My week in Kristiansand.

I've done it! I have now been to the the North, South, East and West of Norway! It took me 2.5 years but I did it!

This past weekend, I went on a little vacay to Kristiansand, to visit my sister in law, her husband and my nephews aka niblings (slang term). I also met with some online friends for the first time, but it felt like we had been friends for years.
I liked the city, it was small, and maybe a little too small for me, but it was...cozy, as Norwegians like to say.(Kristiansand is maybe 6x10, in terms of blocks, so you can go back and forth from one side to the other in less than 5 minutes).  They have this summer theme going around the whole city right now, with little blue flags everywhere that say "summer in Kristiansand" and sandboxes for kids to play in randomly placed throughout the city. They even had sand sculptures!

This train take you around the whole city.

Random sandboxes everywhere for the kids.

Many had spots where the sand had fallen. I'm not sure how long ago they had been built.

This on was my favorite!

They detail is amazing.

His nose had fallen off.

The concert house where my sister and brother in law work.

Cozy little Marina where you can sit and eat ice cream and watch boats drive by.

I wish Bergen had something cute like this.

This is a beach....the whole length fits within my camera screen.

By far the fanciest McDonalds I have ever seen.

On Tuesday we took a mini road trip to Lindesnes, the most southern point in Norway. It has a lighthouse and several tunnels and caves where soldiers used to hide and keep watch for enemies. It had a beautiful view of just massive blue sea and the sky was spotted with big fluffy clouds.

On Friday, before I flew back to Bergen, we took a hike in a forest not even 5 minutes from the city. The Forest is called Baneheia, and although it is beautiful, the area has its past nightmares. There were some gruesome murders committed there back in 2000, but since this is a nice post about my good time there, I'll keep the sadness out and add this link if you're interested in reading about the Baneheia murder case. I'm still suffering from the hike right now. As you read this the bug bites on my heels/feet are screaming at me "scratch me, scratch me". I hiked in flip flops...not entirely stupid as they were Dr. Scholls flip flops and offered amazing support. It was the berry picking that probably did it as I was in those bushes stuffing my face with blueberries. Next time, I'm using bug spray.

Although I didn't get to go swimming at the "beaches", I had a great time there and would love to go back. I wouldn't want to live there but it is definitely worth visiting.