When I grew up, outside of Stavanger, in the 60's, Stavanger, although quite small, was the 'big city' to me. Then we hit oil in the North Sea in the early 70's, and Stavanger became the oil capitol of Norway. We were "invaded" by Texans and Stavanger became super rich and cosmopolitan. Now we are the fourth largest city in Norway with 110,000 inhabitants, and Stavanger is often referred to as Norway's largest 'small town'.

In the last century, Stavanger was a canning and fishing city with sardines being one of our main exports. So we say that 'we went from oil to oil'. In fact, sardines are a great souvenir from Stavanger. You can find sardines of all kinds at the Norwegian Canning Museum

Stavanger has always retained its old world charm. In fact, people still live in 18th and 19th century houses in 'Old Stavanger', a part of town near the international ferries with small, wooden houses and cobble-stone roads – a real living museum.

People in Stavanger are very informal, genuine and curious. They welcome foreigners and consider visitors 'friends'. They spend a lot of time at home creating a cozy atmosphere with candles (especially in the long winter nights) and fire places.

Stavanger is one of Norway's liveliest cities. The harbor area is alive with pub, bars, nightclubs and discos. In June and July when the sun shines almost all night, the streets are packed with people enjoying the warm temperatures and light until the early morning. Jazz is a big part of the nightlife in Stavanger. In the winter, when it's dark most of the night and day, the arts go inside and concerts and exhibits are held throughout the city in numerous venues.

As for food, the Norwegian Culinary Institute is located in Stavanger and each year in July we have 'Gladmat', Happy Food, an event for three days where people graze from one food stall to another tasting all the delicacies of our cuisine, especially the lamb dishes that Stavanger is famous for.

Something surprising to visitors is that because Stavanger, like the whole West Coast of Norway, is on the Gulf Stream, temperatures, even in winter are never freezing. And we have a Palm Coast with beautiful beaches. The water may be a bit cold, more on the west coast beaches than on the beaches on the east coast but the water sports like windsurfing is terrific.

I hope you will come to Stavanger next year and experience its richness for yourself.



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