She has started a very special weekend....
Instead of going to the kindergarden, her friend turned up with Champagne, and she was on her way to a place still "unknown" when I had a chat with her.....
In two weeks time she will get married, but THIS weekend will be a girly weekend!
Have fun Gry Anette!

Rosso was enjoying the sunshine this morning:)

This is Klazien and Ronald from Holland. ( Or should I write The Netherlands ?)

Anyway, they were on their way back home to Amsterdam, and just before they reached the duty free area at the airport, they stopped to take some pictures in front of the big photograph of the famous PULPIT ROCK.

Take a look at this link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preikestolen

The "real" pulpit rock had been recommended to them by friends , which they visited while they were here and had a nice walk. Luckily, they were finished just before the rain started.

I hope you will tell even more people about it, because it is unique with a fantastic view,-and well worth the walk!

I caught a glimpse of Queen Elizabeth this afternoon, as she was leaving Stavanger.

Ok, it was the cruise ship and not the Queen of England.
Sunny morning followed by rain this afternoon......

It is time for gardening!

Good Night from Stavanger.

Todays model did not say much, but was patiently waiting for the owner.
A kind dog who did not mind kids walking by, nor me with the camera.
Amazing how many dogs who cope with just waiting...

(On my blog you can click "dogs" and see many more.)

This is ELIN, just before she sat off for PARIS!

A group of 8 friends, who for the last 25 years have been meeting once a month, are spending a long weekend in the French capital.
Elin told me that they had all saved up an amount of money towards a trip abroad. They do this once a year, or every second year.
Two of the women had arranged the trip, and Elin and the others did not know where they were off to until they reached the airport!!
I am sure they will have a good time, do lots of shopping, lots of breaks at cafes and wine bars, and just enjoy and explore the best of the city!
The two woman who organized the trip, also provided the "French outfit"!

Is this a typical way, for us Norwegian, to have a girly weekend away, or is it something many people do?

It has been a lovely sunny and warm day.
It feels like summer is on it's way.

Anyway, this is Helene and Helene who both work at the brand new shop, FASHION, at Gate 19, at the airport.
It opened today, and had several good offers!:)
And yes, it is correct, they are both called Helene.

As some of you know, I have been away for a week.

This is an image taken high above the North Sea.
It always makes me happy to see BLUE SKY and SUNSHINE.
I guess the weather is not so SUMMERY back home...
Well, I will show you tomorrow....

There are more and more EL cars in our area.

I guess that might be the case in lots of other places too.

Anyway, it was the sign that made me take this image.

I actually thought of Jacob in Ocala / Florida,
who seems to spot cars with religious as well as political messages.

We have an election coming up this autumn, and I am sure there will be many more messages on cars.

Do you see a face in this?

The image is from the beach at Sola.

Another image from the harbor at
Ølberg.

BLUE sky and nice and warm in the Stavanger region today.

This is from ØLBERG, part of the Sola area, near to the airport, and a little south of Stavanger.

I am abroad, so this time you have to see images from our Constitution Day via this link:

http://www.aftenbladet.no/kultur/Send-oss-dine-17-mai-bilder-3179254.html#.UZZkz6W4-_E

If you click on "vis flere bilder" (Show more pictures) under the images, that means you will see even more images sent in by  readers of our biggest local newspaper.

Todays image is of a van that has been parked for weeks.
No registration number, and it is covered with egg, ketchup, floral and "God knows what!"

I have told you about the RUSS, who are celebrating 13 years at school.
Luckily all of them are not as mad as this!!!

Soon they will have to sit their exams.
I hope they will be fit for it, and do well!


HAPPY WEEKEND!

If you walk down Kirkegaten, (Church Road) you will find the best CHOCOLATE by walking in this open door....


A young couple have their own production and the place is called Sjokoladepiken.
(The chocolate girl.)

(The famous International store Zara have big plans, and want to build a big new shop on the other side.
Time will show what happens.)

Look who was visiting Stavanger today?


(I would have had to jump in the sea to get the whole of her in one image.)
Anyway, the wether is not very nice, but I hope all the passengers had a good time on trips and guided tours as well as those who have had a stroll around our narrow streets.

This is just a snapshot of CASSANDRA and ROMINA, who are students here in Stavanger.

They were so happy to find "Inferno" by Dan Brown, that
their faces broke in to really BIG SMILES!

Enjoy the book!
I bought one too:)

We had plenty of rain this morning, then it turned to a bit of sunshine, and tonight we have heavy showers with hail. The temperature is +6C and it feels like autumn!
I am longing for spring and summer temperatures!!!!

The photo is taken from a walk, with a view over E39, the busy road in and out of Stavanger.

Those of you following my BLOG, might remember some of the street art we have in Stavanger.
Here is one more, that I saw a few days back.
I have not been in this area for a long time, so it might have been done quite a while back.

The artist might be famous, but so far I have not found the name.
Please check out the photos connected with http://www.nuart.no

This is Julien.

A 26 year old French physiotherapist, who is probably the most sporty person I have ever met!

So far he has cycled more than 2000 km. from the place he lives, 25 km. south of Geneva.

He arrived this evening with the big ferry from Denmark.

The next 5 weeks he will be cycling all the way up to the North Cape.



So role out the map and take a look.......

That is a very long journey!



You can follow his blog: http://latitudesnordiques.blogspot.fr

For us who don't read French very well, I recommend google translate.

Well Julien, I wish you a really good trip with rich experiences. Have a safe journey.

And to those of you who might wonder if he will cycle back to France....

No, he will return home by plane:)

On my way from work tonight I drove past this dog competition, so I had to make a turn and take a look.....

Impressive to see them in action!

"Norway Chess  2013 "is a "happening event" at the moment, in and (mainly) around Stavanger city.


This picture shows ONE way to advertise the tournament.
The game was set up at one of the cafe/restaurants at the airport.....


But the International Chess players are playing in hotels, and some are probably watching day after day!

So who is taking part?

Of course the famous Norwegian player Magnus Carlsen, and also very good players like Veselin Topalov, Viswanathan Anand, Levon Aronian, Hikaru Nakamura, Wang Hao, Peter Svindler, Jon Ludvig Hammer, Sergey Karjakin and Teimour Radjabov.....

We have have had a grey and rainy day, but I had the day off from work, and enjoyed a nice fresh walk.


Lots of traffic on most roads today.
Many people have a long weekend that started just after work today.

Anyway, another sign of spring is that the farmers are out on the road, transporting their fertilizer spreaders from A to B.

Gosh, it stinks! :)

My friend and I were invited to take a look inside one of the cottages.

It was spacious and the skylight windows provided lots of light into the big room with it's little fitted kitchen.
The view was fantastic, and it must also be cosy in there when the weather is stormy outside.

On my walk yesterday I had a look around an area where some lucky people have their cottages, and some even have a view straight out to the beach and the North Sea.

They rent the land from a farmer, and have bought their cottages.


The place is called Ølberg Strandhager.

What a beautiful Sunday it has been.
Blue sky and sunshine.
The temperature got up to +15 /+16 today.
LOVELY.

This is from todays walk along the beach at Sola.

Daffodils seen at Revheim.
( 10 - 15 minutes drive from the city centre.)
Nice to see a splash of color on a grey and rainy
day.

How would you have translated a sign like this?

I mean, do you understand the sign?

A bollard that is well protected.
I guess there must have been a few cars that banged into it before this was done.......

In Gamle Stavanger, as we call the old part of Stavanger, there are places to buy arts and crafts as well as seeing the artist at work.
This is an image taken last summer, and I will have to add the artists name later.

If you want to see more artists and their work click on this link.