Ha det, Stavanger!

One picture from "old Stavenger".

We spent our last day in Norway exploring Stavanger and its many museums - we went to an old canning factory, an archeology museum, and the Oil Museum. All were pretty fascinating, and I took zero pictures. But some cool facts:

- no one has ever invented a machine that can pack sardines/herring/small fish into tins as efficiently as people, so even today all tinned fish is packed by hand. Most other steps in the process have been mechanised. 

- the first potential evidence for human presence in Norway dates to about 12000 years ago - and is a single charred piece of birch wood found coincidentally near a well preserved polar bear skeleton. As it is inferred that natural wildfires were unlikely given the terrain (tundra grasslands with few trees), it may have been from people. It's a stretch!

- Norway's government had contacted a company to survey for oil, and the intial efforts to find petroleum deposits were unsuccessful. The company wanted to give up, but the government required them to complete the effort - and it was it the last survey that they struck black gold. 

- Norway's oil production funds most of the country's public works. The government nationalized oil production early on, and the tax proceeds have led to a 6 trillion kroner public trust that supports the nation's high standard of living - it is the largest sovereign wealth fund. 

- there is deep unease about how to balance the fact that oil and gas production accounts for about 20% of the nation's economy and that climate change must be addressed. It seems that the conversations are more frank here than at home in the states. 

We fly home tomorrow (yes, spending our anniversary in airports catching three connecting flights is very romantic). It's bet a great trip and we are both quite satisfied with it (and my legs are very tired from yesterday!) 

Until the next time we travel! And maybe we'll go somewhere outside of Europe!