Saturday 14th June 2014
As we have a long north ahead of us we take a very early breakfast at Villa Helena and we are on our way soon after 9.00 am.
Sake , Britt-Marie , Sven and Anna have all treated us royally during our short stay and once again we have been able to catch with our good friends without missing a beat after a number of years.
With a bit of prompting from Britt-Marie we have told Sake that we will come back in 3 years time for his 70th birthday and the opening of the exciting extensions to his summer house.
The beautiful scenery of Bohuslan makes for a very pleasant drive north and we stop of at the Vitlycke Museum which tells the story of the many petroglyphs to be found in the area. Our visit here coincides with the arrival of a rally and a very long procession of Corvette Stingrays in superb condition. Sake does toy with the idea of trying to slip into the parade but decides that discretion is the better part of valour!
We had originally planned to take the bus and train on this part of our trip but Sake , in a much appreciated gesture, is driving us everywhere, including up to Oslo. On the way we take a detour to the delightful coastal town of Drobak in Southern Norway to meet up with Marianne , Sake’s older sister. I have not seen Marianne for a very long time and it ‘s lovely to catch up with her. She is looking very well and is the image of her late Mum, Siv.
We take a pre-lunch walk around the town, which is staging a choir festival this weekend, and then enjoy a great seafood lunch overlooking the bay. Coffee and a scrumptious sponge cake at Marianne’s flat which affords us a wonderful view over the water round off our visit to Drobak.
Sake and BM are returning to overnight at Marianne’s but we say our fond farewells with the hope that it will not be another 40 years before we meet up again ( we will both be 11o!)
Hans Ake
Marianne, Britt-Marie, David
Sake decides to take the route along the western side of the Oslo fjord to reach Billingstad which is itself a superb west of the city. The decision is spot on as the scenery makes for a far more pleasant drive than the one through the centre of Oslo.
Using Gail’s TomTom we duly arrive at the home of Erik and Toril Hansen, the son and daughter-in law of Bobben Hansen, my very long-term friend from my Ladybird Childrenswear days?
Another fond farewell ( we seem to be making a habit of this) to Sake and Britt-Marie who have gone out of their way to make our days with them all that we could wish for and much more. One of these days we must get them out to Aus.
We settle into our room in Erik and Toril’s lovely home and just before dinner out on their patio Bobben and his partner Annie arrive from Bobben’s home just down the road. My old mate has had a pretty rough time over the past couple of years health-wise ( he is now 81 ) but some fantastic support from his family and Annie ( at 85 she is truly amazing) has helped him recover in part from his mild stroke of a couple of years ago. More on Bobben later.
The Hansen family Toril, Annie,Bobben,David, Eric
After a long day I probably sit up too late chatting to Erik, in particular, but we do have 6 years to catch up on.
Cheers
The Obese Ferret.
Read Full Post »