Nøsterud Fixed Up

After the park we walked back to the subway and this time took it all the way to Kari’s neighbourhood, and then a short walk to her house. This could easily be the most walking we’ve done in a single day on this trip, Beth’s pedometer was over 30,000 steps - at least 5000 more than any other day that I was aware of. At the house we had a simple supper with some of the other cousins (with Sissel & Terje and Anne-Berit) who had showed up. Then we loaded into cars and headed out of the city to Nøsterud, the family farm.

When we arrived we unloaded our luggage at Per’s place then walked a short distance to the Nosterud farm. The first thing I noticed is that Truls has fixed it up quite well, the outside of the buildings are in much nicer condition than the last time I was here 29 years ago. We wandered around the farm yard, taking pictures, the cousins sharing memories, and generally enjoying the beautiful evening. We took a quick look inside the house where my grandfather grew up, marvelling that such a large family was raised in such a relatively small house.

The day ended with a wonderful four course meal at Per’s place (Per has been a caterer as one of his occupations, and his great cooking and hosting skills were shown in abundance that night). We ate on a deck built up on the hill behind his house, giving us a beautiful view to go with the wonderful food. Looking out over the top of Per’s house (which has a grass roof!) we could see the lake, the family farm and the surrounding landscape. The meal included smoked salmon with a spiced mustard sauce, rummegrot, sandwiches with a platter of cheeses and smoked meats, and concluding with kreps - Beth will tell you about these in another post).

Finally the long and very full day drew to a close. Beth and I went to bed in a basement room in Per’s house, which was nice and cool, and a welcome change after a very warm day. Everyone keeps telling us how fortunate we are with the weather - we’ve been hearing this since we were in the U.K. - and certainly we can’t complain about the weather, even when it gets a bit too hot for me.