Stavanger for Christmas Dec 19 - 29, 2006

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The Trip to Satvanger

Randy drove us to the airport and we arrived before the big rush. We had purchased our tickets from an outfit called Cheap Tickets. The price was right but we would fly out on Lufthansa via Frankfurt and come back on KLM. through Amsterdam.. We had Paper Tickets and no assigned seats. The Cheap Tickets web page showed our reservations just fine. It even forwarded us to the Lufthansa web page for seat selection. I went there the morning of the flight and booked two nice seats. When we arrived I told Tania, the manager of booking, that I had attempted to make seat selection. She said, "The system only works if you have E-Tickets purchased from Lufthansa, but I will do the best I can for you."

All she had available were seats in the inner section; no window-aisle combos. We were disappointed, but she said, "Come see me at Boarding time ... I will be at the gate.. I may have an available window-aisle combo at that time."

An hour later, it was time to board. Sure enough she appeared at the gate, and was able to give us an aisle-widow pair. They were on the last row, right side of the plane. It was convenient to the Galley and the Head but, the seats did not recline as much as the other seats because of the bulkhead behind.. We did not get much sleep. We would have been better off with the interior seats, initially assigned.

I did meet and talked at length with Mohammed Shayib. He is a mathematics professor at Prarie View and also teaches at Spring High School. We have a common interest in Probability and Statistics. He was excited about his pilgrimage to Mecca with his wife and son. I gave him a Sudoku to try out... He did well on it. We exchanged contact information.

We arrived at Frankfurt exhausted, and had a very rushed transfer between flights. The plane parked in the Boon Docks and was no where near the main terminal. We, the Stavanger bound passengers, were picked out of the deplaning passengers, routed to a special bus, driven about two miles to the Main terminal, escorted through Immigration, hand carried luggage was re-inspected, re boarded the same bus, were driven two miles back to the flight for Stavanger; also located out in the Boon Docks. All this processing took about 20 minutes and was executed at a full galløp.The plane was held for us and departed promptly.

We never got to visit the Duty Free store in Frankfurt.

When we arrived in Stavanger, Things were Looking up. We found a Duty Free Store, and Phillip was there to meet us, but our baggage was not on the flight. Fortunately it arrived 11 hours later, and Phillip and I went to the airport to pick it up. The Frozen Pork roast and Beef Steaks were still hard after 28 hours being packed.

The next few days we did a little last minute shopping but most of the time was spent visiting and playing games

Marion gets a Hug

maja trick

Ed shows Maja how to pull off her Thumb...OUCH!

Ingrid and Ed had an ongoing Sudoku Competition

elsa trick

Elsa gives Ed a Card trick lesson

A trip to the sea

It was not a pretty day ... low clouds, scattered drizzle, low forties, NW 6 kts.

Out trip was to the North Sea coastal town Kvernevik. December 23,2006

Trip start at the School house We wore our Heavy jackets and Boots	This marina was on the North sea population 95% powerboats
This man was kayaking out into the sea! I said, "Marion, Look there is a Crazy Man." We walked a six minutes more.	He was Back in the Marina

At the Monument

Monument to the 123 Offshore workers who died in 1980
when their Offshore Platform broke loose from its anchors and sank

The Monument depicts the Broken Mooring Chain.

The sea

The rocks

The Broken Link

Marion on the rocks

Picnic and Return

We found shelter from the wind at a boat shed by the water	Small harbor for fishing Boats
A ship is seen passing about a mile offshore It is getting dark so we head back to the car.	This Biker had a broken chain. We stopped to assist him with his repair. Turns out he had lived in Houston for four years . Small World. <<<<==== Why is Ed wearing his coat Inside out? He is drying out the lining.

Christmas Eve

Stroll up the Hill View of Stavanger harbor and the bridge to Hundvag Ingrid and Marion
Bru Island	Down the trail

Christmas Eve Dinner

The Tree	Maja and Elsa
Ingrid's father, Magne Fjeld, came from Oslo to be with the family for Christmas. Christmas Eve featured a fancy meal and all dressed for the occasion. Ed and Marion Magna The Grandparents	Ingrid and Phillip
Dark Eyed Beauties	Wrapped in the Tree

After dinner gifts were exchanged.. Elsa was mistress of ceremonies, and handed out the gifts one by one. Everyone got just what they were wishing for.

Christmas Day

That afternoon we went to the mountains for a Hike

Magna points out the landmarks

climb m.m

Marion and Magna Climb

sumit elsa

Elsa and Ed at the Summit

The steep climb

c.phil

Phil strolls up easily

Unusual Rock Carving? at the top of the Mountain

Day after Christmas

Robert and Tone Askew, friends of the DiValerio's from daughters in the same school, had the whole family over for dinner. Robert is a geophysicist at Halliburton and occasionally visits Houston on Business. Tone teaches in a high school and is a wonderful cook. There were eleven for dinner counting both families. That evenings meal featured baked Salmon with a dill sauce and Reindeer Stew served with rice... The closest comparison I could come up with was Beef Stroganoff, but it had a distinctly richer flavor... I had to have a second helping. The dessert was a Giant bowl of "Dish Youself some Ice Cream".. After dinner there was wine and a variety of European cheeses... Rating: ***** ++++ (-$) @@@@@

Key to Rating: * quality, + quantity, $ cost, (-$) means Priceless! @ Atmosphere/Entertainment

Translation: Superior Dining, Plenty but I ate too much, A priceless evening, It was such an absolutely marvelous time I hated to leave.

We extend an open invitation to Robert and Tone for weekend sailing with us on any upcoming trip to Houston.

Trip Home

After our unpleasant trip over we were a bit nervous about not having seat reservations for the trip back. We contacted KLM in advance but there were no seat reservations UNLESS you had Electronic Tickets. We planned to rise at 4 AM for our 6:30 departure but never really got to sleep that night. We arrived early enough to get good seat assignments on both the Amsterdam and Houston flights. We were even able to sleep a little on the way Back.