Stavanger

September 6, 2025

Stavanger, Norway

We are now in the small town of Stavanger in Norway. It is a beautiful day. Our tour is this afternoon, so we decided to take a walk into the town and look around...and go shopping! Walking back to the ship we were looking at the seabirds close by and we noticed something else in the water...

A Lion's Mane Jellyfish

This species of jellyfish is one of the largest in the world. They can grow to be 8 feet wide, with tentacles over 100 feet long. The ones we saw today were smaller, but beautiful. They are most plentiful in the summer, but die-off in the fall.

Fun Facts: Stavanger

• The town is known for its wooden houses, and Viking past. It is known as Norway's "Oil Capital"

• Vagabond’s Cave,” where a group of suspects on the run famously once hid from local police.

• While commerce in Stavanger once meant shipyards and fish canneries, all that changed back in 1969 when oil was discovered in the North Sea.

• All of Stavanger is something of a mecca for street art, and its buildings serve as canvasses for scores of outdoor works by leading street artists from around the globe. 

• Domestic and military installations are located in Stavanger, including the NATO Joint Warfare Centre

• Every year there is the "Happy Food Festival" in Stavanger.

• One of the Mission Impossible movies features Tom Cruise jumping off some cliffs in the Stavanger area.

• The paperclip was patented here in 1899.

When Karen went back down to the dock area to take more pictures, a PRIDE Parade passed by. We had seen other pride symbols as we walked through town this morning, but we didn't know about the parade. Fun surprise!

Here are some pictures of the town:

Couldn't resist!!!

Beautiful view as we entered the harbor.

And here is the bridge (on the left), and the harbor near the town (on the right)

Here is the Stavanger Cathedral, built in the 1300's, and still in use. And there just happened to be a wedding party leaving the church as we walked by.

One of the Fun Facts was about Street Artists - here is an example of the art .

Stavanger was a fun place to visit, with a charming mix of old and new. There were lots of cafes to enjoy, and wonderful shops. We were lucky that the weather was cool and sunny today!

Oil Museum

I have to admit that I was not thrilled about going to the oil museum. It seems like such a disconnect that the Scandinavian countries, who are so into sustainability, windmills, and getting to 0 carbon emissions, would be producing oil and selling it to other countries. But I will give the oil museum credit for acknowledging the conflicting goals and presenting both sides at the museum.

Norwegian Petroleum Museum

Bird - This is the bird we were looking at in the water when we spotted the Jellyfish! It a female Common Eider:

Dog of the Day: So glad he's wearing a life vest!

Tomorrow we will be in Eidfjord and we're looking forward to visiting the Scenic Norwegian Nature Center.