Sunday August 12th, 2018 Kristiansand, Norway

Kristiansand is a city in southern Norway. Its old town, Posebyen, features traditional wooden houses. In the center, neo-Gothic Kristiansand Cathedral is near the Sørlandets Museum, which displays Norwegian art from 1800 to today. The southeastern shoreline includes the Bystranda city beach, the 17th-century Christiansholm Fortress rotunda and Fiskebrygga quay, lined with fishmongers selling their catch.

Today we made our first port of call in the pretty little southern Norway town of Kristiansand – the old town was an easy walk from the ship dock. It was a beautiful bright day and we enjoyed the stroll through the boardwalk boat dock area with several shops, restaurants and the fish market.

We walked a route along the coastline past the circular fort which dominates the entrance to a small marina; Christiansholm Fortress was finished in 1672 and formed a part of King Christian IV's plan for defense of Kristiansand when the city was founded in 1641. 

Salmon were jumping in the river – very peaceful and quiet, it being a Sunday morning. The town had a new England feel to it, though when I think about it, isn’t it the New England towns that have a Norwegian feel to them? The small wooden clapboard houses that lined the streets were very picturesque; hanging baskets, cobbled roads and almost deserted - perhaps all the townsfolk were at church, or maybe they head for the hills when a cruise ship is in town?

A large church marked the center of town with a small pedestrianized square and a single market stall selling Norwegian tourist items; knitted jumpers, reindeer horn knives etc.

We found a excellent coffee shop called Drømmeplassen; really good baked goods and with free wi-fi.

Back to the ship...

Walking back towards the ship we had a great lunch at a place called Pieder Ro located right on the dock. We sat in the outdoor area and were waited upon by a young chap who had spent time in the US, his English was excellent - in fact almost everyone we encountered today spoke really good English. The waiter made some recommendations, the menu was heavily dominated by seafood as you’d expect - he also advised us to try the “quintessential Norwegian beer”.

Despite numerous currency converter apps we managed to miss the fact that the beer cost $15 a glass; Michael and I had two each! In contrast the food was quite reasonably priced. Undoubtedly the most expensive beer I’ve ever had – the alcohol tax in Norway is very high.