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We arrived in Stavanger this morning and had coffee, yogurt and waffles outside on the deck of the ship overlooking the scenic old section of the fourth largest city in Norway. Every place we went today, I kept thinking, "I wonder what it was like for Bob and Patty to live here for a year." (Bob was one of my colleagues at Eagan High and he did a Fulbright Teacher Exchange with a teacher from Stavanger in 2001-02). It's a very walkable town in the city center where we were docked and not a far drive to farm land, lakes and beach. I'm sure we only got a small glimpse into the real ways of Stavanger as we rode around on a tour bus and strolled the shop-lined streets. That year must have been quite an adventure.
Our tour bus stopped at the site of a big Viking battle in 875 A.D. where Harald The Fair-Haired out-battled the other Vikings to be the first king of a united Norway. Now there stand three Paul Bunyan-sized swords jammed into the ground on the shore of the fjord as a memorial (and tourist photo stop).
I was surprised when our guide pointed out the International School of Stavanger as we drove by, but we got a glimpse (and a rushed bus window picture) of Patty's school. Then we were dropped off in front of the Stavanger Cathedral, right next door to Bob's school. It's a gorgeous locale for a school right on the edge of a lake and next to a Gothic cathedral! We walked through the school court yard, but it didn't seem like there was anyone there to talk to.
Upon Bob and Patty's advice, we walked to the Oil Museum cafeteria for a snack and sat and watched the boats enter the harbor for a while. It was beautiful and pleasant, even when some aggressive seagulls joined us on the deck and fought over the bread left on a table behind us - ack. On a side note about seagulls, while we were enjoying breakfast out on the rear deck of the ship, we saw seagulls land on a table in the corner of the deck... Stealing ham, waffles and whatever else was on that plate. We figured it was just some leftovers by someone who left their tray, until a surprised tourist taking photos on at the railing turned around and yelped something in a foreign language and chased the birds away (while the rest of us laughed). Of course by then the rest of the seagulls got the word of a feast and started circling, while the poor man surveyed his lost breakfast.
We also thought about how much our nieces and nephews would enjoy the playground we were sitting next to. It had a whole section of red bouncing balls of different sizes that are close together and attached to the ground. It was kind of like a kids' version of the Big Balls on Wipeout (that's a t.v. show, Mom).
There isn't much news to report from the ship. There seem to be a lot more European travelers on this cruise than Americans. Adele has replaced James Taylor as the mu-zak of choice in the Sea Side Grille. We are currently listening to an 50 something guy and his guitar singing an eclectic set including Paul Simon, Rod Stewart, Sting, Poison and now Bon Jovi.... He's not bad, but if he starts singing a version of The Scorpions "Rock You Like A Hurricane", Mark is gonna explode. We chose not to attend the "iHollywood" sing and dance show after dinner last night, in part out of protest to the idea that you can make anything seem hip, youthful and relevant by putting a small "i" in front of it. Tonight is a "slight of hand magician who has performed on seven continents." This makes me assume he has traveled around and pulled nickels out of a few tribal villagers' ears. :-) I hope he has better luck tonight than the poor juggler we saw a few years ago who realized that juggling on a moving ship is not the same as doing it on dry land!
We hope everything is going well at home and send you our love. H and M
- comments
Fran Oh this sounds so wonderful. Do most people in Stavanger speak English? Did you get some wonderful photos? Fourth largest city. Is it at the beginning of the Fjords? No news around here. It will be hot hot the next few days. Hope to get my driveway sealed tomorrow. Are you getting some good reading in? Have a great day! love mom
momt Haven't had much computer time lately, so am catching up on a few days!! Sounds like you have had a little free time to wander around - sounds great. The swords are ENORMOUS!!! and the playground looks like lots of fun - you're right - the kids would love it!! It's nice to see pics of you two in which you are NOT melting in the heat! What are the temps like?? I'm not so sure I'd like to battle the birds to eat my meals - now I know why you don't like eating outside Mark - yuck!!! It is VERY hot here today - & humid, but the last two days were so gorgeous that I'm willing to put up with a little heat in exchange.
Karen We miss you guys, but you aren't missing this weather. I thought I would throw a "weather" comment in there:) Sounds like a lot of fun and maybe for your next trip, you should take all your nieces and nephews with you:) Wouldn't that be fun....for us. Enjoy your trip as much as we enjoy your blog! Love you guys.