Hei der fra Bergen og vestlandet. Hello there from Bergen and the west country. If you visit Norway, it is is the most beautiful part of the country. In fact, it might be the most beautiful part of the world. If you ask someone from Bergen if they are from Norway, they might say no. You see, they are from Bergen.

I’m typing this on my flight from Amsterdam to Detroit as I return from a week in Norway, where I started in Kristiansand in the south but drove up the coast to spend most of the week in Bergen and the surrounding areas. I’m in the process of taking over an hytte, the local word for a small cabin or cottage. My maternal grandfather, also named Lars, built the exterior. It was my uncle Jan Reider, who had it commissioned and was the first owner. He stared work on the exceptional wood interior. Work that the he never able to finish. The ownership then transferred to his brother, my father. Upon my fathers death, I decided to keep it in the family as family ownership is a huge part of hytter in Norway.

Both my maternal grandfather and grandmother were from Reksteren and Tysnes and family own several homes and hytter on the islands. Currently it takes about two hours to drive, take a ferry, and drive some more from Bergen to my hytte. It the future, it make take 30 minutes as a floating bridge is being considered. Yes, floating. An engineering marvel but the only way to cross the beautiful fjord.

There is a lot about the future of the hytte itself. Currently it has no electric, water, or septic. I’m looking forward to modernizing the cabin. Stay tuned for most posts on the progress. Even more so I’m looking forward to connecting to the nature of the west country of Norway. I’m definitely not impartial, so take it with a grain of salt, but definitely the most beautiful part of the world. Below are some pictures including the view from my hytte, the exterior, interior, as well as Bergen and the surrounding areas.