Sandøya
Last Sunday we packed ourself into a rental car at Oslo Sentralstasjon and headed south towards Hege's family's cabin for a little study/work retreat.
Three hours later we arrived right in time for a beautiful pink sunset in Tvedestrand.
Packed aaaall our bags plus food in Hege's little boat to get to the island Sandøya. Fun fact: Tvedestrand and Sandøya is very close to Arendal where Frozen is supposed to take place. Hehe, just had to.
The next day it was Monday and we woke up to grey skies and a beautiful house. So soothing to be surrounded by nature and water. Almost felt like home. We worked every day and as we all are working on our theses it's actually quite helpful to exchange ideas sometimes although we all have very different topics.
A walk around the island that has 200 permanent inhabitants. There's a school (until fourth grade), a grocery store, and several local people producing different products.
Idyllic, this place is a summer paradise, which we saw this summer when we spent a few days there as the end to our roadtrip.
On Tuesday morning we got up early to wake this little elf up for her 25th birthday. Her family had sent a package from the States that we had brought with vegan chocolate and candles. From us she got a cute little red bag, a framed photo of us five and a day at The Well Spa outside of Oslo.
Birthday morning in bed!
Then we headed downstairs for a big breakfast with a pb jelly cake. What else for an American?
This good boy joined us to everyone's joy, Hege's uncle's dog Loke <3
Birthday dinner!
Pink GT:s is a real thing. Maybe I'm the last person on earth but it's actually very good.
She's beauty and she's grace.
Group photo with my Norwegian family and cohort! Hege, Anna, Marie, Jen and yours truly.
Many walks with this good boy.
Beaujolais nouveau season guys!!
Will ever get tired of oatmeal breakfasts, especially with Hege's fancy seeds on.
Last sunset before leaving on Friday. Such a relaxing and quite productive week. It was so nice to get a change of scenery and be in nature close to the water.
On our way back on Friday evening we had to make the mandatory stop at Max. Best vegan fast food there is out there, no doubts. Did you know that a normal burger produces four times more CO2 than this vegan no chicken burger does?