A bed and breakfast in Stavanger

It's somewhat a cliché when you are travelling then taking pictures of all the monuments or whatsoever historical stuff there is just to show off that you've been there and done this and that. In my case, travelling is all about learning and experiencing the culture, food and the people, first hand.

I am so lucky with my work since I have the chance to travel across Norway since we have IT-consultants almost in every region now. My work took me to Stavanger and it's more like a pseudo-business trip actually. It took only 30 minutes from Bergen to Stavanger by plane and it felt like I was just taking a bus. Upon arrival, I took the bus from the airport towards the centre of the city, then walked around 10 minutes carrying my stuff (i.e laptop and some clothes which were a bit heavy) to the place where I was going to stay. I stayed at the Thompson's Bed and Breakfast. It's a villa type of a house which was built around 1910. The Thompson's (Roger and Sissel) are one of the nicest couples I have met. Hospitality is their middle name. The service I got while staying there was top-notched and the breakfast (which is typical Norwegian) always makes me full and warm inside. It's Sissel who runs the Bed and Breakfast and she told me that she's been on business for 6 years and that it's her hobby, as well. Roger, on the other hand, is busy with his car collection which he started in 1964 (in his cellar) and tinkering with it here and there. Both of them are actually car enthusiasts. Roger even drove me towards the car museum which is 20 minutes or so away from the city so I could see some vintage cars.

The cars in the museum are all privately owned and Roger has two of his cars there. It was an exhilarating feeling seeing those vintage cars. Who knows about the rich history these cars could tell if they can just speak. Anyways, I used the remainder of my time to explore the city and even went to the oil museum since Stavanger is the oil capital of Norway (Norway's answer to the USA's Houston) Norway by the way is one of the biggest producers of oil in the world.

I wasn't able to explore the nightlife in Stavanger though but I will on my next trip with my friends, of course. As I left Stavanger, I felt a little sad but at the same time excited to go home to Bergen.

* More info of the Thompson's Bed and Breakfast at their website http://thompsonsbedandbreakfast.com

This writer is a student/web designer living in Bergen, Norway. You can follow his Norwegian adventures at his website http://www.likebanana.com