I was just at a game and someone noticed me because I was sitting on the shaded side. Everyone was sitting on the sunny side. Then a security man came over:

‘Do you want to be brown?’ he asked me.

It is possible to imagine you don’t actually want to.

 

Do you remember how we settled on Horten?

 

Yes, I remember that very well. Because we wanted to move to a small town: it’s the kind of town we’ve become really fond of. So we thought – what possibilities are there along the Oslo Fjord within an hour’s drive of Oslo/Bærum? We also notice this is a cultural town, as we see it.

There’s always lots going on here.

When you read Gjengangeren, it says ‘Is there anything going on here?’

‘Yes, there is as a matter of fact!’

You look at what it is and there’s lots of all different kinds of music.

I’d like to be in the blues club. I’d like to be in the jazz club. I’d also like to be in the ballad club.

It’s all here in Horten. And it’s happening all the time.

 

And then we’ve got children and not least grandchildren who love swimming in the summer.

And the big surprise for them, when they visited this summer, was Rørestrand and all its possibilities.  Not just swimming, not just a sandy beach, not just diving, but possibilities for sand volleyball. And there’s a charming pub where you can get a glass of wine.

It’s like my daughter said: ‘This is almost like being on Crete!’

 

So even though it was a bit sad after 38 years in Bekkestua, they saw pretty quickly this was

a very good replacement. In the family, it’s actually got even better status than in Bekkestua.

 

Otherwise, you notice all the houses with gardens here in Horten. Horten isn’t just a small town.

Horten is a town with a large percentage of detached houses and that makes it very distinctive.

 

On one of the first days after we moved in, a neighbour arrived with some lovely sour cream waffles and greeted us with ‘Welcome to Rustadgata!’

 

Here you can just sit and enjoy an autumn evening with candles and a little glass.

Here you can sit and enjoy the morning sun and it’s only 10 minutes down to the boat from the house.

 

What you can’t see from here, and which is great fun, is that we have a pub in the basement.

 

You see the Stabæk flag hanging there. I’ve said earlier I’m on the brink of leaving Stabæk for Ørn Horten. So I don’t know how long that flag will be hanging there. I must find out if there’s

an Ørn Horten flag. Then that can hang here in the pub.

 

Wow!

 

But of course Saxon King must be visited too. That’s a pub up the street here. About 300 metres away. It’s a real gift to have a great pub over three floors with football screens and beer labels

and good friends. That’s quality. That’s what we mean by quality of life.

 

It’s not the main thing in choosing Horten, but you have to say in terms of price that it’s very reasonable buying a house here. Roughly speaking we can say, compared with where we come from, a house costs half as much here.

 

Well, cheerio!