The weather has turned. Blue skies have given way to torrential rain. We dropped Emma’s girls at nursery and drove into town. By paying for one mesume we are able to visit loads. First, we looked around an old shipping magnets house from the 1800s mahogany and teak throughout. They had the first flush toilet in Stavanger. We were taken around the house by a knowledgeable guide who knows the story of the family. they had 2 daughters and a son who lived past infancy, and none of the three never married, and they lived in the house until they died in the 1960s. They used the last of their father’s money to set up a legacy to fund the upkeep of the house and in the will it requires the house to be kept in the same way as they left it.

The second museum, by contrast, only 250m down the road, was the last house to have an indoor toilet. Not until 2006. This was a family of very different social standing a farm come nursery for plants. They had done a lot of travelling as a family, and there were the obligatory tea towls from a number of UK towns.

The third place we visited again not too far away was the Royal Residence from the 1800s. Although not used as a place to stay by the Norwegian royal family, it is still used for official functions. It was interesting that the shipping family had carpets and the royal resident.

The final museum for today was the printing and canning factory. Slightly closer into the port now, there are huge chimneys towering above the factory. This is where sardines were smoked and caned the printing industry sprung up alongside to help differentiate between the different companies. As we move through the museum, we were lucky to join the back of a tour with a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide who went into great detail about the industry.

In the evening, Emma cooked a delicious mushroom dish but then had to pop out to work, so we had an early night.

Day 9 was a bit of a write or the weather still awful, and I was feeling rather ill, so a complete r&r day. In the afternoon, one of Emma’s friends came over they are off on an adventure. To denmark then by ferry to Iceland in their campervan.