Stavanger in July with Erin

We drove to Stavanger on an exchange with the Hickmans, who have visitors from the States. We stayed at their apartment and waited for our special vistor to arrive. Erin was working in London again so she tacked on a few days for a visit with us. We had two days by ourselves to kick around the city where I was assigned to work back in 1966.

We started down at the harbor. The new (1850's) firewatch tower is in the background.

We walked the narrow cobbled streets of the old town.





I found an old row of houses on my old street, Lagårdsvein. On the odd side of the street numbers 1-15 were in there in all of their crumbling glory. However, many of us who served in Stavanger lived in #17 - affectionately known among other things as The Dump, The Puke-hole, etc. It was gone; replaced by a wonderful new apartment complex.



Back at the water's edge we checked out the invasion of the jellyfish,

then the Swan family with four little signets down at the city park.



A public concert was in progress in the park at the old bandstand.



Our walkabout took us to the Oil Museum. Stavanger is the official Oil Capital of Norway. Oil is the #1 business followed by fist and then tourism. Stavanger has all three but oil was first discovered just off the coast near hear.

My lovely assistant will show you the big drill used to get at the oil and gas deposits.

Much of the museum features equipment and stories about disasters and rescue operations. This is a life boat that seals up really tight.

This is a hands-on place with real drilling equipment out over the water.

The scale models are huge and teach how they get all of those immense rigs out to sea and set.

The view across the harbor from the oil museum.

On the other side of sentrum we found the Archeological Museum which featured local artifacts. The big draw, of course, is the viking stuff. This looks like a viking version of Jack and the Beanstalk but it is just a viking returning to his loving wife.

More hands on stuff. The kids can play in a model "longhouse" and dress up in viking clothes.



The stones with the runes carved into them are right out there for you to look at. When Erin arrived we called Ane-Rebekka to serve as our guide since she is home in Stavanger for the summer.

We wandered the town and found a statue dedicated to the town watchmen of the 1800's. These guys enforced the curfew law and also manned the fire lookout tower. The little mace thingy on the end of his staff was to motivate people to get inside before curfew.

The Cathedral is the town centerpiece. It was built in the early 1100's. The section to the far left was added in the 1300's.

Ane-Rebekka really knows her stuff. Our tour could have been called "secrets of the cathedral."

 

A wood floor replaced the original stone.

If you had to sit behind one of the pillars you could stare at this devil who is being held by the ears.



Several carvings like this one adorned the walls. A prominent family commissioned them all and paid for them to be a part of the decor. This one featured a man and wife and their 19 children -two of whom didn't survive childhood.

The Prekestolen (pulpit) is also ornately carved. This would be a great attention keeper for kids in church. It is filled with Bible stories, devils, angels, saints etc.

Speaking of Prekestolen, no trip to Stavanger would be complete without a hike up to THE Preikestolen. Erin and I caught the morning ferry and made good time on the trail. Soon we could see Lyse Fjord.

The summer crowd was just building when we arrived. By the time we left there were droves of people making their way up the trail.

Erin is standing with her back to the edge of an 1800 foot drop to the fjord below. The other people are doing what I cannot bring myself to do anymore - dangle my feet over the edge.

No problem standing there. My Norwegian friend Alexander gave me advice about falling off, "If you do fall, look to the left, it is the better view."

This was my fifth time up on Preikestolen. It has never failed to take my breath away.

The Poster view.

We took the hike back to the car and then the ferry back to town. We drove home in the evening to Bergen for a little more touring with Erin.



Return to Ålesund (part II)

We took off early in the day for a trip to Trollstigen and Geiranger Fjord. We meandered up Highway 60 along side Storfjord (big fjord) toward the city of Åndalsnes - a railhead for passengers and freight from eastern Norway.

The day was magnificent with sunshine that felt warm.



These Lupin-like wild flowers were along side most of the roads. They were in pastel hues of blue, lavender, pink, and white. Of course I did not capture them very well.



We wound up the valley/fjord through thick forests and then as we started to climb Storfjell (big mountain) the trees thinned out.

We got the feeling that they might get a little snow here as we followed the snow markers up the steep grade.



Almost at the top we had a panorama of the Alpine elevation and what was left of last winter.



Our destination was just over that last hill - the Troll's Ladder highway.



Olav Nordman has built a great parking area with shops and an overlook.

The guys were still working on the gangway that leads to the overlook. Norwegian construction workers wear what at first blush appears to be "firefighter's turnouts" as everyday workwear. In fact when we first got here I wondered why there were so many firefighters hanging out at the mall. Everybody who works a maintenance or construction type job dresses like this.  



They outdid themselves on this overlook. It is fantastic unless you have trouble with acrophobia.

We joined busloads of other sightseers for a peek over the edge.

Hairpin turns and 10% grades will get you up or down the Trollstigen.

The waterfall/river runs right along side the road.

It was cold enough up at the top to break out the jackets. 

At the far end of the valley after umpty-ump hairpin turns lies Åndalsnes. We headed back the other way. I had already negotiated too many hairpin curves and we wanted to see Geiranger Fjord. We needed to backtrack and cross over Storfjord.

We caught yet another ferry at Linge for the short trip across the fjord. (note the ferry toll takers-traffic directors in their saftey workman pants)

The road that leads over the mountain to Geiranger fjord winds past this little lake which reflected the beauty of the day.

Our first view of Geiranger fjord was also a staging area for wood and materials bound for cabins that are under construction in the mountains across the way. The roads on the other side are not wide enough for big delivery trucks...



...so the helicopter delivers the materials.

The last little bit of this fjord is amazingly beautiful.

On the far right hand side is Seven Sisters waterfall.

We thought we would stand here in the middle.

To the left is Geiranger - crowded to overflowing with tourists from all the cruise ships, ferries, busses and automobiles that deliver them all day long.

There are also RV parks and camping grounds that are packed with people from all over the world. The little boat in the middle of the fjord is the car\passenger ferry that runs to and from Hellesylt all day long. 

1,000,000 Dollar View



Sometimes you just get lucky and visit a place you have always wanted to experience on what can only be described as the perfect day.