Kristiansand, Norway
Brrrr…from Norway. I mean good morning. Megan and I opened the door on our balcony last night and propped it open to refresh the air in the cabin. I woke up at 4:30am and the door was still open and I could see myself breathing in the cabin. Needless to say the air was refreshed. I finished another project Linus Blanket last night and am thinking I have enough time and yarn left to make on last one. We are still in Norway today. We woke up and had breakfast in the Lido this morning. Then we headed to the Main Stage to meet our excursion group at 9:15am and to “meet” the excursion protocol they have put in place. You don’t get your tour number and sticker until they call your group so no one can leave the ship early, loiter on the dock, and go to the bus and grab all the seats in the front prematurely. You’d be surprised what we have seen this trip. LOL. All that is mute today though because we are doing a three hour walking tour. Kristiansand is a quaint little town. Sadly, it is Sunday and all of the shops are closed for today. As our tour guide told us, this is the bible belt and going to church and taking Sundays for rest is strongly practiced here. We visited a historic home that was built in 1855 and learned about life during those times. The home we visited housed 25 people, about 5 families and each family had their own bedroom. They shared the kitchen and the outdoor potty. During the times when soldiers were in Norway, an additional 17 soldiers occupied the attic of this home because the government gave a stipend to the families for putting the soldiers up. It is hard to believe so many people lived in this one home. We walked through the town center where there was a beautiful church and cherry trees blossoming. We couldn’t go into the church because there were services going on today. We also visited the Kristianholm Fortress. This fortress has 15 foot thick walls. It has 8 cannons still on sight and has a beautiful view of the bay. After our walking tour Megan and I went back to town and found a lovely bakery where we bought way too many goodies and a hot coffee. It was really cold today and the wind made it even worse when it blew through. We had some Nutella and jelly filled small donuts that reminded us of Dunkin Donuts. It was a nice treat. We walked over 12k steps today so we earned the treats. We made our way back to the ship and we were back on by 1:00pm. We went to the Neptune Lounge for tea and then home for hot showers to warm up. We spent the afternoon reading, I paid some bills and updated my calendar for the summer events we have coming up. It is slowly time to start easing my way back into the reality of things to come. The blessing is we are coming home to summer vacation. I am looking forward to spending a lot of time this summer with all my family and loved ones back at home. We had dinner in the main dining room this evening at our normal 5:00 dinner time. It was just the end of the third segment of this World Cruise so we tipped out our servers and room stewards again this evening as well. It is the least we can do for all the care, attention, and phenomenal service they provide to us. Megan and I are still fighting stuffy noses, but we are definitely in the home stretch to getting healthy. This cold weather has been such a shock to our systems. Scarves, jackets, gloves and hats have been needed every day now. We were blessed with some sunshine and no rain again today, so we will happily take it!! We were back home right after dinner again for a relaxing night in. A little extra rest, a good movie and some tea. Life’s simple pleasures. Sweet dreams from Norway….where will be again tomorrow but in a different port. Enjoy the photos, especially the Mc Donalds. It’s an old bank being renovated for the golden arches. Only in Norway.
Live Vicariously Through Debra 