Thursday, July 28 (Stavanger, Norway)

It was a hot morning that got started with a late 9:30 breakfast.  There was not a cloud in the sky (hence the beginnings of my sunburn) and we sat out on the deck nearly until lunch as we waited for Lars Erik and Karianne.  We walked down the lane to the site of their new home.  Anna's parents had a house on that lot and Lars paid the Stavanger fire department (about 35,000 Norwegian kroner) to burn it down.  Cheaper than tearing it down and disposing of all the pieces, he said.  Lars is building it in his free time after work as a contractor.

Morning time at the new house.

View of the future living room

Grandpa Lars, Tuva, and Lars Erik

When Lars Erik and Karianne arrived we made plans to go to the beach, a saltwater inlet of the ocean.  We swam in the cold water and had pretzels, cookies, coffee (always coffee), and ice cream.  The weather was perfect, warm and breezy.

 
LE showed us around the cobblestone streets of Grimstad with pride.  A BBQ dinner was ready to go at the site of the new house- salmon, chicken, pork, sausages, hot dogs, salads, potatoes, chips, and beer.  We again got on the subject of politics and government with Anna's brother.  The money from oil that the Norwegian government found 40 years ago has ensured the strength of their social democracy.  It is incredible to me that the oil and revenue from it landed totally in the hands of the government and not a private company.  Their 500 billion in the bank is expected to grow into much more, creating security for years to come.

Childhood friends of LE took us on his boat for an evening swim.  We rode in a small plastic speedboat through reedy canals and more Minnesota-looking lakes past beautiful cottages.  The destination was a favorite jumping rock.  I jumped once, Paul twice, off the nine meter cliff.

Path down to the boat.

Karianne, Cora, Lars Erik, Paul

A definite highlight came next, when Cora took us to his father's brewery, Nøgne Ø (Naked Island) in the site of an old power plant.  Cora took us for a private after-hours showing and walked us through the whole process, from barley roasting to boiling and fermenting.  We tried maybe seven types of bottled beer and also a batch that had just begun to ferment.  The beer was very very flavorful and had even won a few international awards.  Cora (who also works in a brewery) was very interested in the beers we might have tried in Eugene, known for its craft beers.  Some of the Nøgne Ø beers make it to a distributor in Boston, but 70% of the beer stays in Norway.

Beer straight from the proverbial teat.