Stavenger, Norway

On Wednesday evening, while at sea on the open Baltic, the ship captain came on the ship's PA system and made an important announcement. He said that it was necessary to make a Medevac, and that a helicopter was on its way to the ship to evacuate a passenger. Since the evacuation was going to take place directly above the cafeteria, he asked that everyone please vacate the cafeteria. About ten minutes later, we watched the approach of the helicopter. It hovered above the ship while someone was let down onto the ship in order to prepare the patient for evacuation. While this was taking place, the helicopter hovered above the ship, pretty much right over our cabin. When the patient had been prepared, the helicopter moved back into position above the ship, let down a line with a harness attached, and procured the patient. After the patient was safely on board the helicopter, off they went to the closest hospital. Apparently the evacuation went well, and after about a half hour from start to finish, they were on their way. Hopefully the patient will recover.

On the way from Denmark to Norway, we sailed from the Baltic Sea into the North Sea. The North Sea, at least so far, is a little choppier than the Baltic.

We sailed into Stavanger, Norway Thursday morning. The harbor is very small but very deep, allowing our cruise ship to dock right in the heart of the city. Stavenger is Norway's 4th largest city, with a population of 132,000. Stavanger is the oil capital of Norway, and because of its oil production, has become an international city. Norway used to be a very poor country, but after the discovery of oil in the nearby North Sea, it is now a very wealthy country. Norway has one half of Western Europe's oil reserves, and is 3rd among the world's oil exporters.

We went on a walking tour of Stavanger. We walked down narrow, winding, cobblestone lanes with tiny wooden houses, nice gardens, parks, and flower boxes. The wooden houses date back to the 17th and 18th centuries. All of the houses are white. These are some of the best kept wooden houses in Northern Europe.

We also visited the Norwegian Oil Museum while in Stavanger. This museum is dedicated to the discovery of oil in the North Sea off the coast of Norway. The museum contained exhibits about geology and oil drilling. There were models of oil rigs, actual drill bits, and a replica of the drilling floor of a rig. There were some photographs of platforms that were used in the North Sea oil drilling. One of the platforms was the Ocean Traveler. Joe recognized it as being one that he had been on many times while working as a geologist in the Gulf of Mexico. There was also an exhibit of a basket that is used to transport people from rig to ship and vice versa. We had both experienced being transported in one of these baskets in our days as geologists.

I just want to explain why we are no longer posting photos with the blog. The internet service is very poor, and pictures are very difficult, and sometimes impossible, to download. So we gave up on that.