You can probably imagine what happened, but I'm going to tell you anyway: all the water on the ground started turning back into ice, forming super slippery solid layers.
So when I left the house today, I was already slightly afraid of walking through my student village, because the way from my house to the trash containers and then to the T-bane station leads downhill. However, this turned out to be quite okay. Of course, it was all ice this time:
However, as you might see, the ice was not super smooth, but a bit bumpy. That really helped with not slipping. I would guess that is because in my student village, there are not really any sidewalks (or I cannot see them due to the snow...). Therefore, pedestrians, cyclists and cars share the same paths. And my impression so far is that streets for cars are better looked after. Which makes sense to prevent a lot of car accidents, I guess.
Sidewalks, on the other hand, are basically not looked after at all. That turned out to be a problem when I was almost at the T-bane station. Just a few metres away from it, there is a bus stop. And the area around it has been the most dangerous area for quite a while already: there's always been ice underneath the snow, and as there are a lot of people walking on a few square metres, the fresh snow turns into ice more rapidly.
Well, and as there is no snow at the moment and the melted snow and ice froze again, the area around the bus stop turned into an actual hazard with the ground being almost like glass:
Yeah, and that's where I slipped and fell for real for the second time in Oslo. (The first time being my very first day in Oslo, trying to walk down from the Vettakollen viewpoint again.) Just that this time, it hurt more, as I landed on ice instead of in the snow...
De-escalatory comment: no, I did not break anything. I just got up again and continued walking my way to the T-bane, going to BI to visit the library* and even the gym.
But now, I kind of understand why you can sometimes see people walking on the streets next to the sidewalk. The danger of getting hit by a car might be smaller than the one of slipping on ice. Later today, I also saw an alternative to that: using spikes that you can attach to your normal shoes! (No, I did not take a photo of that, so I'm just linking to an Amazon product looking roughly the same. *click*) My personal alternative will probably be: walking very slowly - and hoping for snow!
* If you are concerned about this: no, I did not actually study in the library. I just borrowed my first book there. And to be honest: in the first place, I went there to print our bus tickets, because we're going to STOCKHOLM with a group of exchange students this weekend! (With the night bus, since that is the cheapest option to get there and back.) Do not expect to hear anything from me until next week! :D
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