Dave Scroggie’s grandmother grew up east of Oslo and immigrated to the United States from Stavenger, Norway in 1917 when she was 31! Anxious to learn more about this area.
Afternoon walking tour today. Deb is having a facial at the Spa; we’re having a lazy morning.
When Stavenger was formed, there were too many people to sustain. Conditions were pretty terrible until the herring migrated to these waters. Norway and Stavenger enjoyed several decades of prosperity until the currents changed and the herring moved on. After about 10 years the sea saved them again, this time in the form of Sardines. Stavenger also had many patents on canning (that they learned canning sardines) and that became the main industry until the invention of refrigeration.
(Our guide, Bent, works in the oil and gas field so he ventured WAY into the TMI territory at the Oil Museum, but it was very interesting.) In a nutshell:
The Nazi’s invaded Norway in 1940. After the end of the war in 1945, Norway struggled again to find an industry. In 1948, Holland gets a request from Philips Petroleum in the U.S. for a license to drill oil they believe may be in Holland. In 1959 they identify a natural gas field.
Norwegians didn’t know anything about drilling oil, so requested help from the Americans. Norway believed they may also have oil deposits and offered licenses to other countries. Once they started drilling, they ran into some issues, including blow outs. This blow out preventer was very helpful and was invented by Howard Hughes.
In 1963 Norway made a law that any companies that were licensed to drill for oil had to do so offshore and that at least 50% of their activities had to take place in Norway.
In a previous post I mentioned that Norway had to do something with all the oil money and formed a Global Pension Fund to support future generations. In 1996 they deposited 26 million Kroner. Today the fund is worth 21 trillion kroner. They currently produce 1935 million barrels a day of oil.
Although Norway is 98% green, they are providing oil to many other countries that are not.
Model of an offshore oil rig in the museum.
Typical street in Stavenger. Today was a holiday so shops were closed!!
Old Town streets shown below. Many tries over several decades to modernize the city and tear down the old homes. Finally in 1979, an architect was successful in protecting houses in Old Town. They have strict guidelines: white exterior with the roofs shown, no rules for interiors. The lower left house is yellow; it’s just inside the city gate so maybe got an exemption or permission???
And of course there’s a Cathedral!
So. On July 4, 1825, 52 people set sail on this ship from Stavenger to New York and landed on October 9th. They were Quakers, coming to America where they would be free to practice their religion. During the voyage, the Captain’s wife gave birth, so arrived with one more passenger than they left with. Maritime Law said the maximum was 16 passengers, so the Captain was fined and arrested. But a friend, President John Quincy Adams, pardoned him and the group settled in upstate NY.
This definitely does not look as comfortable as our ship, and we’re only sailing for a week!
Cocktails at a reception before dinner, then dinner at The Chef’s Table tonight.
The Chef’s Table requires reservations and is a set themed menu. Tonight was Asian. The menu and wine pairings follow. I forgot to take pics of the Sweet and Sour soup and Fried Prawns, coconut granita palate cleanser, beef stir fry with rice and amazing Mango cream in a fragile white chocolate shell (in an egg shape!) are shown!
Deb and Dave have the fancy room so laundry service is included. (We can do our own laundry but we probably won’t!). Socks and underwear come back folded with tissue in a box…and they hang up the clothes!
Lastly, Deb and Dave at dinner. They got an extra pic because they were in front of the pretty wine case.
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