The tower.

Valbergtårnet, the tower on top of the hill.
A populare place to go and get a good view over the city area.

Kongsborg from Torshavn.

Kongsborg from Torshavn (Faroe Islands) is visiting Stavanger.

ENGØY & BUØY.

The two small islands ENGØY and BUØY have connections via the city bridge over to the city and southern part of our region. The people living here must be lucky to see the city from the seaside and all types of boats passing out in the fjord!  At Engøy they have a centre that boasts a large collection of old wooden boats, some of which are in use.
One day I hope to go and see it.

At the back you see the old water tower at Buøy.
There are lots of houses here and it used to be a big and busy place for industry.

Happy weekend!!

The tower at Ullandhaug.

Just a cold, grey and wet day!
This is the tower at Ullandhaug, decorated for Christmas.

Helicopter traffic.

Living here on the coast of Norway I see and hear helicopters nearly every single day.

Not since 1978 have we had a disaster like the one that happened on Friday, when 13 people lost their lives! 

Newspapers, radio and TV have been covering the tragedy where a Super Puma EC225 crashed just outside Bergen, on it's way from the "Gullfaks B" platform.

The loss for family, friends and colleagues is devastating! 

For Statoil and other oil companies, safety has been, and will be, number one.

All helicopters of the same type are grounded until they have found answers to why this happened.

In 2015 there were more than 600.000 passengers travelling to and from platforms here in Norway.

Spring has sprung.

Spring has sprung at the Botanical Garden at Ullandhaug.

VÅLANDSTÅRNET is open on Sundays.

It has taken years and more than 7 million Norwegian kroner to redecorate and restore VÅLANDSTÅRNET to a beautiful updated standard again.
Well done to the people who put the effort and time into the project!

Every Sunday there is a small cafe that is open, and you can actually see Stavanger in 360 degrees from the top of the hill, as well as half of the surrounding county . What a view!

It has a long and interesting story, but to make it short I can just mention that it used to be the location for the city`s first pressurised water reserve, the fireguard/firewatch has been located there, as well as a restaurant in it's previous history. It was built in 1895, the way it looks now, and it is situated 84 meters above sea level.

During the occupation in 1940 the building was taken over by German soldiers, who used it as an observation tower.

It is within walking distance of the city centre and there are several nice places for walks nearby.
The tower is rented out to clubs and businesses, but so far, not for private parties.

My friend said; "imagine the number of tourists who would have rented a room here, if they had included a few rooms or a tiny flat in the tower..."

Reflection.

Reflection.

On the way to see the firework.

On the way to see the firework.

   HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Summer will come......?

Well, if you are in and around Stavanger today,
you will look up and see that this is not like the sky we have just now.
So far we have not had much "summer" here.
It has been cold, windy, sometimes rain, sometimes a bit of sunshine and a warm day or two.
The school holiday has started and many families have headed for Spain, Portugal, Italy, France etc.
I look forward to warmer days.

A good view.

I guess the bird and the people up on the top floor,
had an even better view than me.

If you are in Stavanger, you will notice that this image is not from today.
We have had rain non stop, but hopefully the weekend will be better.

Have a nice weekend!

Have a nice weekend!

Near the harbour.

Stavanger city centre, near the harbour, seen from a parking area.

Control tower decorated for x-mas.

Even the tower at the airport has been decorated for Christmas.
I think it had even more lightbulbs around the windows than this, but perhaps it was taken down or fell off when we had some storms.
Anyway, today is the big day for people who are traveling back after visiting friends and family. Some have taken tomorrow off from work, and some will not go back home until after the new year.

Morning has broken.

Good morning from Stavanger!

They enjoyed the view too....

Ullandhaug, the tower, just one week back.

The city park and the little lake, Breiavatnet.

This is Stavanger:

Blue sky and sunshine, but COLD.

Another great morning!