Stavanger!

I got back last night from an amazing weekend in Stavanger, Norway, the town where my grandparents used to live and a place near and dear to their hearts! I have an ever-increasing admiration for my grandparents and their adventures overseas, and the more I travel, the more impressed I am at all that they have been able to do. And all in a day's work! I am lucky to have such great grandparents and such wonderful examples in my life!

Stavanger was really beautiful. There weren't any huge mountain peaks or glaciers (there's no snow in Stavanger in the summer!), but everything in the landscape just seemed to fit together in a really nice way. It felt like an outdoor landscape that you could really... interact with. I'm not sure quite how to explain that it was gorgeous without being grand, but still so beautiful that it really could take your breath away, and make you not want to leave! Actually, looking at the pictures now it does look pretty grand, so maybe I am misremembering it!! :)

I arrived on Friday night, and the first thing I did on Saturday was go on a boat tour of the fjord.

After the boat ride, I went to the fish market....

Where I enjoyed some FRESH shrimp,

... and a fish cake! It tasted like a fluffier and garlickier version of a Chinese fish ball. All the undiluted seafood was making my stomach feel funny though so I had to eat a bagel to even things out. :)

Then I explored the town of Stavanger itself.

Here is the market, which was next to the fish market and one of the marinas, and on the edge of the downtown area.

This is one of the downtown streets. I actually took this picture before the boat ride, so it was early enough that not many people were out! (Stavanger seems to sleep in late!)

I liked this colorful street downtown! Stavanger actually reminded me a lot of southern Chile (Puerto Natales and Chiloe, especially) and from this street you can kind of see the resemblance.

I did see some new additions to the downtown area that wouldn't have been there when Gma and Gpa lived there. For example, this is the new mall. But although it's modern, it fits right into the downtown architecture, is still part of the walking downtown culture, and doesn't even really look like a mall. Very tasteful!

Also here is the tourist office, which is huge and looks pretty new. They were incredibly helpful and all spoke at least four languages (denoted by these little flags on their nametags!). Actually, I only met three people in Stavanger that didn't speak English: the bus driver, a random man on the street, and a lady at church on Sunday. It is definitely a bilingual society these days! (It was much easier for me getting around than it must have been at first for Gma and Gpa, when not as many people spoke English!)

Here is one of the many marinas.

And the cathedral.

Here I am with the lake in the center of town. It had this great fountain in the middle of it, and a little park around the outside.

This is Gamle Stavanger, the historic "old" Stavanger from the 1800s. The houses were all painted white and in really great condition, and some of the streets, like this one, were lined with rose gardens.

After going to Gamle Stavanger, I decided to head over to where Gma and Gpa used to live, on Erika Nissens Vei:

I wasn't sure which apartment building was theirs, so I'll show them all the options and then post the right picture here if I took one of their actual building!

One of the things that Gma said I would pass on the way to their old apartment was this cemetery.

What we didn't predict was that in the cemetery, I would see this HEDGEHOG! He might even be cuter than Huckleberry! :)

You can't really tell from this photo but I had to get really close in order to get the photo to come out, so I was only about a foot away. But don't worry, I was ready to run away in case he should charge!

(Ok, that was a joke. For the uninitiated, hedgehogs don't charge. They don't have to... as Dustin well knows, if you actually touch them, they just spike you!)

The walk to Erika Nissens Vei was sooo far. I literally had sore muscles the next day from all the hills around town, and it took at least a half an hour of VERY brisk walking to get to Gma and Gpa's old street. I have no idea how Gma did it while carrying grocery bags!

But the more recent residents don't have to worry about that, because there is now a supermarket right on Erika Nissens Vei...

...complete with an entire aisle of American cereals!!

That was the end of the excitement for Saturday, because not only does Stavanger get up late, but it also goes to bed early! I tried to go to this restaurant in a neighboring town, Sandnes, for dinner but literally EVERYTHING was closed even though it was 7 pm on a Saturday night and all the restaurants said they were open until 10 pm on Saturdays. I still have no idea what happened!

On Sunday, I visited Gma and Gpa's old church. I never actually got to go inside, though, because the service was moved to Sandnes for a joint service with the congregation there. So I had an adventure trying to find the Metodistkirke of Sandnes at the last minute! :) But I did finally make it! This is a picture of the Methodist church in Stavanger.

I was able to record two videos of hymns at the church, too. The sound quality isn't great but it's still kind of neat!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7oMjnCVInw

http://www.youtube.com/v/WsB8fGerBQU

I didn't realize that Gma and Gpa had the option of going to an English speaking church in Stavanger and decided to attend the Norwegian one instead! The people were really nice, and the pastor at the Sandnes church says he might remember my Gma and Gpa from when he was young! (He might have just been humoring me though.... haha.)

They also have a new Oil Museum, which documents the way oil is formed and the role it has played in human development. It also discusses the history of oil drilling in Norway. It was really well put together and informative!

The Oil Museum sign.

And then, sadly, it was time to come back to London. Stavanger was so amazing and I was certainly not ready to leave after only two days! But what an amazing treat to have been able to go, even for a short time! (And it was so expensive, it was probably good I could only stay for a weekend!)

Other cool/funny/interesting things I noticed:

There was wood everywhere. Even the floor at the airport was hardwood!!

A lot of the streets were cobblestone, and instead of painting the crosswalk onto the street, they would just use white stones!

Another funny thing was, in situations where someone was helping me at a business, I would try to let them talk first to see where they thought I was from. The lady saying bye to the passengers after the boat tour said "au revoir," and the bus driver on the way to the airport said "danke" after I paid. So I guess I look French and/or German!!

I have no idea what this cartoon is about, but the lady says "tusen takk," just like my Gma!!

I'm sure I will remember some more amazing and fun things about Norway soon, but that's it for now! It was such a fun, memorable and touching trip. I am sorry it's over but so lucky and blessed to have gotten the chance to go!