Tuesday morning in Stavanger brought rain, a lot of it. But
lucky for us, we had the Thon Hotel buffet breakfast to look forward to. We
enjoyed such a lazy and delicious morning – it was a treat. Following
breakfast, we played a family game of shuffleboard in the hotel lobby. Suffice
to say, Wyatt is obsessed.
Stavanger boasts several museums, and given the rain, we
chose to visit the Norwegian Petroleum Museum, the Norsk Oljemuseum, in the
city center. This museum was absolutely fascinating; it shows visitors how
offshore operations have become Norway’s most important industry and offers
experiences of what it’s like to live and work on an oil rig.
We learned about technological advances in the oil industry,
how oil revenue has affected Norwegian society, a lot about climate change, and
more. The museum building itself was designed
by an architectural firm, and part of the museum looks like an oil platform
when viewed from the outside. It’s a landmark in the Port of Stavanger.
Outside the museum, there was a children’s play area called
Geopark with recycled equipment from the oil industry. Taylor and Wyatt could
not get enough of the orange buoy balls. They jumped and bounced and jumped and
bounced some more. We visited the buoys before heading into the oil museum and
after.
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| These are the buoy balls. Taylor is standing on a small trampoline. |
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| More time on the buoy balls. |
We grabbed a late lunch by the Color Street and then picked
up our car from the parking garage to drive to Sverd i fjell, or Swords in
Rock. It’s a monument located in a Stavanger neighborhood. Unveiled in 1983,
these three bronze swords are planted into the rock of a small hill next to a
fjord. They commemorate the historic Battle of Hafrsfjord which took place
there (or somewhere nearby) in 872, during which King Harald Fairhair unified
the three parts of Norway into one country. The monument also represents peace;
since the swords are planted into solid rock, they can never be removed. If you
ever visit Stavanger, we do not recommend you go out of your way to visit this
monument. 😜It’s super touristy and comes off more as a
marketing ploy than an honest to goodness monument. That said, we still love
you, Norway, soooooo much!
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| Lunch on the Color Street. |
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| Sverd i fjell |
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| Pretty much the same photo as directly above. But with us included. |
We rolled back into Stavanger’s Sentrum, parked the car, and
then returned to the buoy balls. The kids played for probably another 30
minutes before we made our way back to the hotel, stopping at a grocery store
first to stock up on granola bars and water for a big hike we were planning for
the following day.
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| And more time on the buoy balls. |
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| These things were super fun. |
Dinner that night was Italian – we all craved it! And, of
course, we swung by Narvesen (our favorite convenience store) for a soft serve.
While eating our ice cream, we walked around town again…and wound up right back by
the buoy balls. For the fourth time that day, Taylor and Wyatt jumped on the
balls.
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| Happy at dinner. Bring on the carbs! |
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| Check out the big cruise ship in the background. There were two different cruise ships in Stavanger's port the two days we were there. |
If we had to sum up our time in Stavanger, it would be walking,
oil, and buoy balls. Oh yeah, and soft serve. I’m a #fan.
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