Stavanger
I haven't mentioned anything until now but in our last day in Edinburgh, Roberta's husband Otto emailed a picture of himself with a very swollen throat. Roberta told him to go to a clinic with another friend (Alma) but they were redirected to the hospital where Otto was soon put into isolation because of this infection and the fact that his white blood cell count (immune system) was compromised. The infection progressed and things started to get out of hand. In the early morning (around 5 a.m.) of June 10th, Roberta received word that Otto had been taken to the ICU. Thus she made the decision to go home and lucky for her, Stavanger, where we were about to dock, had an airport. We spent the morning (6 a.m. to about 8) with Vernessa, a cruise relations officer, hunting for air transportation for Roberta from Stavanger to Winnipeg. Not that easy. But we were finally able to route her from Stavanger to London Gatwick & London Heathrow to Toronto. At that point, I had to leave the proceedings because I was staying behind. Because I was not related to Otto, I had no grounds to use my emergency insurance.
I went to the Stardust Lounge where all shore excursions would meet during the entire cruise. I had little time to spare. I barely walked in and I was directed off the ship to a smaller boat which would cruise the fjords. Our boat left the same dock as the Jade. It went under a large bridge out to a bit of open water. We went past other boats towards a set of islands. On one very "bare rock" island, there was a tent set up. Someone was camping! Out in the middle of the water was a building!! A fishery was located there. We passed another fishery before taking a turn to detour around a big island. The guide told us that houses located along the shoreline were people's summer get away homes. My favorite was a blue house with a sun deck complete with outdoor furniture which no doubt had an awesome view of the fjord we we traveling along. The house had a grass roof, which I think is awesome.
We turned behind a smaller island off that island and along that small channel there were many more summer homes. The buildings which were painted red really stood out and made for very scenic photographs! As we turned back into the main channel, a man in a kayak was making such good time, he briefly kept up with our boat!
We finally arrived at Lysefjord. We had to go under a large suspension bridge to enter that fjord. We passed a larger island as we entered the fjord - Bergsholmen. Really just a big rock, but pretty. The boat steered towards a cove along the shoreline where you could see a cave. Evidently someone hid from the government in that cave but looking at the rock face and the drop, one wonders how on earth they got up there. I was amazed at how close the boat could get to the shoreline. The water was obviously VERY deep. To leave the cove, the pilot had to back out a bit then do a 180 degree turn to point back out.
Further along the shore, on an impossibly steep slope, were some goats. Our pilot pulled the boat close to shore again and someone from on deck threw some waffles like frisbees to the goats. They must like the waffles because they rushed down to get them and gobbled them up quickly. My favourite goat was the half brown, half white one. Couldn't make up his mind which of his parents he wanted to be most like, I guess!
Just a little further up the fjord and we were where I was most interested in... Preikestolen or Pulpit Rock. Many of the rocks along the shore are very weird and wonderful... there are many places where the rock has broken away into a perfectly vertical side. In some places there were even rocks MISSING from underneath such flat faces. Pulpit Rock is a combination of all weird and wonderful about these rock faces. Perfectly rectangular from above and from its face, it's very noticable from below. I know it's quite a hike to the rock from above... one of the ladies with whom I shared photo space had meant to do the hike but was advised against it by a relative since it would have been quite strenuous. I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure that some of the "jags" that you see on top of the rock are people. If it WAS people that I saw, they would have been getting a more than awesome view of us in the fjord because the top of the rock was very high up there and the view down would have been quite vertical and therefore quite dramatic.
After admiring Preikestolen for awhile, we headed back the way we'd come. Once we passed under the bridge, we pulled over to the side of the fjord to a restaurant called Lysefjordsenteret. A tourist boat like ours left just as we came so we took its place at the dock. The retaurant had great views of the bridge and of Forsand across the water. It had an enclosure for some goats alongside a hiking path. We went inside for waffles. Norwegians eat them with sour cream (much tastier than our sour cream) and jam. The waffles were very tasty and very appreciated by me since I hadn't had time for breakfast that morning, instead helping Roberta get ready to leave the ship. As I write this narrative, I'm reminded that I'm getting old because I can no longer remember the names of my fellow picture takers but I will remember that we all had fun snapping shots of the wonderful scenery!
We returned to Stavanger using pretty much the same route we'd used getting to Lysefjord but obviously we didn't go down the side channel this time. We passed into the port under a different bridge and thus saw a few extra things on our way in... a huge machine used to dry dock large vessels, for one. After disembarking, I took a walk around the port. I looped around to the other side of the port where the other cruise ship (with lipstick!) was docked. The buildings housing shops and restaurants were very colourful. I particularly liked the second storey window styles. I bought a T-shirt for Ares in the marketplace on behalf of Roberta. Very expensive T-shirt since I knocked over some cheesy shot glasses and broke them. 100 Krone later... $16 Canadian... I knew not to explore those tables too closely. Most vendors had glass objects placed right near the front of their tables!
I saw the Stavanger Cathedral but didn't realize I was actually looking at the back end of it so it doesn't look as fancy as the pictures you see online. There were several statues that were well done. I liked the sea gull who sat on Alexander Kielland's head as much though! I admired a very well painted mural on Strandkaien as I walked back to the Jade. And I met up with a couple of trolls in front of the souvenir shop. The dock near the Jade was impressive. Why? It's been my experience that docks tend to be very commercial and they are often dirty. Not so in Stavanger. The Jade was docked across the street from a bunch of white houses which had beautiful flowers all around. Even the street had flower pots.
Once back on board, I went to the cabin. It was still made up as a double room. Milos, the cabin steward did not yet know that Roberta had left the ship. He asked me if I needed help with anything. At that moment I realized that yes, my trip had become a solitary one and it wasn't a great feeling. I left my cabin and went for lunch at the Garden Cafe (Deck 12). There I sat with a really cute couple from England. We chatted about all kinds of things and my lunch didn't end up being lonely at all. I had planned on joining the digital scavenger hunt but because of my nice chat with the English couple, I was late getting there and everyone had left. I killed time by exploring more of the ship and I went to the customer service counter where Vernessa was manning a spot. She gave me the actual details of Roberta's flights which I passed on to Alma in Winnipeg in case Roberta hadn't had the time or an internet connection, rushing from one plane to another, to do it herself.
When dinner finally rolled around, I went to Alizar Dining room... less fancy. I was seated at a table for two, alone of course, but the couple at the next table initiated a conversation. They were very sweet and when they learned that Roberta had gone home that very day, they assured me that I'd still have a wonderful time. After dinner, I went to the Stardust Theatre to watch "Showdown", a musical song and dance extravaganza featuring three singers who were competing "American Idol" style for our votes. Dancing was part of the show and who should I see dancing up a storm but Samantha! It was actually her, by the way, that assured me that the audience really was driving who continued in the "Showdown". Evidently, depending on how the audience votes, each of the three performers can continue with a song medley.
It was the end of a long and unusual day. I had no trouble falling asleep, especially because Milos had made the two single bunks into one large double bed. Very comfortable!
