Today is another early call – 8am – but we’re just hanging around town and going to a couple of museums. They don’t open until 11 though, and after a quick breakfast, we decide we should probably go outside and just wander around before we go to the museums. A huge P&O ship is in port as well, and we want to make sure we get into the museums.
The old town, Gamle Stan, is literally steps away from the ship – so we head there. This area has the largest collection of original houses anywhere in Scandanavia – and it is awesome. Winding little cobblestone streets with gorgeous cottages, flowers and architecture that enchant us – especially since it is early and there is no one about. Picture taking is perfect!
We spend 20 minutes or so just wandering and snapping photos. Then we head to the Canning museum, which indeed does not open until 11. Ok, we’ll just walk around until we come back to stand in line.
But, sadly, there’s not much to see or do outside the Gamle Stan, so we’re sort of at a loss. We did find some interesting statues at then end of Gamle Stan – but not much else.
Since the ship is so close, we actually end up going back aboard for a cappuccino before heading back outside around 10:15 to wait for the museum opening.
As it turns out, we’re the first ones in line, but there is a lovely picnic bench in the sun – and wifi – so we spend our waiting time wisely, cleaning up our emails and randomly surfing the web. At precisely 11, the doors open, we buy our tickets and wander around one of the last canneries in Stavanger. It sounds odd, but it is really an interesting little place.
We wander on our own – looking at the machines that make the cans, plastic sardines and tins that apparently are used for school children when they come, walking back to the smokers, and taking pictures.
Then we get a tour! Had no idea we’d have a real live tour, but we do – and the tour guide is great. His grandfather actually was one of the last smokers here at the cannery so he is very knowledgeable and full of information. Stavanger was once the canning capital of Norway – they fished for Spreights – which they renamed Sardines – and canned them so they could be shipped to other countries. He tells us about the women who would string the fish up on rods, first by hand, with a thumb-distance in between each, then later with this neat little wooden frame where they place the fish and then skewered them through with the rod before putting the rod on a frame and onto a smoker racks. Also, how after the fish was smoked, they had to be cut off the rods, and only young girls could do that because it took so much stamina in their wrists and arms. Later, a slicer machine was created, similar to a guillotine, that mechanically cut the fish off. Finally, he shows us the area where the women put the sardines into the tins. An experienced tin packer could pack a tin in 6 seconds. Amazing! He also goes over the evolution of the machinery, from hand sealing (with a blowtorch and lead seal) every tin to finally a machine that seals the tin semi-mechanically and the evolution of the 3 ¾ ounce tin, which was created to get around the US customs requirements that products had to be less than 4 ounces to be allowed imported.
Overall, it was a fascinating tour. Very fun – and the guide’s presentation (almost an hour) was incredibly well done. After the presentation, we walked upstairs to look at the different labels from the sardine tins as well as the offices of the original cannery. Then we headed out to Maritime Museum, which was included in our ticket price.
The Maritime Museum, while not as interactive as the Canning Museum, was just as interesting. You walk though a whole history of Maritime Stavanger. It’s neat – with old ship and sailing displays to entire smoking rooms from the first passenger liner built here to the modern ships and oil derricks that are built around the harbor.
I’m fascinated by the oil derricks – they build them here and float them out. The largest structure ever moved by mankind was built here in Stavanger harbor. It was something like 800,000 tons and they say it towered over the harbor for 4 years during construction.
We walk through the ship owners’ quarters and offices, as well as the ship store..
..a really well done display.
Once we are done, we head out to the square and the area around the port. The flowers are spectacular, even in this cold weather they are blooming away.
We pass by a large lake, then decide to just wander the cobblestone pedestrian areas around the port. Not much to see here – or buy (at least for us) – it is all so crazy expensive, we just wander around watching people mostly!
We have 100 Kroner left we need to dispense of, but there isn’t anything we see that catches our eye. So- yeah – you know what we do – we have one last overpriced beer and wine (at least the wine comes from a bottle this time!). We actually spend a pleasant 20 minutes or so, sipping our drinks at a waterfront café, with the sun shining brightly. It is hot enough to take off our coats. But then the clouds come back. So, Kroner done – sun done – we head back to the ship before it rains.
Once aboard, we just hung out on the balcony – in our blankets of course! We kept hearing music though – LOUD music – and we thought, huh, is that our sail away party? Well, no, because it isn’t time yet. What is that? It was the P&O ship – having a deck party – in the freezing cold and rain. Yes – kid you not. The fools on that ship were up on their pool deck, waving these Norwegian flags to the beat of the music. We decided to go see what all the fuss was about – because we thought that maybe they were waving them at us and we had fools up on our pool deck. So we donned our heavy coats and went up to deck 15 – but no – we were docked across from them, but more in front of them – so they weren’t waving the flags at us –and there was no one up on our open decks. Maybe there are people on the dock and they are waving to them. Um, no, there is no one around. They were just on the pool deck, in the freezing cold rain, waving at NO ONE. What’s the saying…..oh yes…..a ship of fools? Yeah, well, not that we ever considered it, but P&O is definitely not on our short list after that spectacle! (PS – did I mention this went on for over an hour?)
So, back to the cabin we go to watch as we peacefully (no waving flags) sail out of Stavanger and move on to the final day of an amazing back to back cruise aboard the Eclipse as we sail back to Southampton.
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