Our time in Oslo is almost over, and so we are already thinking about what we’ll miss when we leave. We’ve mentioned some things already, but we haven’t before talked about Grünerløkka, which is at the very top of our list.
Grünerløkka, simply referred to as Løkka, is a neighbourhood just across Akerselva (the Aker River) from where we live. When we booked our flat, we didn’t have a very good idea of Oslo neighbourhoods, though this area sounded perfect. We discovered Grünerløkka on our first day here back in July. We’ve been going back ever since. To get there that first day, we crossed the Ankerbrua, a bridge that spans Akerselva. It’s got four sculptures at each end, figures from Norse fairy tales, so it’s sometimes called the Fairytale Bridge.
Grünerløkka has lots of stores and restaurants, and some lovely small parks. You can walk in almost any direction and find something nice to look at. We found a number of great stores, including the ones where Laurel bought a backpack and John a notebook. We’ve tried perhaps nine or ten restaurants there, mostly seated outside, and had a good experience at all of them. Including Harald’s Vaffel, where those bacon and blue cheese waffles come from. Grünerløkka is where the Food Hall (Mathallen) is, and our favourite coffee shop. But the great thing about Grünerløkka is walking up and down the streets or sitting out and watching people. There are, as everywhere in Oslo, beautiful houses and shops, and the green spaces are always full of people and dogs having a good time. It’s impossible not to get into the spirit, especially on Saturday when the streets are full.
Grünerløkka is named for Friedrich Grüner (1628–1674), who purchased part of the land from King Christian V of Denmark. In the 19th century Grünerløkka became the working-class district of Oslo, not surprising given that many industrialists built their factories along Akerselva. And the wind was usually easterly, so housing there was cheap. Those factories still stand (many of them are beautiful red brick with high windows), converted to residences, exposition spaces, schools, museums, and the like. Gentrification of Grünerløkka began in the latter part of the 20th century. Today, the metamorphosis is complete: it is, as the guidebooks say, the bohemian part of Oslo, fully respectable. Bohemian or not, it’s a place we’ll really miss.
