Oslo Boat to Norway: June 14 - I Can Can Sardines

Before there was oil there were sardines. Stavanger is the the 4th largest city (120,000) and the oil capital of Norway. But Stavanger was the canning capital of Norway in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Before that, fishing, and before that ??? Stavanger was founded in 1125, so I'm sure it has had many economic drivers over the years.

First, I want to say that even for a tough, strong Alaskan, Stavanger is cold. Today it was 47 F when we left the ship and 49 when we came back. There was a brisk wind all day which made it made it feel very cold. Even some of the locals were bundled up.

Our first adventure of the day was a fjord cruise with Rødne Fjord Cruises. Our 3-hour cruise to Pulpit Rock in Lysefjord was quite nice.

We passed by many summer homes owned by families from Stavanger. Most of these homes have belonged to the families for generations and don't ever go on the market.

Eventually we enterd Høgsfjord, and passed Tingholmen, where King Olav Tryggvason held his national assembly in 998. I couldn't see anything that looked like a likely spot for a national assembly, but we were kind of far from the shore.

Once we entered Lysefjord the scenery became more dramatic and the summer homes thinned out. We saw the Vagabonds' Cave where a group of vagabonds hid when chased by the police. When that happened I have no idea.

Finally, the highlight of the trip, Pulpit Rock (Preikestolen). The top of the "pulpit" is 82 x 82 feet and it is flat. When I get home I will add a photo of it taken fro the air. The cliff is 604 meters (2000 feet) abovet the fjord. People (some people) hike up to it and walk around on the top. There are no railings!

This is what Pulpit Rock looks like from the area. No, I did not take this photo. Note: No railings!

After visitng a waterfall we headed back to Stavanger. A very fun excursion.

In Stavanger we had several choices. The geekiest were the Petroleum Museum and the Canning Museum. I wanted to see both, of course, but there was only time for one. We had sailed by the Petroleum Museum and it looked cool, but we wanted to see the Old Town and that's where the Canning Museum was.

First we went to see the Domkirke - the Stavanger Cathedral, built between 1100 and 1150. Wow.

Then we went to the Old Town. It was a neat and tidy place with lots of cute white houses and pretty little yards, winding cobblestone streets, and steep hills.

I think I heard someone say that commercial canning started here, but it could have been that commercial sardine canning started here. Whichever, the museum was in an old canning factory.

They had an old film in poor shape running on a continuous loop. It showed every stage of the canning process, from hauling in large nets chcok full of writhing fish, to boxing cans of salmon and loading them on horse-drawn carriages. The movie looked like it might have dated from the 1890's to the early 1900's. Large hand-operated machines stamped out cans and other machines stamped out labels and other machines sealed up the cans - after the sardines were decapitated, smoked, and packed in the cans by women wearing old-fashioned white aprons and caps.

There were some fun displays showing all sorts of labels, including the well-known King Oscar brand.

I practiced putting silicone sardines into cans. I could get about 8 or 10 in. There were supposed to be 20.

Note: According to a young man who was either a docent or a guard, these really aren't sardines - they are sprat.

Right next to the ship were some beach volleyball courts. In the practice court a group of tall blond young ladies in Spandex were warming up. In the arena area a large enthusiastic crowd cheered and sang and waved giant hands. What did they sing? Country Roads, complete with hand movements. All of them.