Thanks Margaretha!

August 19, 2008

I would also like to say a big thank-you to Margaretha Danbolt Simons and John Hart for an unforgettable stay at Margaretha’s summerhouse in Stavern…

Of course I would not have been here if two years ago a stranger we met on a ferry to Leka in Norway hadn’t asked Janet if we were English. He introduced himself as John Hart, told us that he was a teacher at Epsom College, and explained that he was on a driving tour of Norway with his Norwegian friend, a lecturer at the University of Surrey called Margaretha. It was a slim chance that we should have met whilst we were cycling on the Kystriksveien (RV17) route for our summer holiday. John asked if I was learning Norwegian - and then introduced Margaretha as the author of the Teach Yourself Norwegian book I was listening to as he came over to us! Furthermore Margaretha happened to teach Norwegian in Adult Education classes run in Guildford, so I signed up for her class on the spot.

The rest is history… but a stay at her summerhouse is an unmissable experience, with lots of laughter and fun, scintillating conversation, and a years’ worth of new literary recommendations to work through now. I particularly enjoyed reading Tiina Nunnally’s translation of Kristin Lavransdatter, by Sigrid Unset and our nightly cocktails hour.