Their new house is perched high on a ridge overlooking an inlet of the Oslo Fjord. Three levels of picturesque windows and balconies look out over the inlet, with boats, boathouses, jetties and marinas filling the view with aquatic themed minutiae, to go with the mostly gorgeous waterside homes. At the bottom of the steep decent is their own boathouse, jetty and boat (and a floating trampoline!).
Aidan and Marie tried out the swimming features, while we all went for a post-dinner pre-dessert spin in the boat. It is seriously fast, which Lauren in particular loved, and as Aidan got to drive for a bit, he is also a little infatuated with it.
Despite the intermittent rain, some of which is falling as I write this, there is a summer feel in the late night twighlight and relaxed pace of a Saturday evening.
That limited familiarity with the locale is not the reason for the sense of homecoming though. That stems from seeing good friends again, and picking straight up where we left off two and a half years ago in Provence. In January 2009 Espen, Ragnhild and Marie met the five of us for a fabulous long weekend in the south of France. There were few moments on the trip I was looking forward to as much as arriving here, and it will be one of my enduring memories.
The bottle of 2003 Margaret River Shiraz I've been lugging across the planet made it too. That is an improvement on Justine's 2001 experience, which was decidedly soggier.
Plans for the next few days are low-key Oslo tourism, some boat time, and a few days at the mountain place in Valdres. Sigh. I guess someone has to suffer, and frankly I'm glad it doesn't sound like it will be me.
Location:Nesoya, Asker (near Oslo)
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