Stavanger- July 6

Stavanger is the 4th largest city in Norway with 100,000 people. It is the petroleum capital of Norway. With the discovery of oil in the early 1960s Norway went from being almost the poorest to being the 2nd richest country in Europe. 

However gasoline that we saw was priced at about $10.50 a gallon. 

With oil money Norway has built a welfare state giving benefits to all persons, built roads, and put a fortune in the bank for the future.

Two interesting facts: farmers that raise cows are required by law to have the cows outside at least 8 weeks each year...a cow holiday!

AND the tax returns for all citizens are a matter of public record and available to anyone on the internet. She said, "With all the cards on the table injustices and corruption are not likely to happen."

Norway is so very mountainous- as we have seen- that only 3% of the land can be used for agriculture.

In this port there is no tide so the water level stay the same all the time. The harbor was filled with beautiful boats- both pleasure and commercial ferry boats. The view from our balcony really shows that.

Across from the ship was the typical old neighborhood. The white house with the lovely impatienes planted in front was very typical. A British lady on our bus said they call those flowers "busy Lizzies."

Our guide explain how the area first supported itself- through catching and preserving herring. The fishermen came in with boats loaded, the fish were unloaded right at the dock and women began the work of fileting them. One woman could filet 5000 fish every day. These herrings were then salted. Finally the sea ran out of herring and the town went bankrupt. In search of a better life, many people left and sailed to  America. The first boatload from Stavanger to America sailed with 52 people on board. The journey took 3 months and when they arrived there were 53 people because a baby had been born.

The people of Norway were first pagans, then in 1000s became Catholic and then in mid 1500s they became Lutherans. This was because the Danish king became a Lutheran and declared everyone in Denmark and Norway would become Lutheran. 

We stopped at the cathedral in the center of town. It was built in 1100 and was first Catholic and then became a Lutheran Cathedral. The Cathedral was closed this morning because today is Sunday but we walked around it and saw its beauty.

Norway rose to glory with the Vikings exploring the world and returning with riches and land claims. The plague killed about 50% of the population and NOrway was easy prey for the rest of the world. Sweden fought and won. So Sweden ruled Norway until 1905 when Norway became independent. Houses in Norway, according to our guide, are very close to the same size. There is very little difference in the houses of the rich and the houses of the poor. 

We saw lots and lots of sheep on the hillside. We learned that the three main ways lamb is eaten is dried and salted and then reconstituted in a salty stew, sliced thin and eaten as a sandwich, or lamb with cabbage. But fish is the mainstay of life in Norway.

We saw an interesting statue on a small island that was of three swords sticking out of the ground. They represented peace, unity and freedom. 

We drove through a 6 kilometer tunnel under the water to get to the commmunity where Utstein Monastery was located. The building was built as the residence of the Viking King- Harold the Fair Haired and his 14 wifes and numerous other women. Viking had many residences so as they traveled with their men they would always have a place to sleep. Harold is supposed to have had a son with a servant girl when Harold was age 74. That son beca,e the next king after Harold died. 

In the 1000s when the Viking king became a Christian, men could only have 1 wife. Had to have created a wild situation for everyone. 

In 1250 the residence was given to the Augustine monks who lived here for 300 years. They were mostly physicians, grew herbs for healing, and spent a great deal of time visiting the sick. Each day the monks spent 8 hours in prayer, 8 hours, visiting the sick and 8 hours sleeping. In the dining hall we discovered a secret place for a spy to sit during mealtime to be sure there was no talking. 

After the Reformation, the Danish king became a Lutheran and he decreed that everyone in the lands he ruled had to also become Lutherans. He was King Christian III and he busied himself expelling the Catholics from the land. There were no monks in the Lutheran faith so the monastery stopped functioning.

The king needed money to finance the battles and wars so he sold anything he could. The monastery buildings were sold to an individual who used up his entire fortune trying to keep it up. It stood empty for many years and in 1930 the government restored the facilities as a museum. 

We saw the church, the kitchen and the dining hall. The drive back to the ship was lovely.

The afternoon was spent enjoying a folkoric presentation of Norwegian dancing and music. This was a group of about 20 men and women in beautiful native dress. The music was either their singing as they danced or a man playing either a fiddle or a willow flute. The costumes were from different regions in Norway. Most of the women's costumes featured embroidery and lots of silver. You could tell how wealthy the husband was by the amount of silver his wife wore.

This has been such a wonderful cruise.