On July 31 the Brunborgs drove us out to H\u00f8llen, a village in the municipality of S\u00f8gne in Vest-Agner, there to visit the Andersens in their award-winning restored home before joining them on a round-trip ferry ride to Ny-Hellesund, a small island with a big reputation. \u00a0Like many other Norwegians, the Andersens also own a hytte, but they had just arrived from a visit to Austria and were scheduled to depart for Denmark on the next day, so a visit to their hytte was not possible. \u00a0That was certainly no sacrifice for us; their H\u00f8llen home is a spectacular blend of old Norway and modern appliance. \u00a0After some coffee and some conversation and a quick tour of their house, we walked down to the pier at H\u00f8llen to catch the local ferry, which makes a number of stops at local islands. \u00a0Our destination was Ny-Hellesund, where a “Verftet” (shipyard) has been converted into a destination for tourists that features expensive lodgings and a fancy restaurant named “B\u00d8LGEN & MOI”, the 9th restaurant created by Trond Moi (chef) and Toralf B\u00f8lgen to bear their names. \u00a0We arrived to find that the fancy indoor restaurant was not open for lunch, but that service was available in several (windy) patios. \u00a0The prices reflected the upscale aspirations of the place; most of us ordered the fish soup, which costed 240 Nkr each but was indeed delicious.<\/p>\n
After our lunch we ducked briefly into the interior of the restaurant, where we found innovative settings of the glasses and silverware. \u00a0We then explored the relatively-new trail that winds around the little island and offers some spectacular views of the surroundings. \u00a0Rain chased us back to the pier, where very shortly the ferry arrived to take us back to H\u00f8llen. \u00a0On the return, we took a very short side trip through a narrow cut that had us passing by monograms left by Norwegian Kings on Helg\u00f8ya.<\/p>\n
Back at H\u00f8llen we had coffee and strawberries before saying goodbye to Terje With and Mika, two remarkable people who found time in their hectic schedule to keep a two year old promise, and to do so with grace and class. \u00a0We are very grateful.<\/p>\n
PS: \u00a0Two days later the newspapers were all filled with accounts of the visit of the Bill Gates family with the Crown Prince and Princess of Norway. \u00a0 Where did they meet? \u00a0On the island of Ny-Hellesund and the B\u00f8lgen & Moi restaurant. \u00a0We missed them by one day! \u00a0(I bet they got to eat inside!)<\/p>\n\n\t\t