Kristiansand, Norway

 On July 18 we visited the town of Kristiansand, Norway. We went from the very top of Denmark to the very bottom of Norway in just a few hours.

The seas have been calm as glass, but we weren't expecting anything else as this whole area is protected by land. I remember overhearing a couple in the Crystal Cove just before we left Copenhagen. She wanted to make sure she took her medication before the ship left the pier. If she'd looked at a map she probably would have realized that there wouldn't be a lot of heavy wave action like she may have experienced in the ocean at any point in the cruise.

Kristiansand is not a very large city, but because of its situation, it is a real vacation destination. It gets the most sunshine of any place in Norway....which, considering there is nothing further south in Norway, seems a little obvious. We had another fantastic warm, sunny day for our visit, and it looked to us as though the town had declared a holiday to celebrate. We took our walk around in the late morning, but it seemed that the stores were closed, road construction equipment stood idle, and there weren't many people around.

As with most towns and cities bordering on the Skagerrak, Kristiansand's economy revolves mainly around trade and the fishing industry as it has since the town was established in 1641. Along with the main fish market that supplies retailers and restaurants, we checked out a small market in a little enclave of shops and offices near the port. There was a nice selection of fish, and even lobster, still to be had even though it was toward noon.

The waterfront is all public parkland and includes a couple of beaches where children were splashing around in the water. We walked along here until we reached Christiansholm Fortress. Built by King Christian IV in 1660 to defend the harbour and local naval operations, it is apparently also a museum, although the interior is currently closed. We had nice views of the bay from the cannon placements though.

The building is a very popular fish restaurant

Cannons overlooking the harbour

We next headed toward the old part of town known as Posebyen. There was a major fire in the city in 1892, in which many of the wooden houses were destroyed. This area contains the ones that were not affected, and now this is one of the largest collections of wooden houses in all of Norway. They are all beautifully kept. We really enjoyed walking through the area.

An artist must live here. Who else would match
the purples with this teal green??

After leaving Posebyen, we headed toward the Kristiansand Cathedral, the tallest building the city, and also found the Rådhus, or Town Hall, and a large public square and garden. And we also found all the people. It was a lot busier here, with restaurants and cafés starting to fill up. We took a look inside the Cathedral and found it very interesting. Obviously dedicated to protecting sailors or fisherman as there is a wooden boat hanging just inside the entrance.

The Rådhus was quite a surprise

The Cathedral

The boat is hanging under the organ loft

A gorgeous organ. There are
free recitals on Tuesday mornings

We walked back to the ship after this. We had a 6:00 reservation for one of the Nobu Omakase dinners and wanted to make sure we showered and were ready on time. The next post will be dedicated to the dinner.

After dinner we headed up to Palm Court to see the sunset, and were not disappointed. Here are a few photos:

Now on to the next post, as I think everyone is really interested in the special Nobu food we enjoyed at dinner!