Blogs from Stavanger, Western Norway, Norway, Europe - page 2

So yesterday Christine and I did a thing. We hiked up to Pulpit Rock(Preikestolen---google it!). This hike is classified as "easy" to the humans of Norway. But let me tell you, it was anything but easy. After battling gravity the entire way up, we were greeted with the most magical view I've ever seen. See pictures. Surprisingly we aren't as sore as I thought we would be. Today we took a 6am ferry to stavanger. The ferry was lovely. Other than the sound of unaccompanied children shrieking....... :) enjoying the lovely city of Bergen now. More photos to follow suite ... read more

The big day had finally arrived! A first time cruise for Val and Keith to the Norwegian Fjords. After many years of being critical about cruising it was now time to experience the reality. Travelling with Val's sister, who was celebrating her 60th birthday with her family gave us added confidence because they take regular cruise holidays. We left Scotch Corner services on the A1 at 6am after an early alarm call. The Eavesway coach was very comfortable with ample leg room. We did not see our luggage again until we arrived at our cabin door on the Brittannia, P & O's pride and joy, in Southampton dock. What an enormous vessel towering over the quayside. The bathroom and our cabin were small but functional and it was just like staying in an enormous floating hotel ... read more

We had a solid sleep despite the fact that the bed was an old fashioned double the type of which we haven’t slept together in for years. This is the only shortfall this apartment has. The washing in the bathroom with the under floor heating working dried nicely overnight. The same can’t be said for the weather outside as there is steady rain falling and the forecast looks like it will be wet for most of our drive to Stavanger. Loading the car up wasn’t pleasant with the rain falling and a flight of outdoor wooden steps to go and forth from the apartment to the car. We had two options to get to Stavanger, the E39, the main highway or an option we hadn’t previously considered until we took a closer look at the atlas ... read more

My new walking shoes are water proof, unfortunately I know this because it has rained all day. We knew this was likely but it’s a big change from yesterday, or maybe yesterday was a big change from normal, not sure. We waited out the worst of the weather, then when it seemed to be gentle rain walked the 2 km from the campsite, over the huge roadworks going on here into the city of Stavanger. It’s well known as a quiet harbour with Europe’s oldest collection of wooden houses just back from the harbour. It’s all very pretty, with well restored houses along narrow and at times steep streets. Lots of hanging baskets out to add to the prettiness. The harbour view was somewhat spoiled by two huge cruise ships that were docked. This also meant ... read more

After 8 weeks of amazing adventure covering both hemispheres, 5 countries, and 60,000+ miles, we arrived in our final destination for the summer, Stavanger, Norway. This is the third time Barb and I have spent the summer with our extended family, Jeff & Traci Skinner, but the first visit for Lisa and Larry. Stavanger is the "oil capitol" of Norway which is what brought the Skinners here nearly 4 years ago to work in the industry. Now that we'd been in the country almost a week, we'd finally adjusted to the cost of things here. Basically most everything is nearly twice the cost of comparable goods and services in the U.S. Norway is a model example of what happens when you mix a vibrant economy with a Socialistic government. Since our last visit in 2013 the ... read more