It took me many years to stop sighing for a bigger, more exciting city, like Paris, London and Berlin, and instead enjoy the cosy little Oslo we have. 😉 Yes, it´s a bit provincial, no, there aren´t as many good eateries or things to do as in a metropole, but you can get to the sea and the woods in 15 minutes, we have fresh air and pretty great neighbours (we’ve lived four places and definitely prefer the “rougher” East side, people are so much nicer!).

So today, when the cleaning lady came by, we decided to have a nice Sunday stroll towards Grunnerløkka and see if we find a table by Ostebutikken, where we´d talked about having lunch for ages. The walk there was pure bliss, the sun was shining, the foliage was so pretty and we didn´t meet too many people on our way, either. 😉  We´d tried to call beforehand, but nobody answered and when we got there we were not in luck, all tables were either taken or reserved. 

On our way, we stopped by a new shop selling outrageously priced French jams- La chambre aux confitures– which didn´t stop us from buying a couple of jars, anyway. Watch out for late night snacks with salt crackers, brie and caramel au beurre sallé. 😉

The shop was really pretty and the salesman- overenthusiastic, like the trend is nowadays. What happened to the good old shop assistants who know just when you need help? 😉 

From Ostebutikken, the place where we´d fancied our lunch, we were so disappointed we could almost cry! Vuong said two very funny things. First: “Let´s just go home, ok?!” and then: “No, let´s take a plane to Paris!” Haha! Luckily, there are a couple of other French bistros around and so we ended up in the super-crowded Bistro Brocante, where they served good food in a student atmosphere. We´re not so very fond of the student places anymore ´cause they´re loud and stuffy. That being said, the French onion soup was “da bomb” and so was the “chocolate fondant”. 😉 

Yummy. There are few things as good as an hot onion soup after a long walk in the fall. 

On our way back we followed the Aker River, you can read more about it here and here, through the Sunday Market at Blå, where the vibes were jolly, they served waffles and sold colourful mittens. 

And the occasional antique. I´m so drawn to stuff, it´s crazy, soon I´ll have to smack my own hand in order to keep away. 😉

Grafitti, an icon and mittens. How cool is that?

Fall in all its frisky beauty. I felt like storing the colours thinking that soon the trees will be bare and sad. And me, I´ll be sadder than all of them.

xxx, Alina