A Visit to our Ancestral Home

The "cottage"
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On Friday  we took the ferry to Afjord, the home of Lisa's great grandparents.  They lived on an island about an hour from the mainland called Adsen.  Only three families lived there with their sheep.  Lisa's great grandfather, Torberg, would take his ship, The Mjoelner, up to the Lofoten Islands to purchase cod, and bring it back home to be salted, dried, and sold.  Eventually the family relocated to the mainland to a place called Bjornevik ("bear inlet"), and took the name thereof as was the custom of that time period.  The home where Lisa's grandfather was born is still occupied by the Bjornevik family as a vacation home.  Many members of the family now own vacation cottages in Afjord and spend as much time here as possible in the summer months.

The traditional toast
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We were greeted upon arrival by Arthur, the patriarch of the family at age 84, ringing the bell, which is only done for special occasions.  After a celebratory glass of champagne, we had a tour of the upgrades to the property since our last visit...a baking house, a grilling house, and a complete remodel of the barn, which now basically functions as a restaurant for family get togethers.

Ole then took us on the "party boat" (as opposed to the fishing boat) to Adsen to view the sunset.

This is the boat we took to the ancestral home
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Food of the Day:  Upon docking the boat, we noticed a bucket full of fish heads.  Those were cooked in salted water and served as our "midnight snack".  The cod cheeks were given to us (as guests of honor), as they are considered quite a delicacy.