Norway Cruise - Stavanger
We woke up at 8:10am and slowly moved around for a few minutes, opening the drapes to reveal another fjord of beautiful views as we entered our city center port of Stavanger. It wasn’t rainy, even though it was supposed to be. We packed up for our hike, donned our extra layers and headed up to breakfast at the buffet. Another small fruit salad for me and a couple rolls wrapped in a napkin for our excursion.
We met Hegga outside the ship with a van big enough for all of us, a Norwegian who lives on a neighboring small island who must ferry over for all of her city needs. She drove us for 50 minutes following the coastline for most of it.
Beautiful white houses, green fields, red barns, several sheep farms all along the water. I wished we could have stopped a few times but I was sitting in the back and our windows were foggy so we just talked about the things we saw and then some about our kids and other things. Hegga made us sandwiches so we put them into our backpacks, readied our hiking poles and started the 2 hour hike to Pulpit Rock.
The hike was interesting and not what I expected. The path was recently rebuilt… large flattish stones pieced together by sherpas which keeps the pathway from getting too muddy. And wooden walkways though marshlands, rocky stairways, and huge beautiful boulder landscapes.
We had some rain here and there. I think I wore every combination of clothing I brought. Just my black coat, with and without mittens, then just my raincoat, with and without a hood and my coral beanie and then my coat and raincoat, mittens and beanie. Like yesterday we experienced a bit of sun, overcast light misty rain and a complete downpour. All in a day here in Norway. I was glad to have all of my layers and was quite warm and content with the weather - being prepared for all of it.
Loved the trail. Loved all the gray rocks, green greens, yellow grasses and the bluish haze of the fog and the distant mountains. It was beautiful.
The views of the fjord were incredible - not sure I can quite capture the majesty of it with a camera - but I tried nonetheless. Hegga was great to take pictures of us whenever we wanted. Chris and I loved taking it all in. The waterfall from one upper lake to the lower fjord was amazing. What a great hike.
When we turned the corner to hike along the ridge to Pulpit Rock we were entranced and freaked out by the drop to the water below. The clouds hung around us at the top of the mountain but gazing down into the fjord, the water was bright blue and everything was clear.
We were nervous as each of u separately took our turn to peer over the ledge and even laid down and inched our way forward to look over the edge. Then I took my camera and took pictures hanging over. It freaked Chris out but it was pretty exhilarating. We could see all the way to the blue water below and then in just a moment, the clouds moved to surround us and it started to pour.
Pulpit Rock
When we walked up 100 ft to the Pulpit Rock it was covered in clouds. Hegga told us fog is an issue every day of the year. Clear one minute and then foggy the next. The boys headed out to the end for a picture and even though we had rain and fog it’s still quite the picture. The boys stood still for a bit and then Chris and Jared started to pretend to wrestle and Douglas stepped closer to the edge. “Douglas - stop it!" Stop it right now!” screamed Missy from the side. Jared even sat along the edge. Chris said it freaked him out just to walk in the safe middle in spite of or maybe especially because of the fog. I took my turn with the ladies but the fog seemed to keep it mentally safer.
We huddled in a corner by a safe rock wall hoping to eat our sandwiches and wait for the clouds to roll on by, but with no luck. Our moment to enjoy the Pulpit Rock was definitely an experience. The hike down was pretty quick. For at least half of it, it was raining so no stopping for pictures. We paused a few times to wait for Brian and Terri to catch up but otherwise kept up a pretty good pace. The hiking poles were a good decision. They definitely relieved knee pain — especially on the way back down on the steep sections.
We took off our wet top layers and climbed in the van to drive back to the ship. It poured for most of the drive back but cleared up when we arrived back tin the city center. I asked Chris if he wanted to walk around with me and he happily agreed. The other said they might want to walk around a little too but didn’t last long and soon it was just Chris and I.
The string of shops and restaurants on the water was adorable. After that we meandered into the streets behind and were pleased to find some eclectic bright colored buildings with bicycle racks, flower pots, hanging lights and unique artwork painted on the walls. It was really a fun area.
Beyond that we discovered an upscale shopping area with high end furniture and clothing stores.
Heading back to the ship I wanted to explore the cute white house neighborhood parallel to the ship. I love that Chris is ALWAYS up for wherever I want to go. We headed up the sloped cobblestone pathways and were excited to find colored doors and flower pots lining both sides of every street. I think I may have squealed. I just wish we could have spent more time here. It was just adorable.
Chris texted the group to see if anyone was in their rooms. Doug and Jared came out to their balconies and we could see them wave from our spot on the hill close to their room.
We made our way back to the ship at 6:26 with 4 minutes to spare. It was a great day. With dinner reservations at 6:30 we quickly showered and changed and made it up to our table at 6:45. Lobster and Salmon for me. Lobster and Beef Wellington for Chris. After dinner we went to a show and then headed back to our rooms.