sides of the track. The picture shows an arriving MX3000 multiple unit, which is custom made for Oslo's climate by Siemens and Porsche.

The Royal Palace

Let's think of yesterday's photo and walk 800 meters along the main thoroughfare. Now we are in front of Oslo's Royal Palace. It is used as the official residence of Norway's current monarch, King Harald V. The statue in front of the building is of King Carl XIV Johan. During the summer season they open up the palace to the public.