48 Hours in Paradise (on Tromøy island)

On Monday, we climbed aboard a bus for a four-hour ride to Arendal, a town on the southern

coast of Norway. We were going at the invitation of Tor Egil Førland, the Chair of the Department of Archeology, Conservation and History at the University of Oslo, where Doug is teaching this Fall. Although Doug had corresponded with Tor Egil, he had never met him, so we weren't sure what to expect, other than that he was very generous, having invited us to visit with him and his wife and two children at their beach house on Tromøy for a few days. (Tromøy is an island that is part of Arendal.) We would not be staying with them, however, as they have a cat. Instead, we would stay in his childhood home which is on the mainland.

On the bus ride down, Tor Egil called to offer us a second option. A good friend of his on the island was away and was offering us her house, which was only a kilometer away from Tor Egil`s house. The only hitch, potentially, is that she has a dog ("friendly, but not very well behaved") that we would need to care for. After a quick consultation with Addie and Bram, we opted for the house with the dog, allergy worries be damned.

It turned out to be the correct choice. The house, it turns out, sits on a hill above its own private bay. Here are photos of the house from the bay and standing in the dining room looking out at the bay.

 And the dog? Tor Egil had mentioned that it is a flat-coated retriever, so we Googled the breed on the bus trip. "Exuberant," "boisterous enthusiasm," and "boundless energy" were some of the terms that caught my eye. They described Robin to a tee. For the kids, it was love at first sight. And vice versa.

Robin turned out to be much easier to manage than the descriptions of his breed suggested. His only demand, in fact, was that one of the kids (and only as a last resort, an adult) throw a large stick into the bay for him to retrieve. Again and again. For hours. This is a dog that truly loves to swim.

 This is how the kids spent the first afternoon on the island. Later that evening, our host picked us up in his car and took us to his summer cabin where we met his wife, Hanne,  their two children (ages 10 and 7) and had a lovely dinner of grilled chicken and potatoes.

The next day, after a leisurely start, our host arrived to provide us with a tour of Arendal. This time, he came by boat. His son Håkon came too.

Although the weather was perfect the entire time we were there (about 73 degrees F), out on the open water, where the wind was strong, it was cool. Tor Egil, continuing in the vein of indulgent host, let Bram have a spin at the wheel. The kids were ecstatic.

We headed to the shopping district of Arendal. The town was once criss-crossed with canals, earning it the sobriquet of the Venice of Scandinavia. The canals were filled over 100 years ago, although there is some interest now in uncovering them. Here is a photo of the town as we approached, and another of the place where we docked our boat, to walk around and grab a bite to eat (open-faced sandwiches, of course, as well as "monk" (spelling is no doubt incorrect) which seemed to be a cross between a donut hole and corn muffin and were, in fact, quite tasty.

Tor Egil's grandfather left Arendal for America in the late 19th century, settling in New Jersey and obtaining citizenship around 1890 or so. But around 1924, at the age of 63, he returned to Arendal, bought a large home on a hill above the water, married for the first time and started a family. I began to wish that my grandfather, who also left Norway for the United States, had returned!

Here is a photo taken on the return trip. Here, you can see the suspension bridge that was built between the mainland and Tromøy that displaced the ferries (although they still operate on other local routes). This bridge, somewhat to my astonishment, has three lanes. Two are for car traffic each way; the third is for bikes and pedestrians and is set off by a fence.

Back in our guest quarters, the kids returned to throwing sticks for Robin. I decided to take a swim, as an homage to my Norwegian grandfather, who loved the sea (although my memories are of him sunning himself beside the water rather than of him swimming). The water was clear and bracing, too cool for lolling about. Doug joined we and we swam vigorously and then got out and dashed inside for a hot shower.

Later that afternoon, Addie and Bram's adventure rose to new heights. Håkon and Øyvind arrived and showed them how to fish for crab. First, you need a fish head. Then string and a clothes pin.

Then, patience.

Sucess!

This past-time occupied the kids for the rest of the afternoon. The next day, they were at it again. We lacked a fish head but discovered that crabs also like pickled herring. When we ran out of that, Håkon and Øyvind showed the kids how to find mussels, smash them open with a rock and pick out the meat inside to bait the "hook." At one point, the kids sent Doug into the water for mussels. When this proved unsuccesful, Øvyind dove into the water and collected them by hand.

By the end of this fishing session, the kids had easily collected 25 crabs. They granted them all clemency.

 How could this visit to Arendal get any more special?

On our second morning there, we again had visitors to our beach. Here they are sailing in.

You can see that the lead swan has its wings raised. This is was a warning signal to us to keep away from his swanlets. You may also be able to see that his beak is open. This is because he was loudly hissing at us the whole time he was swimming right up to the dock. We take hissing swans VERY seriously and gave the swan family wide berth. They snacked (on what, I don't know) and after ten minutes, turned around and swam off.

Our last evening on the island, our hosts grilled fresh mackerel and potatoes for us. Dessert was fresh strawberries in heavy cream. Delicious. After dinner, they introduced us to the game of Kubb (pronounced like Koob), an ancient game perhaps played by the Vikings. The rules, while not complex, are too involved to go into here. The main idea, though, is that there are two sides. Each throws short wooden poles and tries to knock down the wooden blocks lined up in front of the other side. Here is a video of the kids. (They faced off against the grown ups.)

 

On our last day, more fishing and playing with Robin. I do not think I have ever seen Addie and Bram so utterly content. In the afternoon, we had a leisurely lunch at our hosts' cabin. We then walked to their beach, where the four kids were busy playing. Here's the view of their beach from up above.

 It was almost 5 p.m.; we had been in Arendal for just over 48 hours and it was time to say good bye. We got a lift to the bus station. Climbing aboard the bus, which in 4 1/2 hours, would deliver us back to Oslo, I felt as if we were leaving paradise behind.  I knew for a fact that we had when, 10 minutes into the trip, Addie turned to me and said "I think I'm going to be sick." Boy, was she ever right! Thank goodness for plastic bags.