Bergen Transfer

After a week in Stavanger it was time to drive up to Bergen and meet the rest of the family. 

The drive to Bergen included two car ferries, which was a better way to see the western parts of Norway in between the cities rather than just catching a flight. The ferries are actually part of the highway, and although they cost a little bit, it was pretty easy and straightforward to use them. It really wasn't much different than the ferries I've used in Washington State. The kids enjoyed the experience and it was nice to break up the four and half hour trip into four sections, half of which we weren't doing much more than hanging out.

We purposely arrived in Bergen at our Air Bnb before the rest of the family that day. It worked out really well for me to pick them up at the airport and drive them straight to their Air BnB (across the street from ours) after the long overnight flight. Door to door service. 

My first impressions of Bergen from bike is that it reminded me a lot of Seattle. Always a little bit damp, gray stones and/or concrete, and patchy sea level clouds and a relatively hilly city between the ocean and hills (or mountains on the other side). It probably didn't help that it rained almost every day we were there. That said, with two wheels and endless route options, I was still able to see a more of the area than I would have otherwise.

Børaunen Bunker

Our last stop along the Stavanger Peninsula ended up being the highlight of the day. At least it was for Jonathan and me, and it was rather unexpected. On the map I had seen some walking trails along the coastline to an old historical boat house (with museum signs) and also an old WW2 bunker, but we didn't realize the extent of the WW2 history that was preserved there.

The road to get to the path was nondescript and you basically had to park on the side of the road. It was right next to a couple of houses that people lived in and the path between the houses, which turned out to be farms, felt like you were walking down their driveway and over their property. It felt a bit odd to be walking through fields that weren't marked, but we kept going anyway towards the sea despite also having to dodge a herd of cattle.

After we cut through the farms and pastures from the road, I felt better about walking along the rocky coastline to the old boathouse because it didn't feel like we were on their fields. But then we got over to what we thought was going to be a ruin of one building or bunker and quickly realized that the whole area was littered with dozens of old WW2 Nazi buildings, storehouses, and gun turrets looking out to sea.

It was quite bizarre to find an entire abandoned area just sitting in the back of farmer's fields along the coastline, with no paths, signs or anything blocking the way. We were equally as shocked to realize that the old bunker was wide open and able to be explored inside. No safety warnings, no ticket booths, you could just go wherever and do whatever you wanted.

Obviously, I went into the bunker first with my standard issue iPhone flashlight to make sure it was safe. Other than rubble and things like rusty old sharp metal sticking out of the floor here and there, it was relatively fine to go inside and explore. I never thought I'd be seeing the inside of a Nazi bunker on that day, and for the first time being in Norway.

There were several small rooms with the German name still painted on the walls. The was a map ("karten") room, a radio ("funk") room, and other rooms for storage (I assume things like ammunition) before we got to the main room and the main observation room of the ocean.

We climbed around inside the bunker and took some pictures. We also climbed on the top of it, as well as explored another smaller bunker and other ruins. I think most of the other buildings we saw were mostly storage built into the ground. Searching on the internet later yielded very little information other Thant the main bunker was built by Russian POWs and that possibly one of the buildings on one of the farms was used as officer and other housing while soldiers were stationed there.

As I mentioned, this whole thing was quite a surprise find. Jonathan definitely thought it was one of the better things we did while we were in Stavanger.

Randaberg Coastline

On a sunny afternoon we hopped in the rental car and drove north and west of Stavanger to the town of Randaberg to explore the outskirts of the Stavanger Peninsula. The town was small and quaint and it had a pretty nice coffee local coffee shop. However, most of the reason for the trip was simply because I had seen some potentially interesting looking things on the map along the coastline and I wanted to check them out.

My initial thoughts were that the old lighthouse and museum, Tungenes Fyr, would be the highlight of the afternoon. When we got there we found out that it was closed for renovation. We were able to see a few things, but that stop along the coastline turned into mostly hanging out with the cows and trying to feed them grass.

The next stop was at the local beach, Sandestranden, where many locals were hanging out and some of the kids were swimming. It was a really nice beach and the water was surprisingly pretty and clear. Excluding my ankles, Jonathan was the only one brave enough to swim. It wasn't exactly warm. But, he can now say that he went swimming in the North Sea, and no one else in the family can say that.

Preikestolen

This was one of the main reasons we decided to go to Stavanger a week before everyone else. Hiking Preikestolen is one of those bucket list kind of activities and I didn't want to miss out on hiking up to this world famous spot.

Wet and foggy weather can be a challenge, but we had a perfect day. The reality is I watched the weather forecasts leading up to the hike, and we were kind of keeping the exact date flexible based on the weather. It was the luxury of being in the area long enough combined with my own experiences in the Colorado mountains.

It was an easy 45 minute drive from downtown Stavanger to the parking lot and start of the trail. A lot of the drive was through a tunnel that went underneath the ocean, in order to get over to that part of the area. Side note: but there were so many tunnels in the western part of the country on our trip. There must be a reason it makes more sense that a bunch of bridges, but I digress. It was a great experience alone just driving down, down, down under the ocean and then up, up, up back onto land on the other side.

"Preikestolen (aka Pulpit Rock) is a steep cliff which rises 1,982 ft above Lysefjorden. Atop the cliff, there is an almost flat top of approximately 82 ft × 82 ft. Tourism at the site has been increasing in the early 21st century, with 300,000 visitors in 2024, making it one of the most-visited natural tourist attractions in Norway. BASE jumpers often leap from the cliff. Due to its increased popularity, the most used path to the site (2.4 mi long hike) was improved by Nepalese Sherpas in 2013."

Given how many people visit a year, the start of the hike and parking lots were well developed. There were many facilities, gift shops, and small cafes. As far as the actual hike went, it was pretty easy coming from 7,000 down to sea level and all of us being in pretty decent fitness. Round trip was about 2 hours and 15 minutes of hiking, but we spent just as long at the top and taking pictures. There were all ages and nationalities on the trail, and it wasn't technical but just a few places that were like the Incline. Given the large, panoramic views, it was difficult to tell just how far up we were until some boats came through on the water below. They looked tiny in comparison and gave you a good idea just how far almost a half a mile straight down was in reality.

At the top there were a lot of people, but it wasn't too crowded since we picked a weekday and left early in the morning to avoid too many crowds. The "money shot" picture required standing in a line and waiting for your turn to walk out to the edge while someone with camera was positioned back down the trail a little bit on their own smaller version of a cliff. It wasn't dangerous per se, but it was definitely exposed. It was actually refreshing to see no guardrails or fences anywhere and no one but hikers at the top.

Off to the side of the main area you could climb up a little higher and look back on Preikestolen from above. This vantage point provided the best views and places for pictures. I think this hike alone was worth going to the area, or at the very least, was probably the highlight of the week for this first leg of our trip.

Sverd i Fjell

The monument Sverd i Fjell (Swords in Rock) wasn't too far from where we were staying. Over the course of several days I ended up at this park about three times, since in addition to the monument, there was a beach and a very nice jogging path along the coast. And, because it was just plain cool to see three massive Viking Swords rising out of the ground.

"The Swords in Rock monument in Hafrsfjord, Stavanger marks the Viking battle of Hafrsfjord when Norway was united into one kingdom. The Battle of Hafrsfjord is considered to be the most important battle that contributed to the gathering of West Norway and Norway into one country. Back then, Norway was run by several kings, and the battle was between the victorious King Harald Fairhair and other kings. The three bronze swords stand 10 metres (33 ft) tall and are planted into the rock of a small hill next to the fjord. The swords symbolize peace, unity and freedom. The hilts of the Viking swords are taken from swords found in different parts of the country. The monument is made by Fritz Røed, and was unveiled by King Olav in 1983. The dating of the battle to 872 is approximate."

The entire family stopped by a few times to see it, but we had to come back on a different day once we figured out the best time for some pictures. For most of the day the sun location and angle this time of year didn't make for good pictures. When we did have a chance for a good picture, we all lined up in front of one of the swords, not paying attention to the seagull that had also decided to take a rest at the top of one. Sure enough, Julia got pooped on right on the head, which makes for a pretty good family memory.

The jogging path was a pretty standard path that followed the coastline until it go to a rocky point where the path would either need to end, or a sweeping bridge over the water needed to be built. The Norwegians choose to build a walkway bridge, and it is pretty cool.

Gamle Stavanger

It took us a good day or two to get our bearings and get settled in Stavanger after a long day of travel (basically 24 hours). The transportation plan included having a rental car while we were there to explore the area, then drive up to Bergen to meet the rest of the family and pick them up at the airport before turning the rental car in. It took me only a few tries and annoying of the locals to figure out how to use the endless two lane roundabouts and when to use your turn signal...

Our first adventure to Gamle (Old) Stavanger was relatively close to where we were staying. As I write these posts of our trip, I think it would be a good idea to include some additional factual information from other sources so we can remember more as we look back and read these posts.

"The protected historical area consists largely of restored wooden buildings which were built in the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th century. Gamle Stavanger has grown such that it now covers more than 250 buildings most of which are small, white wooden cottages. The area also includes the Norwegian Canning Museum which displays a typical factory from the 1920s. In the old days, it was quite common to bring your house if you moved from one place to another. This is the case for several of the houses in Old Stavanger. The houses were logged in timber, making it fairly easy to dismantle and bring along when moving."

We parked on the other side of downtown, which was intentional, so we could make the short walk over and see other things, like the pond and church along the way. The wooden buildings and cobblestone streets were very quaint, and it was fun to see that most of the houses were currently lived in and many owners had placed flowers outside their doors. There wasn't much to do there other than to walk through the neighborhood and sightsee, except to enjoy the experience and pretend that you were walking through the small town a few hundred years ago.

At some point the girls went shopping and Jonathan and I decided to take a tour of the Norwegian Canning Museum. I'm really glad that we decided to do that, as it was quite interesting and very well done. The museum is actually an old cannery building itself, and it walked you through the process step by step (including the tools and machines) used to can small fish. The old factory still had several brick ovens and racks they used to cook the fish prior to canning. On our tour we met a family (from Michigan, I recall), who was taking the tour because they believed that one of their grandparents in the past had actually worked there.

The other two pictures are of other areas downtown, but not enough to warrant their own post. The Valberg Tower was built around 1850 and served as a watchtower for both security purposes as well as to alert people in town when there was a fire. The colorful photo is of Fargegaten, which is another set of wooden buildings that have been painted different colors. This was mainly a tourist destination full of restaurants and close to shopping downtown. We went there frequently since it had a nice little coffeehouse with WiFi.

Our Trip to Norway

Well, I (we) finally made it to Norway. At the end of last year around Christmas we started talking about the possibility of the entire family making a trip over to see the country and some family heritage sites. Planning out the trip for several people was an undertaking, but we pulled it off and the entire trip went very well except for only a few minor travel issues.

We decided to head over there (to Stavanger) about a week before everyone else and Grandpa and Grandma decided to stay a week after everyone else and take a cruise back to the UK. All in all, it was about three weeks total of traveling and being in Norway for us. I wasn't sure when we would be able to return, and if you're making the long and expensive trip over, it only made sense to stay as long as we possible could.

Our overnight flights from Denver to London, and then London to Stavanger went well. We had a  several hour layover in London, so that wasn't ideal, and it put us into the small Stavanger airport very late at night. So late (near midnight) that everything was closed, including the rental car desk. Imagine landing in a new country and no one being there and the automatic rental car machine not working.

I was thinking we were going to have to sleep in the airport, but eventually we got in touch with someone on the phone and got our rental car keys. Then I had to figure out how to get into the actual rental car parking garage that was under construction. It involved hopping over a few gates and fences and hoping that I wasn't going to be arrested after being in Norway for only a few hours.

In the end we got everything sorted and made it to our Air BnB in Stavanger. Very early in the morning. The host, Emre, was fantastic and actually came outside to meet us from the basement where he was staying at something like 2 a.m. when we arrived. I can't imagine trying to figure this out prior to having Google Maps on my phone. In the end, we eventually made it to our very nice Air Bnb where we would be staying for the next several days.