Stavanger, Norway

 Our time in Denmark was coming to a close so we took the train from Arhus six hours north to Hirtshals, a port town where we took a ferry over to Norway…

Most of the train trip we went through farm land which was yellow with spring crops…

We had a few Danish kroner left so enjoyed a fish plate on the waterfront before taking the ferry…

And what did this plate cost?….50 dollars, but at least it had good fish on it! 

We took a two hour ride on a very clean and modern catamaran across to Kristiansand, Norway…

Arriving into port we were treated to a sunset and rocky shores that reminded us again of home…

One of the first things we noticed was the number of places where no one worked…nobody to sell tickets in the bus or the train station, only machines. The hotel we stayed in that night had no one to check us in, all done by a machine and a button that said Press if you want to talk to a Human! 

The next morning we took a 5 hour train to Stavanger, it was a beautiful sunny day and the scenery was gorgeous…

It reminded us of our train trips in Switzerland except the mountains were not so high, I think Norway will be the land of spectacular scenery.

Stavanger is believed to be one of the first settlements in Norway dating back to 10,000 years. It is a small city of about 140,000 and it quite compact and walkable.

It is built around a small harbour…

The weather here is often cloudy in the mornings and sometimes sun in the afternoon but at least it didn’t rain.

Stavanger is a busy cruise ship port with ships coming and going to the western Norwegian fjords and there was one in town while we there. It docks right in the centre of the city so quite convenient for passengers…

It takes up a lot of space…

Along the waterfront there are many older wooden buildings…

Most of them are from the 18th and 19th centuries and gives the city a small town feel…

Lots of them are now turned into restaurants and shops…

Stavanger also has a residential area known as Old town where all the houses are made of white clapboard, in fact Stavanger has the most wooden buildings of any Northern European city, more than 8000.

These houses are on a hillside overlooking the port…

We went for a walk to see them and it is quite a cute little neighborhood…

They are small and well kept with lots of flowers and brightly coloured doors, a nice walk on a good day.

Stavanger also also a connection to the Vikings and we experienced a Virtual Reality visit at the Viking Museum…

It told the story of Norway’s first king, Harald Fairhair and the battles he fought to unite Norway in 872. This battle was fought very near Stavanger and there is a memorial to commemorate  it called The Three Swords…each representing peace, unity and freedom…

In the Virtual Reality show we were with him in his boat and on the battleground, a neat way to learn a little history.

Don pretending to be a Viking but I don’t think he makes the cut…

While we were walking around one day we had a woman come up to say she recognized our East Coast accents and of course she was from NL. Her name was Helen and her husband is stationed at the NATO training center in Stavanger. We had a long chat about her life in Norway and how it was very similar to home and of course a long chat about the desire of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians always to go home. It was wonderful meeting her so I wanted to include her in the blog…

This is the second time this has happened to us on this trip…we were in a crosswalk in Copenhagen when a young man came up and asked us if we were from NL as he recognized the accent and he was a young engineer from the Goulds, such a small world we live in! 

Some of the street scenes as we walked around the city…

Lots of colour, I think they try to make up for the many gray days they have…

Trolls are everywhere in Norway as they are mythical creatures that Norwegians are quite find of, apparently that aren’t very smart and turn to rocks in the sunlights. So I guess all those rocks in Norway maybe trolls.

In the middle of the city is a small park with a pond, swans and lots of places to rest…

When the sun came out we came across this group some of which Don was sitting and talking with on the train. They were a group of senior lobbyists holding a convention in the city and are concerned about the impact of the oil industry in Norway. They are called the Grandparents for Climate Action.

Speaking of oil…Stavanger is known as the oil capital of Norway and the sixth largest oil producer in the world. Since the discovery of oil in the southern North Sea field Ekofisk in 1969, the town has seen a transformation from an industrial trading town to the energy capital of Norway.

Stavanger contains half of Norway’s Oil & Gas industry, employing around 45,000 people. The area is home to more than 280 oil service companies, as well as Norway’s official administrative centre for the industry, including the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. 

Norway made its wealth on fish in the earlier days but now it is one of the richest countries in the world because of oil wealth. It has very generous social programs such as universal health care, free university education and strong social security. 

The country set up The Government Pension Global Fund which is a fund into which the surplus wealth produced by Norwegian petroleum income is deposited and invested. The money comes from taxes on operating companies, exploration license fees, and dividends from the partly state-owned Statoil. 

It is to be used to fund programs when the oil runs out and also to invest into new energies such as wind and hydrogen. As of now it has 1.4 billion dollars in it and it continues to grow, I would say that the Norwegian way of life will be protected for years to come.

There is a Petroleum museum in Stavanger that explains the history and future of oil. We were planning on going but by the time we got there it was closed.

Another day we did a cruise on the Lyseford fjord which is 42 Kms long and about an hour from Stavanger. We went on an electric boat and had a comfortable ride…

Don enjoying the view…

Stunning scenery…

Leaving the port of Stavanger…

Lots of summer homes along the way, the guide told us that people move here for the summer and make the commute to the city by boat to work. Also these are very expensive and most are passed down through families rather than being sold…

L

Lots of ferries and bridges along the way

A picture by one of the high waterfalls in the fjord…there  are countries we have visited with no picture taken of us so trying to do better this trip. 

High mountains on each side…

The Norwegian flag flying…

Caves where people lived centuries ago…

And Pulpit Rock, one of the biggest attractions in this area. There is a long hike to get to the top which about 300,000 people do every year…the ledge is way at the top.

I took a picture from a tourist brochure to show the view from the top as we did not hike there…

Apparently Tom Cruise in one of his Mission Impossible movies is seen hanging from Pulpit Rock…

Since Norway is known for its’ fjords we are hoping to see a few more before this trip is over.

We enjoyed our stop here and had time to rest up after a couple of long travel days. It was easy to see why people enjoy living in Stavanger, we talked to a number of locals who tell us that even though tourists find it expensive they don’t as they make very good wages and with a strong social system. We look forward to seeing more of this country in the next few days.