Kristiansand has a compact city centre based on a grid of streets, including those with old buildings. It is contained by water on three sides and a hill to the north. You could easily cover the key places in a morning but I was in no hurry. The hotel is by the ocean side and its name, Bystranda, refers to a beach close by. The receptionist kindly gave me simple map with suggested walking route which I largely followed. This will be my last night in Norway, for this trip, and then a couple of ferries, first to Denmark and then to Harwich overnight on Saturday and a couple of long driving days in between will see me home. Norway has exceeded my expectations which indicates how little I knew of the country, which becomes obvious when there are statues of famous people everywhere and the only one I knew was Edward Elgar (spelled differently on his statue). I know a little more now, just a little. The weather has really been very kind with only a couple of very wet days which were manageable. So here are some snaps from my final full day from wandering around this pleasant city. A highlight is definitely the fish market and surrounding buildings with at least two housing architects practices and I’ll start there with the headline and a few more. I am confident the fish lady is not Dolly Dimples which is maybe the name of a restaurant. In the small market itself there were several tanks of live lobsters and some actual shoppers. Along the waterfront from the hotel there are small boat harbours, the fortress, some street art and an impressive fountain complex as you head to the fish market. There was a chance meeting with a giant bug and it had its eyes on me. In the same area there was a boat inspired bridge over to one of the city’s museums. I met a space-suited gorilla along Markens Gate, the pedestrianised main shopping street. Another car free street leads to the heart of the city, the Cathedral and nearby town hall. The cathedral has the coolest organ and, although not austere, foregoes the gold ornamentation of the cathedrals in Southern Europe. As I left the Cathedral I saw a crowd at the end of the square and curiosity took over. I am glad it did because, as I walked over, a brass band struck up a tune. They were great and pleased the small but supportive crowd. I have added an edited video of one of their tunes as best as I could to under 3 minutes. You can watch it here but at least have a listen to a few bars. They are good. After the joy of a brass band I headed down to the river side past many classic Norwegian houses. I was admiring what I expect are expensive apartments on the other side of the river when suddenly the peace was shattered by a KLM (I think) Airbus on approach to the airport. These apartments are right under the flight path so I hope there are no late night arrivals and departures. As you move down to the ocean side the buildings get more traditional and on my side this ends in a park with views out and with facilities for a little recreation. The ferry is the very boat that I will be taking tomorrow afternoon at 14:30 after it’s next round trip to Hirtshals in Denmark. It was then a short walk back to the hotel. On my walk to Markens Gate for dinner I took a different route from last night and found some excellent wall painting, a nice way to finish for today.