Spending time with our friends Peter and Kasia at their cozy home in Uvdal is an absolute pleasure. They are lovely and generous people who we really enjoy and whose deeply thoughtful and deliberate approach to life we admire. Originally from Poland, they have made Norway their home, including starting a business restoring historic buildings and churches that are hundreds of years old, taking particular pride in doing things the right way using natural oil based paints and labor intensive techniques that preserve the structures for decades. Their next entrepreneurial venture is converting the loft of an old barn into an artist residency and gallery space with a pub and community gathering space below. Being immigrants, they know how to hustle (while still being generous and kind) and have insightful perspectives on Norway, Europe and the world. We learn a lot from them.

We enjoy a delicious Saturday morning breakfast of hazelnut and fruit musli with kefir and spend a day off the bikes hiking a local mountain peak called Ranastøngji. The trail takes us from a glacier fed lake above treeline into an alpine landscape of granite boulders, lichen and hearty shrubs that survive ten months of the year under snow. The weather is incredibly dynamic and as we gain altitude, a strong cold wind picks up and we see rain storms blow through the valley below, followed by short sun breaks. I am wearing summer hiking shorts and Kasia gently reminds me of a Norwegian saying: “There is no bad weather, only bad clothing.”

We find ripe cloudberries that are delicious. They grow only in alpine and Arctic tundra climates and are part of the rose family, with a floral and citrus flavor. They are a treat.

We sleep well and enjoy a relaxing Sunday morning with Peter and Kasia, who spoil us with excellent coffee, fresh musli bread and scrambled eggs with chanterelle mushrooms. We go for a walk to the nearby stave church that dates back to 1170 and admire the beautiful interior paintings that are, we are told, in original and untouched condition. It is amazing to think about this building existing as a continuous place of community gathering and worship for upwards of 15 generations. Back at Peter and Kasia’s home, we pack up our bikes and eat a delicious send off lunch of local lamb sausage, buckwheat and salad. We are reluctant to say goodbye but resolve to see each other again.  After big hugs, we set off.

Our legs feel fresh and our spirits are high. We climb slowly out of the valley, stopping for wild raspberries of course, and eventually make it to an expansive plateau with a huge alpine lake surrounded by mountains. We take gravel roads along the water and find a perfect camp site on a little sandy beach out of the wind. It’s chilly and we enjoy hot soup and cherries from Peter and Kasia’s tree for dessert before climbing into our tent to warm up and fall asleep, feeling grateful for friends, health and the good fortune to be here.