Tungenes fyr

As I trudged down the stairs in front of IRIS, I could see the fjord spread out before me. What an awesome place I live in, I thought. Three roads zig-zagged back and forth in front of me, and on the lowest one, a small silver Volvo sped along. A blonde head appeared in the window, and a hand waved enthusiastically in my direction. Ah, she had spotted me. Ingeborg turned up the hill, and as I climbed into her car, she embraced me warmly. Off we went.

Ingeborg grew up in Stavanger, so she knows her way around like a boss. She also keeps up with local happenings, shows, concerts, restaurants - you name it - so when she suggested we try out a new Greek-Italian cafe for dinner, I was definitely game. The owner was actually from somewhere in the Balkan peninsula, and he bent over backwards to accommodate us. He chatted with Ingeborg in Norwegian and me in broken English, and when he found out I was American, he responded with "So, you only eat hamburger, right?" Not exactly, dude. I ended up ordering something pretty exotic from the menu just to prove my point. The owner set up an outdoor table just for us and was very interested to know what we thought of everything. He was obviously anxious to earn loyal customers. 

After dinner, we headed to an old lighthouse in Randaberg, called Tungenes fyr. The lighthouse is no longer operational, but there are concerts sometimes in the old lightkeeper's house. I made Ingeborg laugh with my attempts to pronounce the word "fyr" (lighthouse), because to get the Y right, you have to almost make a long E sound but then protrude your upper lip. I felt - and probably looked - like an absolute idiot. 

The concert was very intimate, with an audience of maybe 70 or 80 people, and the performer at one point confessed that being able to see the audience made her nervous. Only then did it occur to me what a unique and rare opportunity I had been given, because the performer was obviously used to playing in larger venues. Ingrid Olava is her name, if you want to look her up. Her music consists mostly of syncopated rhythms that repeat over a series of chord changes, with her silky, emotional voice layered on top. It's the type of music you would listen to on a Friday night while curled up on the couch with a glass of wine - or, you know, on a Thursday night in a lighthouse. 

Last night was a great opportunity to experience more of Stavanger. Golly, I love it here.