On a Walk Pt. 2: Nightshots (same Hood, Diff. Locations)

Oslo, Norway - Osloman20plus - Thursday, May 31st, 2007 : goo

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Oslo show-and-tell buildings architecture scenery at night

When I went out to make the previous article in this series, I was actually going for a visit at a friends home. Later, as I went to go home, I decided to try out taking some photos at night - and at the same time, checking out the night-vision function of my phone cam. Not surprising, the phone cam photos turned out to be rather grainy and unclear. But I still managed to get a few worthwhile shots and here they are.
I'm sorry about the quality but, take it or leave it :).

All the pics have been improved in Photoshop, but only the lighting, picture/graininess (gaussian blur on R(G) & B ) and color quality have been changed.

1: This was taken just after I left my friend, and is very close by to where the last picture in the previous article was taken. The green-colored little kiosk was recently put here in place of a much older (and uglier) kiosk. It's the new "standard design" for free-standing kiosks in central parts of Oslo.

Just to make it clear, we're located slightly outside the actual downtown area of Oslo, these areas are mostly residential but with various local shopping streets and areas - and all other amenities, offices etc. - scattered around. This is the "inner northern" part of town, you could say. The boroughs are called St. Hanshaugen and Sagene.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Boroughs_of_Oslo
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Hanshaugen en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagene

2: Nice facade, even cooler with this lighting.. I was walking a stretch where it's usually pretty quiet at night here.

3: 7days is some kinda store which I haven't seen too many of, found the sign kinda funny. In case you're wondering, we have bunches of seven-11s and deli's (we have a chain of those called Deli de Luca) as well.

4: Not far from where I took the last pic - this street is a little unconventional, as it's located on a sort of ridge/height, and... Uhm. It's kinda hard to explain, I'll see if I ever get around to take a pic or two of this street at daytime.

5: This is from a outdoor staircase loosely modelled after the famous "Spanish steps" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_steps) located in Rome. I liked the way this greenery had "taken over" the place, it reminded me somewhat of some antique, deserted, overgrown place.

6: And here you see the stairs (more or less) in its full glory (not that they're that glorious, but remember that this is in a residential area and outside the "downtown" proper).

7: From the street you encounter if you, like me, take the stairs down instead of up. The advertising billboards are a relatively new addition, from a deal the city council made with Clear Channel and the french company JCDecaux. Clear Channel seems to handle "free-standing" billboards while JCDecaux takes care of the billboards on bus stops and other public transport. I guess we have to live in 2007, still I'm strongly against the "pollution" these billboards have caused (in many locations).

I also see that stance in connection with my view on globalization in the hands of power-hungry madmen and certain people "hiding" as "philanthropists" or "globalists," so I guess there's no surprise there... (I believe Clear Channel is a company that almost openly supports the republicans and Bush, and also slants things in that direction in all the media they own. Like many american radio-stations. Correct me if I'm wrong..)
Note that I'm not saying I "hate" Bush or the U.S., there are more sinister individuals out there than Bush, and besides I think he's just a puppet or figurehead. But enough about politics, on with the slideshow... :)

8: This is just a little further up the street. Nice detail with the curved wall that just holds some trees up. This could be said to be the beginning of the hill, St. Hanshaugen. The name comes from the traditional celebration of the summer solstice, which we call St. Hans.

9: Took this picture just to "prove" that we don't have polar bears in the streets in Oslo (if I haven't already done so:). Oslo has a milder climate than many other places this far up north, though the winters *can* be cold occasionally.

10: We even have quite a lot of nice cars these days. A little Norway 101 here: Norway used to be a rather poor country, but, especially due to the discovery of oil in the 70s, have become quite affluent. Really, we're not far away from being the "sheiks" of Europe :) But it's not all good though - we have problems developing a competitive business climate, especially in a global perspective. And egotism and/or closed-mindedness is also clearly increasing. All in all, though, we're in a good position in most regards...

11: ... But Norway's political tradition is called "social-democratic." Hmm, maybe that's why you can find old tired Hondas parked next to those nice whips ;)

12: ... And we have our share of rather unimpressive vehicles, too.

13: Quite nice stretch of street.. At least in the dark, lol :)

14: More greenery. Also, notice the bright sky. This is like 2 AM. We have bright summers up here - which is cool :)

15 & 16: These two pics are meant to be seen together as a "panorama," but Citynoise doesn't allow wide pics! Here we're approaching the area where I actually grew up. I still live close to here.

17: I'll try to get some day shots of this street and the surrounding area. It's a quite successful area even in terms of city development. A quite nice residential area, really.
The building on the right is where the next picture is from.

18: This is a "portal," that is, this is what we call "portal" in norwegian. Quite nice isn't it? This is an all-residential building built sometime around the 1920s.

19: Little bit further upstreet, and to the right, we find this place - the small "park" in the middle is a recent addition which sorta completed this square-like space.

20: Same street as before, now looking south instead of north. Faaar off in the distance, you can barely make out a building. This is Oslo's second highest building, located right by the central train station.

21: "Hønse-Lovisa" - the statue was added just weeks ago. She was a local character, that didn't really exist, but was added to a local playmakers story, who told stories located in the borough of Sagene. She was said to be living in a very old, small cottage by Akerselva(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akerselva) (Akers river).

22: Another straight, firm street. Oslo have quite a few of them, but still, many streets in Norway and Oslo are curvy and such - we have a hilly and mountainous country. The building to the right is relatively recent, from the late-late 90s. The one to the right is older (seen below).

23: Better look at the building to the right - and you also see the very small house in the end of the street. That one is very old, but renovated. Seen better below.

24: Here's a closer look at the small building. Almost "cottage-like." This street still has many old wooden houses, and newer small homes that fit with their neighbours . It really brightens up the area.
Close by, you can actually still find a farm built up around the 1700s. But you're still close enough to walk to the city center. Kinda funny - Oslo (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo) grew late (of course due to the climate).
But the city is now growing rather quickly, and is approaching the 1 million pop. mark.

25: This is a view when I just turn to the left from the old building, pictured above. You can barely make out a couple more old buildings, on the left of the pic. Just a little further to the left, you find the new buildings I had in previous pictures. The mix of old and new is actually sort of interesting here - not too conflicting like in countless other examples (both in Oslo and .. everywhere, I guess).

That concludes this little "tour" - this time featuring places in St. Hanshaugen and Sagene, not Grunerløkka (which was in part 1). Thanks for your time, and I'll be back - hopefully with less grainy and unclear pictures next time.

- "Osloman20plus" Oslo Norway

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