Stavanger Norway June 8, 2015

Note:  Sorry for the delay in posting, but since we have left Copenhagen, the further North we go, the internet seems to be slower.  Especially when downloading pictures.  Thus, less pictures to post since it takes so much time.

Today we have arrived in the beautiful Norway city of Stavanger.  We are taking the Lysefjord by Land and Sea excursion that DCL has offered today.

Stavanger is the fourth largest city in Norway with approximately 130,000 residents.  Stavanger is considered to be the oil capital of Norway, but before oil was discovered in the North Sea it was fish, specifically sardines, that kept the city going.  There is an oil museum you can visit right on the waterfront.  The silo's that I have a picture of I am putting in just because it was kind of funny.  The guide for our adventure talked alot about them and how they are used for cereal because "Norwegians eat alot of cereal".  At the end of her talk about the silos, she then said, "oh, and we use lots of cereal to make beer."  So I am not sure that they eat lots of cereal, they drink lots of beer!

We are first going by boat on the Lysefjord.  The fjord is 42 km long.  You can see lightly colored granite all along the fjord.  It was formed by glaciers during the ice ages.  They say that 10,000 years ago that Norway was covered with a layer of ice that was up to 2,000 meters thick.  It still feels like the ice is still here today.  It is very cold.  I recommend packing your warmest clothes and then re-packing again with something warmer.  I seriously doubt you will be wearing shorts this cruise.  This is definitely not the Caribbean.

The "Cereal" silos.

We pass a small mountain cave known for where the trolls live.  They only come out at night because if they come out during the day the sun will turn them into rocks.  So they say.  It is probably safe to say they can come out during the day since the sun doesn’t shine here much.

There are some goats at the foot of Pulpit Rock.  The goats are put out to graze during the summer months and they are spoiled with food that the boats feed them.  Our boat throws out bread in order to get them to come close to the boat.

Pulpit Rock is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Norway.  The cliff is 82 by 82 feet at the top.  The cliff is 604 meters above the water.  Michael has hiked to Pulpit Rock today, so will get a report from him during dinner.  The rock formation was formed 10,000 years ago.  

We then go to the Hengjane Waterfall.  Fresh mountain water plummets over the edge 400 meters into the fjord.  Our guides gather fresh water from the waterfall and give us a glass of water to drink.

We go by the oldest power station in Lysefjord.  It was built in 1917 and modernized in 1938.  It goes 800 meters into the mountain.  

If you are adventurous the longest wooden staircase in the world along the pipeline has 4,444 steps….Scott?

We end our boat tour at Oygardstol which is a modern tourist centre.  It is here that we get to have our first Norwegian Waffle.  They are excellent.  They are thinner than the waffles we are used to and we use strawberry jam and a thicker cream (not whipped cream, but not sour cream).  It blends well with the jam and waffle and tastes yummy!

Didn’t have any trouble with Norwegians speaking English.  Everyone speaks excellent English.  There is a cute gift store where we had the waffles, and I purchase a Norwegian sweater because I think I need to get some warmer clothes for the rest of the journey and the price was excellent.

We then get on the bus portion of our tour and have about an hour long ride back into Stavanger.  It is beautiful countryside with many farms and animals.  Small two lane highway.  Bridges are one lane.

It is quite breezy when we get back to the ship.  Did you know that Norway hosts the World Tour of the Volleyball Championships?  Who knew that a place that has no beaches would do such a thing.  They have hauled in the sand and set up courses right along the ship and are holding the World Tour here this week.  Can’t imagine playing volleyball in this kind of climate.  

Everyone is aboard at 4:45 p.m. except for two guests they announce and are trying to track down.  They must be on board because we leave shortly afterwards.  You don’t have to worry about getting a spot up on deck 10 at sailaway, because it is so cold, no one is out on deck.  There are a few brave souls in the swimming pools.  They must be locals from Norway who are on this cruise.  Can’t imagine even putting on a swimsuit at this point.

I have been wearing a sweater to dinner every night as it seems colder than normal on the ship.  It could just be me and I am just cold all the time.

Hector is Magic is in the Walt Disney Theater.  

Then I head to Bingo with Michael in Fathom’s.  I was asked for Bingo prices, here they are:

$30 for a 6 card paper pak

$40 for a 6 card double paper pak

$40 for a 24 chance handset and bonus 3 card paper pak

$50 for 48 chance handset and a 3 card paper pak

$60 for the family pak 2-24 chance handsets plus 2 bonus 3 card paper paks

 

Michael wins one of the DCL prize giveaways tonight.  He gets this really kewl DCL mini flashlight.  I would like one of those.

After that we head off to dinner, run into Commodore Tom and have a 5 minute conversation, then off into Lumiere’s for dinner.  They are adding “Regional Favorites” on the menu each night.  Tonight I try the Salmon which was excellent.  (They have salmon farms here in Norway).  For dessert I have the Strawberry Shortcake Sundae, but most of the table has the Mariner Souffle.

I asked Michael about Pulpit Rock at dinner.  He was able to hike the path in 1 hour and 15 minutes going up and same amount of time going down.  He said he hiked fast though, so 2 hours each direction is a reasonable time.  He said it was an absolutely incredible view from the top.

Looking outside it seems like 7 p.m. but it is 10:30, so time to head back to Fathom’s for the comedy of Pete Matthews.  He is hysterical.  We laughed and laughed.  He was totally awesome.

After that it once again is going on midnight, so headed to bed.  

My final tip for the day:  bring warm clothes, and then pack additional warmer clothes than you think you will need!