Kristiansand, Norway - Pt 1

We've had another good day. We've been so blessed to experience beautiful weather in our last few ports. 

We had an excursion again today and my phone battery was completely charged when we left and I took so many photos it died before we made it back to the ship. ha! Before I share some photos I'll share a little info about Kristiansand. Founded in 1641, Kristiansand is located near the southern coast of Norway and once claimed the world's largest fleet of sailing ships. Historically, it has been a busy international shipping port. It is now a bustling, modern city that refers to itself as Norway's #1 Holiday Resort. I'll post one photo of the police headquarters that I snapped through the bus window, just to illustrate that Kristiansand is a modern city.

 

cruise port, Kristiansand, Norway

Kristiansand, Norway cruise port (Insignia in background)

bus window shot of modern police headquarters

First we were taken to the Kristiansand Open Air Museum which gave us a glimpse of life in the early days here. But the rest of my photos are anything but modern. We were taken to the Kristiansand Open Air Museum. It is a small "community" made up of numerous old houses, barns and structures from the 1700-1800's. Life then was not easy for the people who lived here and that had to work hard just to survive. Their 3 main industries were farming, forestry and fishing. They also were industrious at ship building and repairing.

Most of the houses were painted white on the front. White paint was more expensive and an indication of wealth and power. The sides and backs of the houses were painted red, green, yellow etc because those paints could be locally made and thus cheaper.

 

white paint on front

 

colored paint on back

old barn (tending cows and sheep was women's work)

higher foundation helped protect from rodents

food storage house

note circles carved above door

 

The circles above the doorway were supposed to ward off evil spirits. They were obviously very superstitious. One example of this is that they would sleep sitting up. They believed that it helped to conserve heat in the body. They also were afraid that if they were to lie down, they would appear dead and evil spirits would come and "suck their souls." 

 

a peek inside a typical kitchen

a framed copy of the Lord's Prayer

note intricate carving

explaining the mangle board

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The mangle board has a very interesting history. I can't share it all here but it's worth reading about.  https://www.mangleboard.com/  Besides used for housework, it was also intricately (or sometimes not so) carved by the man who would use it to propose marriage to a woman. If she said 'no' then he had to carve a different one for his next prospect. I assume our modern-day equivalent would be offering the same engagement ring to a woman when the first girlfriend rejected it. lol 

I got a kick out of this one. Apparently, large calves were a symbol of beauty that were greatly desired. They also showed strength and made the woman more attractive as she would be good at hard labor. Notice how large the calves of the socks were? Some women would stuff potatoes in theirs in an effort to make themselves to potential marriage partners. Our guide added that it was similar to pushup bras today. ha!

 

note size of calves on socks

L to R: Sunday dress, everyday dress, wedding dress

We also did a walk through of a smallish ship museum on the property which contained many original artifacts from the early days of shipping. Our time was limited but we could have spent more time in there. Below are a few pictures that I snapped.

 

wooden ship figurehead

 

These carved wooden structures decorated the front of most sailing ships in the 1700's. They supposedly offered protection, identification and safety to the ship's crew members. Some were quite elaborate.

a ship's crew - notice cats in front, important in keeping the mice population down

thinking this was their medicine cabinet?

This post is getting way too long (too many photos) so I will start another.