Stavanger - Norway - page 251

5pm to 1am, Thursday and Friday 3pm to 2am, and Saturday and Sunday 1pm
to 2am. Holebergatan 9. & 51-89-41-81.
Newsman Pub This is a sophisticated and earthy British-style pub that its
fans have defined as the most literate in Norway. Its decor was inspired by an
old-fashioned newspaper office, the kind where lead type might have been
supervised by stooped-over men with green eyeshades. You can sit around the
woodsy-looking bar, within sightlines of the framed front pages of newspapers
from around the English-speaking world, including banner headlines announc-
ing the deaths of Winston Churchill and JFK and the impeachment of Richard
Nixon. It's all very adult, and charming in its re-creation of a 1920s-era kind of
aesthetic. Rest your pint of beer on any of several old-fashioned lecterns, and
perhaps flip through a copy of any of the English-language papers that are dis-
played, library-style, on rods. There's even an in-house paper, The Newsman,
that focuses on local politics, personalities, and gossip. The only food items
served are snack items such as muffins and sandwiches. It's open daily from
noon till 1am. Skagen 14. & 51-84-38-80.
Yanks Bar/The New York Nightclub No other bar in Stavanger represents
the city's sometimes raucous oil boom economy as aptly as this one. To Nordic
purists, it's a glittery and imperialistic imposition, direct from the U.S., featur-
ing the worst kinds of cultural excess. To lovers of high-volume rock 'n' roll, or
to anyone who misses the country-western and rock bars of the United States,
it's a gift from Valhalla. Regardless of your point of view, it's the most visible,
and whenever there's a concert inside, the loudest, nightspot in town. You'll
identify it by the scaled-down, silver-coated copy of the Statue of Liberty promi-
nently positioned near an entrance to a clapboard-sided 19th-century warehouse
that directly faces the port. Tip back a beer and a shot or two in the street-level
bar (Yanks), where a mixed clientele of hard-drinking, earthy, and edgy clients
might be visiting from virtually anywhere. Don't even think of coming here
early, since it opens around 10:30pm, and remains open till the first of the
morning's fishing trawlers head out of the harbor around 4:30am. Live music is
featured upstairs between around midnight and 3am most nights of the week,
depending on bookings and whoever's sober enough to actually perform. If the
amplified electronic music filtering down from upstairs (The New York Night-
club) appeals to you, expect to pay a cover charge, from 50NOK to 100NOK
($7.10-$14). Skagenkaien 21. & 51-85-95-50.
8 Side Trips from Stavanger
The region surrounding Stavanger, both north and south, is one of the most
beautiful in southwestern Norway, with some spectacular natural attractions.
Fjord and mountain landscapes come together in a kind of majesty. There are
some man-made attractions as well, but Mother Nature wins out over those.
PREIKESTOLEN “Pulpit Rock” is a mammoth cube of rock with a
vertical drop of 609m (2,000 ft.) over Lysefjord. It can be visited on either a boat
or bus trip, or by a car-ferry trip and short drive, taking about 45 minutes from
the center of Stavanger. If you want to climb the rock, you can take a boat and
bus hiking jaunt. A pathway leads to the top. Jimmy Stewart in the Hitchcock
film Vertigo would have had a tough time of it here, but if you like panoramic
vistas, this rock is for you.
The walk from the car park to Pulpit Rock is 4km (2 1 ⁄ 2 miles) but can take 2
hours each way. The walk has an elevation of 350m (1,148 ft.) and requires both