Wednesday Walk Challenge : A walk along the northern edge of the city center of Kristiansand, Norway

On this day in November, I want to take you to the part of "Kvadraturen" ( the Old Town) that borders Baneheia. As soon as you get here, you can't really believe that this kind of "wild" nature is found right at the city center. Baneheia is in a way a city park. A recrational area where the municipaly has set up lots of hiking trails, benches, viewpoints, and floating jetties in the lakes. There are several lakes where you can bath during the summer month. I don't have pictures from several of the wide paths, but in the winter, ski trails are built so you can go skiing. Also in the evening, since there are lights. I have chosen to follow the trail that follows the largest of the lakes. It is my favourite area.

A couple of weeks ago I walked along the trail marked in red, along the river and the waterfront. Today I started in the upper corner where the river meets Baneheia. Baneheia has three idyllic lakes that has been stemmed by using stone dams. They used to function as water supply for the city. Now they are very popular for swimming. The whole area is beautiful whatever the season. My favourite time of the year, is autumn. Even though October is the best month with beautiful colors, November is not too bad either.

It was cloudy weather, but then the sun came out. Here I get the sun from the side. It actually got warm, so I took ten minutes or so in the sun, sitting on the red bench. Right in front there is a tiny sandy beach. A kindergarten was on a day out and the kids were playing here. I couldn't take pictures of the beach itself.

Now I'm almost halfway around. The lake that I'm walking around is the largest. It's called 3 Stampe. It's a pleasant walk with a couple of steep climbs.

Baneheia has lots of dense forest areas. But it hasn't always been like this. In the 19th century, many of the trees were cut down. In 1862, a man named Wergeland had an idea about how to get the trees back. He presented it to the Town Counsil. He was the leader and garrison commander. He brought garrison soldiers with him and together they planted more than 150,000 trees in two years. They also helped to construct some of the trails we still have today.

I'm back where I started and walk a short distance to get to a side path, which will eventually lead me straight down into the city center.

The viewpoint offers a good view of the city. We can see the sea right in the background. That's where I went for a walk a couple of weeks ago. It might give you an idea of how small Kvadraturen actually is. From here, a path leads straight down to the city. This district is the very heart of Kristiansand. It is the historic district, founded by King Christian IV in 1641. It has a unique mix of history, old wooden houses and a modern urban living environment. A popular tourist attraction. Today I actually met quite a lot of people on my walk and at the viewpoint. I noticed there was a cruiseship in town. Some might have found there way up here.