During the many days on board our elegant explorer, we marveled at how hard our crew worked to keep her the “Jewel of the Seas” that she remains. This hard work was no less apparent than when we returned from our morning exploration of Kristiansand to witness the deck crew continuing the maintenance of her hull.
Upon boarding we heard one of our younger passengers comment “That’s a lot of work!” Indeed it is a lot of work, but our crew always does it with a smile. They are obviously proud of their home too. What may not be as noticeable in this photo are the “drop cloths” protecting the fresh yellow paint on the quay.
Our afternoon bus excursion covered some of the city we walked through in the morning, but it was impossible to shoot the following pictures of the square and some of the interesting aspects of Norwegian life….
This canal….
These apartment postal boxes with the ……
Royal Postal seal affixed…… and this interesting window sign….
…..in very large letters on the plate glass of a store front indicating the hours that they are open through the week and in parenthesis – Saturday. IF my research is correct (tors. 19) means open until 7 Pm on Thursdays… and…
…. these stately government offices fronting the town square.
Departing the city we were soon in the countryside, arriving at our first excursion destination, a short stop at the Church of Sogne, which dates back to the 16th century. The wooden interior was beautiful, the enclosed pews would seat men to the left of the pulpit and women to the right.
… but the a most interesting aspect of this stop was what was going on in the church cemetery …..
….a young women tending the grave of a departed family member. We were told that this is a very common practice in Norway.
When we left the church we were given the option of staying on the bus or walking to our next destination – the waterfront. I and several others opted to ride the bus, and wait for the others to return, which gave me the opportunity to witness more local life…..
…..reboarding our comfortable bus, we soon arrived at the Vest Agder Museum, one of the many open-air museums in Norway, to see a reconstructed city street and old farmhouses from the Setesdal Valley…….
…. our young Norwegian maiden guide did her best to “herd” our bunch through the exhibits….
… while some just wanted to taste the greener grass on the other side of the fence.
I would have to honestly say that of all the excursions we have taken with Alan, for me this lacked a lot of substance. But we did get to see a lot of beautiful Norwegian countryside.
Upon our return to the security area it was great to see our national colors waving in the gentle breeze welcoming us home again.
Next: Oslo, Oh Oslo, how you won our hearts..
Cummings Family Adventures 