Summer home on one of the Skerries

Lillesand by Land and Sea

This morning we docked in Kristiansand again. The beautiful weather is still with us - temperatures in the mid 20s Celsius. We heard that Norway is the warmest country in Europe right now. Also, it is in the high 20s in Spitzbergen, north of the Arctic Circle! Now the worry is, did we bring enough summer clothes?
Our tour today took us to the small village of Lillesand, another picturesque harbour town. Our guide was the same one we had for our walking tour of Kristiansand so had heard most of the information and stories earlier. We boarded a boat in the port of Marvika for a scenic ride past skerries (small islands) including one which the Crown Prince and his family vacation on. I'm afraid that my teacher instincts took over as I had to tell one teenager to hush while the guide was speaking and tell an older gentleman that every time he stood up in the boat to take a picture, we couldn't see anything. We had the feeling that if we hadn't said anything he would have thought nothing of blocking our view for the entire trip. I noticed that he was the only one to demonstrate such poor manners. It is a wonder how inconsiderate some people can be.
We returned to the ship for a very good lunch, and now have time for a nap. Tonight is the one formal night, so we plan to get all dolled up, go to the meet and greet, and meet Anne for dinner at the restaurant.


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Mary Lou at a fountain outside the National Theatre and the Metro Station

Norma enjoying a view of the Akerselva River

On Our Own

After a quick breakfast the morning, we set out on our own to the Akerselva River around 9 a.m. We bought our tickets and managed to get on the correct subway line to Nydalen Station. We were pretty hyped by our success. The next problem was navigating our way back to the ship. There was a certain sense of urgency about this as we had to get back on board by 2 p.m. for our 3 p.m. sailing. The walk was around 10 kms long. First, we had to find the river. Once we did that we were on our way. Our city centre maps did not extend as far as the station so we were flying blind! We kept up a steady pace enjoying the quiet shady path (the weather has been in the 30 degree Celsius range) until the river disappeared on us. Thank heavens, Norwegians speak English. Everyone we approached was very helpful and eventually we found the river again. At one point we passed by some waterfalls that powered some old mills. Very picturesque. The river pulled its disappearing act on us about three times, but before we knew it, it was time to leave the river for a trek through the city centre passing by many landmarks on the way. The route reminded me so much of Ottawa - a Rideau Street construction zone where we had to keep crossing back and forth to avoid the digging, an outdoor market a la Byward, a pedestrian mall a la Sparks Street. We dropped in at the Impressive Oslo Cathedral and heard the organ playing. A quick stop at an upscale department store for a WC break, and we were off again. We walked through a flower market on our way to the Royal Residence for some photos, then back to the ship. We were back at 12:30 p.m. in time for lunch. We ate with the same couple as we did last night. We enjoyed a congratulatory glass of wine before retiring to our suite for a well deserved nap. We were awakened by the Captain announcing the lifeboat drill. We may go to the Meet and Greet singles get together before dinner. We are thinking of room service tonight as we are both pretty beat and we have an early start tomorrow. So begins our second cruise.

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A Norwegian's Thoughts

I received this message from Akira regarding public art in Norway:

I was chatting with my friend in Norway tonight and I told him what you said.. This is the conversation:

Akira: Blue's aunt wrote in her trip blog "The Norwegians have a policy that 3.5 percent of the cost of any new construction must be spent on providing an outdoor piece of art for the building." That's cool!
Akira's Norwegian Friend: Really?  Well, that explains all the modern crap they call art.

Our guide in Oslo shared the same sentiments, however, Norma and I quite liked the sculpture outside the Opera House.

The Opera House Sculpture

This was the art work that was commissioned from the 3.5 percent cost of the Opera House