[Hipstamatic] Stavanger

On the third day I visit Norway, Wira and I went to Stavanger to visit Olin and her family. She was an AFS exchange student that stay in Indonesia back in 1994-1995. We start to get in touch again with her. We will stay with her and family for 3 days.

We took bus from Bergen to Stavanger. It took 5 hour to get there. Our trip accompanied by nice view along the way. To cross the fjords we had to take ferries twice and through some tunnels. Stavanger is known for the petroleum and it’s number fourth biggest city in norway. We arrived around 3 pm and Olin picked us up at the bus station. 

On the way home, first we took Arne at the kindergarten. The kindergarten is an outside kindergarten. Everytime it’s possible to be outside, the kids will be playing outside almost all day, even if the snow there like that day. Every kids equipped with thick clothes. ​

From the kindergarten we’re going home. Olin’s family lives in a nice neighborhood not to far from the downtown (about 20 minutes) and the beach (about 15 minutes). So in the afternoon we’re going to walk to the beach. The view so pretty...the beach, small forest, snow and blue sky such a good combination.

Walking around an hour really bring my appetite up :). We all had dinner around 6 pm. Reidar (Olin husband) such a good chef. I think I need the recipe :) Our dessert also delicious. It was cream with something inside and cherry. Yummy... 

We spent the rest of the day at home and playing with Arne & Inger. They such a cute kids. I love the kids in their ages, so lovely... :).

The next day, we got up around 9 am. After got ready and had breakfast, we’re walking to down town. We really enjoy the walking today even the wind blow pretty hard and the sky covered with clouds. It takes us about 30 minutes to reach downtown because the road quite slippery and we enjoying the view.

In the downtown you can see lots of store with the typically the town near harbour. You can see wooden buildings. There’s also a cathedral & a pond. They also had a mall. It was nice walking in between the stores. The land contour around this town is hilly. When we start to feel tired and cold, we decided to spent sometimes in coffee shop to enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate and the cake.

In the afternoon, Reidar & Inger joined with us. He took us to walk to old town of Stavanger. The area still preserve with good condition. This area is up in one of the hill. Nice area with white wooden houses lined. In this area you can see Canning Museum. It used to be a placed where they canned the fish. Stavanger also known with this canned fish. 

From the old town we continue to Petroleum Museum. We decided not to go to see the museum because we already seen Petronas Museum in Kuala Lumpur. Instead we spent time outside the museum. They had playground made from unused stuffs that came from the rigs, such as pipes, buoys and other stuffs. 

Enough exploring the town today. We walked back to home. On the way, we saw kids play snow sledge. They really enjoy playing outside.

Just like yesterday, walking made me had a good appetite. We really enjoy the food, once again cooked by Reidar, and the dessert. Got really full stomach :D

On our last day in Stavanger, Reidar took us to the Orresanden beach. Don’t expect the beach like the beach in Indonesia. Instead of coconut trees in the beach, they had reed along the beach. And there’s no sunny and warm weather that day, just cold windy day without sun appearance. But the beach still pretty. There’s an ice if you step on the sand. Because of the day so cold, the water between the sand frozen. I think we froze our butt when walking in that beach.

We warmed our butt back in Hå Gamle Prestegard. They have a restaurant and gallery. We ordered some hot drinks and snacks. The wind still blow hard outside. After Inger finished her food and change a diaper, we’re going back to town. Because we had to catch our bus at 3 pm to go back to Bergen.

Accommodation and transportation in Norway quite expensive. If you got friends and families to stay with will be nice. And walking around the city if possible to minimized the cost will be nice :).