Kay and Sylvia's Norwegian Adventure 2015: Rannveig and Terje at Langoy

Sunday, July 12, 2015

We spent the day with Rannveig and Terje Helleland; Terje is a cousin of Dad's and the brother-in-law of Else Helleland. Both Rannveig and Terje are teachers at Uskedalen skule and have served as cooperating teachers of ISU/USU student teachers, most recently this spring with one of my USU students. Mother and I have visited them in their home in Dimmelsvik (in Omvikdalen) and enjoyed meeting their family of four girls and one boy. Their son, Sander Elias, just graduated from 7th Grade and will attend Rosendal ungdomsskule next year so I will see him in the fall when we have two STs at that school. Sander Elias' graduation occurred when we were in Rosendal so we were unable to visit the family at that time; Rannveigh and Terje invited us to visit them at their home on the island of Langoy just west of Bergen. It was a fantastic day and a special experience for our last day of special activities.

The day began with Terje picking us up at our hotel around 9:30 am and driving us to Langoy. Their farm, called Langoy Kystgard, is where Rannveig was raised. She and Terje purchased the farm with several buildings 1.5 years ago. What a magical place. Fantastic views at every turn. Antiques galore! We had middag at their home including homemade bread, meats, cheeses, tomatoes, cucumber, and melkekake. We were joined by their two oldest daughters, Birgitta (a music teacher) and Christina (a midwife at Haukeland Hospital in Bergen), who also live on Langoy, as well as Sander Elias and the family dog, Nila. A bit later, Birgitta's husband, Alexander, and their two daughters, Ingeborg and Aashild, joined us. Then we all went about 200 meters to the old buildings on the farm. One was a bakery from 1884; Rannveig uses the old oven to bake skillingsbolle (cinnamon buns). The bakery is outfitted with 'cupboards' with narrow shelves to put the baking trays of rolls or tins of bread for raising. There is another building, which can be used for receptions as they did for Birgitta and Alexander's wedding. In the third building, a home, we were served fantastic rhubarb sauce and a combo cheese cake / ice cream cake topped with kiwi, blueberries and strawberries - fantastic and all homemade. Rannveig also heated up some of the skillingsbolle made from a previous baking day. On the way back to Bergen, Terje and Rannveig gave us a driving tour of Langoy. What a very special place. We so appreciated sharing time with everyone.