Offbeat Landmarks

This book is not a guide book. These already exist, and there seems little reason to add another book describing the most popular local sites to the pile. Instead, it's a collection of curiosities and oddities. It visits places that tourists don't often see, or looks at familiar sites with a new slant. Stavanger is a town rich in history, and traces of events long past are here for us to see today. There is so much here in Stavanger that this little collection is not even close to being a comprehensive history or geography of the region: those may be found in the local library.

The chapters in the book describe things that I noticed. A different person would have noticed different things, and written a different book entirely. That is really the point of the book: I hope that in finding out about some of my favorite places and stories, readers will be inspired to explore for themselves.

There are suggestions for excursions within each section. I have tried to avoid paid-for attractions as these tend to be well advertised and easier to find, although several of the local museums are included. It is my hope that these will act as a starting point for many more excursions, leaving the best question of all: what will you discover?

Rosslyn Nicholson has been an outdoor enthusiast for most of her life. She has climbed mountains in the Highlands of Scotland and the Pyrenees, hiked multi-day trails in England and Scotland, and completed shorter hikes on three continents. She has toured the Scottish coast by bicycle and the Alaskan coast by kayak, and has lived in Stavanger for a total of 7 years. During that time, she has enjoyed exploring the rich variety of landscape, culture and history in the area.