As it turns out, climbing Pulpit Rock today was out of the question. Yes, it is near Stavanger, but near is relative. Being docked for about seven hours balanced against a 3 hour drive each way without even including the more than 90 minutes to climbed …. Well even a member of the Denial Royalty can honestly believe that particular feasibility.
So instead Joy who I met along with her husband in the Vision TA in fall 2012 picked me up for some more local sightseeing. Since her husband Ron works for NATO here I lucked out with knowing someone familiar with the area.
We went to the Three Swords Monument, the actual battlefield location, and the local TV tower. The last was to get an overview of the area. There were tour buses at the Monument but not at the battlefield or Harald’s Chair since scrambling down embankments, across cow pastures and up the sides of hills is not compatible with most cruise ship passengers on tour.
You remember Harald the Fair/Long Hair? The Norwegian King who united the three kingdoms in Norway around 872? Something about winning the hand of the woman he wanted. Personally having your guy go to war for you is a bit much, but then I am not a Viking Woman of the 9th century. I will leave it to your imagination if she really wanted a united Norway or saw it as a way to avoid Harald/get him killed. After the other two chiefs surrendered to him, folk lore has that he finally got his hair cut. Thus there is the stone chair sitting near the cliff side to this day.
Oh, Gjestal has a factory store about 45 minutes out of town where they sell both sweaters and yarn.
Pictures have been taken. Adding then to posts will be limited till I am home as a warning post has come in from my server. I am close to my paid for limit. I manage all functions relayed to self-hosting off a dedicated netbook at home. Since I am not home and don’t have either account info or passwords, FTP clean out of duplicate files and junk is just going to have to wait.
Just think high hills, rocky fields, water, fjords and lots of pine trees. No. Not Northern Minnesota or the Upper Michigan Peninsula but close.
Gee, Norwegians feeling like home in the new land….
