By Alana, Amasa, Emma and Leo
On our first night in Stavanger, we went on a long guided walk, learning about some of the different areas of Stavanger and their history. After a long day of travel, it was nice to walk around the city, even though we were all extremely jet-lagged.
The first stop on our walking tour was the harbor. It was amazing to see so many ships and how huge they could be built. There were a few cargo ships docked which made a few of us assume that it was common for so many of them to be there, which has been true because of oil and fishing. Our tour guide also talked about the restoration being done on the first ship used to cross over to America from Norway.
One of the next stops we went to was the Old Town. The area comprises many white houses that are protected in efforts to preserve Old Stavanger. While all of the houses are white, the residents are allowed to paint their doors whatever color they want. We thought it was cool how well the area is preserved, which is reflected in awards Stavanger has won for maintaining and protecting these houses.
Throughout Stavanger, we saw string lights everywhere. They lined the peaks of houses and were strung between buildings. There was one cobblestone street with restaurants lining either side and above the street was a canopy made of green string lights. It hung in a wave-like way and carried almost the entire length of the street. We all thought this was beautiful and unique because we had never seen an area like it before. It was really cool to see how Norwegians in Stavanger decorate their city with lights, which make it festive and fun to walk through.
The tour also highlighted a lot of the public art around Stavanger which gives the city a lot of character. We thought the murals were intriguing because of how they displayed the freedom of speech by being political in nature. There’s a huge painting on the side of a building of a worker holding a sign saying “Will Work for Food,” which represents the working-class people in the history of the city’s fish and oil industries, as well as paintings of politicians with clown noses on them. A lot of the art is less controversial, one of the most interesting is a series of identical sculptures that are all at different elevations throughout the city.
This tour was a great way to get a brief introduction to some of the things Stavanger has to offer. Not only did we learn more about Stavanger, but we were also able to fight off some of the jetlag from our long day of travel. From a deep historical background to how the city has changed throughout the years, it’s great to know more about places we can explore.
