Linda and Roxy's trip through the Netherlands & Norway

9th posting on May 18, 2024 ..... Back to the welcome page and listings for other links

Stavanger, Norway
Our first stop in Norway was Stavanger, Norway's 4th largest city (population-124,000) located on the southwest coast, the 'Oil City'. Norway's population is about 5.5 million, similar to Minnesota spread over an area about the size of Montana. Stavanger's history dates back to 1125 when the Domkirke (cathedral) was completed. Oil was discovered in the North Sea in the early 1970's and has contributed to Norway's economy since. Before oil, canning & exporting sardines was the major industry in Stavanger. We visited 2 museums, wandered around the harbor & town, took a fjord cruise & hike and enjoyed Constitution Day parades. A great introduction to Norway!

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Getting close to Stavanger. Lots of water and another beautiful day! We’ve been lucky with weather, 70 degrees and sunny. Locals indicate this isn’t normal, they often have 4 seasons in a day!

Cruise ships come into dock 4-6 times a week. Only one daily. Capacity is between 2500 & 5000 passengers!
In 2026, cruise lines won’t be allowed to sail in the fjords unless they are completely emission-free.

The Canning Museum was a hit! There were 80 of these factories in Stavanger. The canning process had to be finished the same day (brining to threading to smoking to decapitating to packing). Linda is learning how to pack them. It’s paid by the piece … we’ll be hungry.

These are sardine tin labels. The first part of the museum explained the development of printing that led to the labels on sardine cans. The labels were colorful & had themes to hopefully increase sales. It was all about marketing!

The oil museum took us through the history of North Sea oil exploration. There were many displays of off shore drilling platforms and exhibits depicting life as an oil worker. The basket above Roxy shows how workers were lower to the platforms after riding out in large helicopters.

Fargegaten (the street of colors) is a mix of colors, flowers, street art & small cafes & bars. In 2005, it was closed to private cars. Very pleasant.

We did a Preikestolen cruise & hike. The cruise took us up the Lysefjord surrounded by towering granite walls. A bus took us to the trail head, we hiked, then returned by bus to Stavanger through the world’s longest undersea tunnel. The tunnel was over 9 miles long & took about 15 minutes to drive through!

Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock). The plan is to walk up to see the view. From the other side of course!!!

Beautiful day, good trail & not too many hikers on this stretch. The trail goes uphill with lots of biiiig steps. Hope the knees still function later!

Made it to the top, great views, no guardrails! There was a sign saying don’t sit on the edge….no worries about that!!

Shared scooters seem to be a popular mode of transportation here. Folks are zipping all over town with them.

Starbucks makes Linda happy! The beautiful flower gardens are everywhere.