In October 2011, we celebrated the 60th birthdays of Tove Brunborg and Barb in southern Spain.  We were joined by Barb’s friends Monica and Lynn, and by a number of couples from Norway.  On the last day of that celebration, the Norwegians presented to Barb an amazing gift: an invitation to host us in Norway at each of their “hytte” (cabins) on our next visit to Norway.  We are here now to take advantage of that incredible opportunity; each of the next several postings will be our account of those visits.

On July 30, the Brunborgs and Shipleys were taken by Terje Seim in his auto to Lillesand where we joined Rasmus and Kari Morvik on their sailboat while Terje drove back to his home. The goal of our sailing trip: pass along the skerries of southern Norway until we reached a bay near Randesund, where we would land at the seaside hytte of Terje and Kirsten Seim and experience some Norwegian hospitality.  It was a beautiful day to be out on the water; the enclosed photos only hint at the wonder of the trip. We also saw many attractive seaside hyttes, many interesting Norwegian water craft, and several pairs of wild swans.

It is common for boaters to stop at one or another of the rocky skerries for a break, and indeed we did so, stopping for a delicious lunch of cold boiled shrimp, which we peeled and ate on bread with mayonnaise.  For dessert we had fresh strawberries — abundant at this time of year in this part of Norway, but nearing the end of their season.  The sea bottoms are rocky here, so the usual method of securing a boat near a skerry is to take it alongside and tie it to the outcropping, an operation that is often facilitated by the presence of steel rods that have been pounded into the rock in order to create more-or-less permanent attachment points.  We chose a small island near Burholen that even had a picnic table.  Later we passed a rocky wall at Sunsodden where two Norwegian Kings had left their golden signatures.

When we arrived at the Seims, we were welcomed with small glasses of Cuban rum, an echo of the rums we served to the Seims and Morviks when they paused on a Caribbean cruise to spend a day with us on Tusen Takk II in the British Virgin Islands last March.  We enjoyed seeing the Seim hytte and the lovely area and enjoyed participating in the warm conversations.  Later, a yummy and attractive appetizer followed by grilled salmon with all the accompaniments.  Later still, creamed fresh strawberries for dessert.  Shamefully, I was too busy enjoying the meal to photographically document the main course.

When it was time to leave, Kari and Rasmus again boarded their boat, and the Shipleys and Brunborgs caught one of the many clean and efficient buses back to Kristiansand.

The first of our hytte visits had set high standards for the series!