The last day of the year.

I wish YOU a HAPPY NEW YEAR, with an image of flowers from my favourite florist in town.
Nobody knows anything about what the new year will bring, but I guess many of us have wishes and dreams, so let us hope many of them, big or small, will come true.

Celebrate and have a great evening!

At the harbour.

I think most people working on supply boats, and here the cargo ship Eidsvaag Marine, must have gone home for the Christmas Holiday.

It is quiet in Stavanger.

There is not much snow left, but we have had ice and cold days, followed by rain.

Snow up in the mountains.

Quite a number of people in and around Stavanger have packed their suitcases and gone to WARMER places, like Thailand and the Canary Islands.

Harbour neighbours.

Some of the people living near the harbour have a great view!
Behind the Supply vessel, STRIL MERMAID, you can see the small white wooden houses,
in the area called "Old Stavanger."
Further back there are modern flats and offices.

Baaaaaaaaa

Art by Linda Lothe, seen at Hå Gamle Prestegård,
an art centre south of Stavanger.

Have a nice weekend!

Have a nice weekend wherever you are.

Snow on the beach.

Snow on the beach.

WHITE CHRISTMAS.

It started snowing last night, so we woke up to a WHITE CHRISTMAS!
Out for a trip this morning, I met Beatrice from Milano, she is living here in the area and had her mum and dad visiting from Italy.
Keep warm and enjoy Christmas (and the Italian Christmas cake:-)

MERRY CHRISTMAS

GOD JUL / MERRY CHRISTMAS

Pubs and bars.

Pubs and bars along the harbour have been decorated for the season as usual.
Looks even better in the dark.
Anyway, enjoy Christmas wherever  you are.

The bank DNB

Even the bank has been decorated for Christmas.

Sad for us Norwegians, that the Norwegian "krone" (Nkr.) is not doing very well.

We get less for our money, but then the tourists who come to Norway will get most things cheaper than before :)

GREEN city?

Whoever created the GREEN "empty car design" has done a good job!

I am not sure that Stavanger is really a very GREEN city, but there are plenty of people who are concerned about the environment, and before any election the politicians promise all sorts of positive changes.

Are there any good "green initiatives" where you are living?

My florist ....

I am going in to town soon.
This is one of the places I will go and find something nice.

Happy weekend!

Rushing.

Yesterday evening my husband was taken to the hospital.
I rushed back home from work, the doctor and the ambulance staff had finished what they needed to do. There was just time to lock the door and jump in to the ambulance.....

I am so grateful for people who KNOW what to do, from my boss who turned on her heals and came back so that I could leave work and be with my husband. All the medical people who were there the moment we arrived.

The young ambulance driver, who drove with the flashing blue light, and got through in the the busy traffic on the motorway. I know it was just her job, but she impressed me! The coordination / teamwork.
It worked from A to Z!

Everything went well.

We will have a good X-MAS together!

Thank you wonderful caring people!!

Well done!

Well done, Benjamin Pollen, from Haga skole.

Magasinblaa.

The Christmas tree seen at the shopping mall "Magasin Blå."

Trolls.

Two trolls who are out in the rain.

Christmas trees.

It is time to buy the Christmas tree.
A little bit of snow in the air today....
Will we get a White Christmas this year??

A view from our hotel room.

NOW, I can say that I have tested out a hotel in Stavanger.
What a nice thing to do!!
It was a bit like being a tourist in my own city.
How do I rate the experience?
4 out of 5 points.
There were a few things missing, but the reception sorted those things out.
Nice creative details around. New owner and a new style.
The architecture and the place it is situated are both superb!
Evening meal and breakfast was good. The room was cosy and nicely decorated.
(ok, someone should fix the bathroom door :)

Clarion Collection Hotel Skagen Brygge.

PS. I did not tell anyone at the hotel about my blog.

Saturday treats.

Most kids get a small bag with Saturday treats.
(Lørdagsgodt,we call it.)
Some pick out colourful sweets like this, others have fruits and more healthy treats.
It all depends on the attitudes of their parents and grandparents I guess.

Rainy days in Stavanger.

Decorated streets, looks pretty also on rainy days!
Hope you will have a nice weekend wherever you are!

A "poem" on the wall.

Sometimes I rush through town.
Sometimes I walk slowly.

Here is what I discovered
a few lines and a message.

Translated from Norwegian.

"If only the sky was not so grey,
I should have hired a plane,
written letters using smoke
and told you that you are beautiful."

New and old style.

Father Christmas as we all remember him.
A more modern Christmas decorated figure to the right.

The quiet before the STORM

It was very quiet outside this morning...

The afternoon was windy.
Early evening; well it is dark, plenty of rain and strong winds now.
Good to be inside!!

European route E39.

Stuck on the European route E39 this afternoon.

The boat with the oranges.

After WW2 the big boat, "Stavangerfjord D/S", continued to sail between America and Norway, as it had been doing since 1918.
When the boat came to Stavanger around Christmas time, big oranges were distributed to the children  along the harbour. This was a tradition that lasted until 1963.
Fifty years later the tradition started up again, not the sailing, but children are invited on board and Father Christmas is there, they will hear stories and receive their oranges:)
A popular event especially for children from the kindergartens.
The event is organised by the Maritime museum.

In Norway, oranges were not so common 60-70 years back. 

An old door.

An old door seen in old town Stavanger.

Afternoon in Stavanger.

A view from the harbour area.
(Part of the Cathedral is wrapped in white, due to restoration work.)

Artwork by Grete Stavland.

Grete Stavland, is the name of the artist who made these wonderful ceramic figures.
The facial expressions on all of them were just superb!
I hope the artist will be at the Christmas market next year too.

Windows

Windows.

The sky.

Plenty of rain today.
Good to remember what the sky looked like yesterday afternoon.
(A view from work.)

People in their workplace.

Father Christmas looked really tired on Saturday afternoon.
And December had not even started, so I guess after a really busy December month he is going to need a l-o-n-g holiday!:)

If you click on the link below, you will see more people in their workplaces.
http://cdpbthemeday.blogspot.no/2014/11/december-2014-gallery-people-in-their.html

Christmas market.

There were lots of people in and out of shops at Old town Stavanger today.
It was the annual Christmas market.

Some really nice handmade stuff, and some really overpriced mass-produced items from far far away. 

Vippas at M44.

Say HELLO to Vippas, in the shopping mall M44 at Bryne, south of Stavanger.
He ( or she? ) made people SMILE, walking around the whole mall, and gave also lots of hugs plus photo opportunities for kids to have their photo taken with him (or her).

BLACK FRIDAY!

BLACK FRIDAY has arrived here in Stavanger too.
In this shop all BLACK clothes were 20% off.

Well, some places there was more action..
Take a look at this: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=no&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aftenbladet.no%2Ftv%2FSe-kaoset-under-Black-Friday-i-Norge-3574171.html

If you have problems viewing the translation then try http://www.aftenbladet.no/tv/Se-kaoset-under-Black-Friday-i-Norge-3574171.html?mostSeen=true
(note: there is an ad before the "Black Friday" video).

Herb Garden

Herb Garden at Ullandhaug.

The Blue House.

The Blue House in Paradis.

(Paradis, is the name of an area in Stavanger.)

Gate 17.

The "X-mas street" at the airport opened today.
Looks pretty AND cosy!

Lots of light coming in.

Perhaps a house to add on my "top 10" list?

Artistic work by school kids.

This is some of the artistic work I saw at the Rudolf Steiner school which I visited yesterday.
I seriously think that individuality and creativity is more important there than many other kindergartens and schools I have been to. There is too much duplication, endless copies of the same things, made at the ordinary schools.

I might be wrong about this.

There are some teachers around who are brilliant at giving their pupils lots of encouragement and input, and some teachers who have lost their creativity, and can kill children's talents forever.

D.I.Y. BREAD.

Today was the annual Christmas Market at the Rudolf Steiner School.
I had "gløgg" (Mulled wine) and "pinnebrød" (Bread cooked on a twig.)
Here you see the progress, some bread dough cooking on the twig, and one finished bread.
Tasted good!

A view from the Botanical Garden.

A view from the Botanical Garden at Ullandhaug.
Very close to the University area.

Student HOME

Another image from yesterdays walk.
This is where many students have been lucky to get reasonably priced accommodation.
It is a part of the campus area, also fairly close to the city center, by car or bus.

Student housing.

Interesting staircase.

Afternoon sky.

Afternoon.
Is this sky a good sign of the weather for the next few days?

Terje Viken, the rowing club.

The colourful rowing club.

Life at the airport.

Sunday afternoon at the airport.

X-MAS is on it´s way.

Seriously, it is not even December yet, but the shops are full of Christmas decorations!
I walked through a shopping mall after work today, and I must have seen THOUSANDS of Father Christmas figures, some for sale and some put out as decoration.

Milk.

Just to give you an idea about what you can look for if you want to buy MILK here in the south west part of Norway.

It includes a picture of one of the cows, and a story about the farmers and their work.

(I will have to take a look when I go abroad. It probably looks different from what we have.)

Celebrate!

Even on rainy cold days there are
opportunities to celebrate!:)
Have a good day!

Quiet in town.

Sometimes it looks empty and too quiet in town.