June 28 - Oslo and Solvang Kolonihage

This is a catching up day here in Slependen. John is working hard to organize the photos so that we can show some to folks here before we head back. As always seems to be the case…it hasn’t been simple! He is still at it.

Meanwhile, Ragnhild took Sherrill to meet a friend and colleague from her school, Ragnhild Jorstad. This Ragnhild lives in the summer in a fascinating part of Oslo called Solvang Kolonihage, roughly translated Solvang Garden Colony. It is an area of plots of land with tiny houses or hyttes on them. In the 1930s, Oslo decided that there were a lot of people who were living in tiny dark flats in the centre of the city and who were unable to afford anything more. The city fathers decided to build these tiny cottages on lots that were big enough for a garden and made them available at an affordable price. For many people at this time, living in these hyttes was a highlight as it was the only time that they had a yard to play in and a house of their own with space to grow vegetables. These small cottages remain today, largely unchanged, by law. They are still very inexpensive as they have not been allowed to inflate in price. The cottages in this area can only be lived in from about April to October or November. They are very popular though and sometimes one has to be on a list for ten years or more to buy one. Apparently, this sort of development happened in other Scandinavian countries around this time as well.

Ragnhild’s friend welcomed Sherrill warmly, and we three had a wonderful chat about all sorts of things over coffee and cakes. Once again, I have been very touched by the warm welcome John and I have received from Ragnhild’s and Anders’ friends. This part of our holiday has been particularly enriching and we only hope that we have been able to give back to them a little bit.

Tonight, it was our turn to return some hospitality to Anders and Ragnhild. We had an enjoyable dinner out at the Fjord Hotel near the head of Oslofjorden, and home and to bed early.