Stavanger, Norway

Day 3 on the ports of call, Stavanger Norway. Stavanger is "famous" for its oil - oh yah and a few of the most amazing, and famous, fjords around.

It's the third largest city in Norway (behind Oslo and Bergen) and has about 150,000 people living here.

The tour today took us out on a boat in the rain, cold, and wind. We were to tour the Lysefjord - which is one of the most picturesque of them all...only we couldn't see most of it. The clouds hung low and wouldn't burn off today. My main point I wanted to see was the famous cliff Preikestolen or Pulpit rock.

Here's what it looks like from above - and do notice there is no fence around it. Nothing stopping you and gravity...

Or this...it's way the hell up there 1900 Feet from sea level...

Here's what you'd see if you were on the water and zoomed in slightly and there weren't any clouds.

Here's what we saw...

I guess we really didn't have it as bad as the people who paid to do a 4 hour hike to Pulpit Rock in the rain, wind and cold only to get there to see nothing.

We did see some beautiful scenery though, despite the low clouds and the frozen tundra. I'd love to do this particular tour again when it was sunny, I can just imagine how beautiful it is.

Lysefjord means light fjord, and is said to be derived from the lightly colored granite rocks along its sides. The fjord was carved by the action of glaciers in the ice ages and was flooded by the sea when the later glaciers retreated. End to end, it measures 26 mi with rocky walls falling nearly vertically over 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) into the water. Not only is the fjord long and narrow, it is in places as deep as the mountains are high. Starting at a depth of only 43 ft deep where it meets the sea near Forsand village, the Lysefjord then heads inland and drops to a depth of over 1,300 ft below the Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock).

To say it was breathtaking really doesn't do it justice. It's like photos of the grand canyon, you really can't "see" how large it is in a photo.

Halfway through the trip we stopped a little house on the waterfront and had Norwegian waffles and hot coffee. So delicious and so warm. 

Tomorrow were off to our last port of call, Kristiansand. Hope for sun...I know it's up there somewhere.