ON THE VIKING TRAIL (PART 2 of 2) - SCANDINAVIAN MUSEUMS Guest Post by Caroline Hatton

My friend Caroline Hatton, a children’s writer and frequent contributor to this blog, took the photos in this post in June and July 2025. 

Roskilde (R), Denmark (D). Stockholm (St), Sweden (S). Oslo (O), Norway (N).

This second and last post on Viking history is about visiting three relevant museums, in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Part 1 appeared last week.

THE VIKING SHIP MUSEUM IN DENMARK

Less than an hour drive or ride in public transportation from Copenhagen, what is left of five ships, after a thousand years under seawater, is expertly displayed at the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde. The website tells the impressive story of the excavation, and provides details about each original ship and its present-day replica.

Ship.

Archeologists believe that local Vikings intentionally sunk decrepit ships in a fjord channel to form a barrier, to protect their town, Roskilde, from enemy attacks. Piles of debris embedded in the sea floor contained the remains of a fishing boat, a small coastal trader (above photo) that could carry up to four tons of cargo, a large ocean-going cargo ship, and two speedy longships to carry warriors into battle, up to 70 armed men in the larger vessel.

Scientists determined not only what kind of wood the ships were made of (pine, oak…), but where they were made (the location in Norway or Ireland…), where else the big cargo ship stopped for repairs, and that two of the ships were sunk 20 years after the first three. In the museum, the original wooden planks are mounted on the appropriate boat skeletons, made of metal strips.

Model of above ship.

Tabletop models show what the ship once looked like.

We didn’t ride, row, or sail in the replicas floating in the harbor, or watch boatbuilders, sailmakers, ropemakers, or the blacksmith at work. But seeing the museum ships on a tour guided by a costumed archeologist gave us insights into Viking society.

The different specialized ships hint at the fact that not all Vikings were warriors. Most Vikings were farmers. Some were traders, others fearless explorers. They relied on genius shipbuilders and specialized craftspersons. Warriors were a minority and they went on raids only part of the year.  But even farmers used boats to move cows between pastures, and to bring goods to and from markets, because it was easier to travel over water, including by sled when it was frozen solid, than land.

Over time, better ships carried more load, faster and farther: warriors, for swifter, deadlier raids and conquests. Explorers searching for new lands and resources. Traders seeking greater wealth and larger networks. From their Nordic homelands, Vikings spread east, west, and south. It is easy to imagine Vikings enamored with their ships, often referred to as “sea-steeds” or “wave-horses” in Norse poems.

THE VIKING WORLD IN SWEDEN

In Stockholm, the Swedish History Museum’s Viking World is the world’s largest Viking exhibition. The website offers online exploration of this exhibition, with hi-res photos better than the one below, articles, old Norse myths, and stories of Viking age people, including children. The best webpage for a virtual visit has buttons by theme, such as “Family and hierarchy,” leading to sub-themes, leading to more info and hi-res photos of many objects.

On site, in the courtyard, a staff blacksmith had visiting children pumping the bellows. Some visitors shot arrows, others played a Viking board game. Staff bakers made flatbread on a griddle for us to taste with butter, honey, and cumin or fennel seeds. The Vikings made rye or spelt flatbread, but only on special occasions or perhaps as grave gifts. Their daily meals included porridge, meat, fish, and vegetables.

Inside, we followed a stellar tour guide, an archeologist, before wandering independently through the exhibition for hours.

Keys.

I love Viking keys. They unlocked chests or cupboards containing valuables, and hung like pendants on necklaces around the neck of the woman who was the head of the household. They symbolized her authority and power. She ran and controlled the place. Today, replicas are widely available and hugely popular in Scandinavian museum shops.

THE VIKING AGE EXHIBITION IN NORWAY

The Oslo Norwegian Historical Museum’s Viking Age Exhibition webpage links to a 17-minute video Guided Tour with Closed Caption available in English. Displayed in 19 glass cases were some of the finest Viking objects found in Norway. This exhibition was smaller than the Viking World in Stockholm, Sweden, yet just as interesting.

Treasure.

Above, Norway’s largest Viking gold treasure, the Hon Hoard. It was found in 1834 by a farmer digging a ditch. Dating from the 800s, it includes more than 2.5 kilograms (over 2.5 lbs) of gold. With gold necklaces, Frankish jewelry, Arabian coins, North African beads, a Roman gemstone, and an English ring, “The hoard is a reflection of Viking journeys and contacts.” At its greatest, the world of the Vikings stretched from today’s Iran to today’s Canada, and from the North Atlantic to the Mediterranean and North Africa.

The photo at the top of this post shows the best preserved Viking helmet ever found anywhere, the Gjermundbu Helmet. It was found on a farm, in the grave of an elite equestrian warrior surrounded by numerous weapons and abundant gear. Note the absence of horns on the helmet. Horns on Viking helmets exist only in popular culture.

 This temporary exhibition ends in December 2026. The objects will move permanently to the new Museum of the Viking Age when it opens in 2027.

Across the different places we visited, our expert guides agreed that Víkingr, the Old Norse word for Viking, was what people called themselves—but not all Norse people--only seafaring warriors and travelers. ”Vik” meant “bay” and a Viking went about his business in a bay, sailing or crewing a boat. “Viking” was an occupation, like “farmer” or “archeologist.” Now, the word Viking refers to anyone of Norse origin who lived during the Viking Age (~750-1050).

 

 

CRUISING THE RHINE, Part 2: Castles, Churches, Cuckoo Clocks and More, Guest Post by Monique McLay Shore

Strausberg, Germany.

My friend and fellow Grinnellian, Monique McLay Shore, went on a one-week cruise of the Rhine River last May with her mother and sister Deidre. I thank her for sharing her report and excellent photos with The Intrepid Tourist. This post is adapted from Monique’s day by day reports she wrote on Facebook during the trip. It is in two parts—Days 1-4, followed by Days 5-7 a week later.

Speyer.

Day 5:  May 19

Today had a relaxed start as we didn't reach our excursion point until after lunch. But once we arrived in Speyer I had one of my trip highlights - a reunion with one of my dear college friends, Nadia! Meanwhile, Mom and Deidre were touring the town, doing a bit of shopping, and working on their selfie skills. 

Romanesque Cathedral in Speyer.

Speyer is a delightful town with a lovely Romanesque Cathedral. It has a markedly simpler design aesthetic and quite lovely. As with most towns here, there are remnants of ancient city walls and layers of centuries of history.

Day 6:  May 20

Tram in Strausberg, Germany.

Today we explored a few corners of Strausberg, Germany. Because of its location it has actually changed from being French to German and back again many times over the centuries, giving it a solid footing in both cultures. This also makes it a great seat of power for the EU. 

Cathedral, Strausberg.

It has a beautiful cathedral that is also home to a mindboggling astronomical clock. And the area known as La Petite France is right out of a medieval sketchbook. Mom and Deidre went on a more limited tour in the morning and mainly saw the cathedral while I explored Petite France with another group.

Strausberg.

After lunch back on the ship Deidre and I went back to explore some more. I logged more than 20,000 steps as here was no easy transport between the various places. But it was totally worth it.

We were rewarded with a festive German feast for dinner onboard, the most spectacular sunset of the week, some festive cocktails, and then the excitement of moving through the first of several locks that will take us upstream.

Tomorrow looks to be a rainy day visit to the Black Forest region before we disembark for good in the predawn hours on Thursday.

Day 7:  May 21

Breisach.

Today was our last full day on the ship. In addition to beautiful scenery, we also had rain, an exciting bus ride to the mountains that included a detour on the autobahn, and delays at the locks to start and end our days. We had been looking forward to today being restful, with nothing scheduled but the bus ride up the mountain. But then Deidre and I opted to take a quick peak around the quaint village of Breisach,

View of Breisach from the Cathedral.

Deidre thought we should give the cathedral a quick peak.... Of course the cathedral is at the top of this early walled city. So up, up, up we went! The view from the top was fabulous and the cathedral was great. Of course, then we had to come down, down, down. Needless to say, it was not the restful day I had been hoping for! As we ate lunch we could all see the storm clouds rolling in. Just after we boarded the buses the skies opened up.

Rainy day in the Black Forest.

We had a very rainy drive to the Black Forest but you could still see the beauty of the area. Once at the top there was a wonderful cuckoo clock store and a shop filled with beautiful hand-blown glass from area artists. There was also a massive cuckoo clock in the square that we watched strike four. On the ride back, we took a more direct route, only to be stopped by a traffic jam caused by a crash in one of the tunnels on the Autobahn. We then hit a backlog of ships at the locks. We just went through one and we think we have two more before we dock in Basel. I guess we shall see in a few hours if we will really get off at 4:15am as planned.

Sunset in Strausberg.

Home again: My Mom and sister and I had a great time on our Viking River cruise on the Rhine River! 

CRUISING THE RHINE, Part 1: Castles, Churches, Cuckoo Clocks and More, Guest Post by Monique McLay Shore

Windmills of Kinderduik

My friend and fellow Grinnellian, Monique McLay Shore, went on a one-week cruise of the Rhine River last May with her mother and sister Deidre. I thank her for sharing her report and excellent photos with The Intrepid Tourist. This post is adapted from Monique’s day by day reports she wrote on Facebook during the trip. It is in two parts—Days 1-4 this week, followed by Days 5-7 next week.

Viking River Cruise on the Rhine

Day 1: May 15

We arrived in Amsterdam around 8am so had the full day to explore the ship and a bit of the city. Then after an amazing dinner on board, Deidre and I did a sunset canal tour that offered beautiful views as we nibbled on wine and cheese. 

Amsterdam

This morning we awoke to a new view - the windmills if Kinderdijk. Looking forward to exploring them up close today before we cruise further up river.

Day 2: May 16

Day 2 of our mother daughters Viking cruise started with the classic visit to the windmills in Kinderdijk. The boat tour offered stunning views of the UNESCO World Heritage site. We got a tour of the oldest of the mills, including the miller climbing up the blade to demonstrate how they open the sails (wooden shoes and all). 

Climbing the sails of the windmill.

The rest of the day was spent on the ship as we cruised up river to Germany, where we officially entered the Rhine River. We enjoyed some time on the sundeck, then some nice Danish treats and coffee. We have been especially tickled by the variety of animals you see along the sandy shores of the river - cows, sheep, horses and even camels(there's a camel farm!) lying on the beach and wading in the water.

Day 3: May 17

We arrived in Cologne midmorning today. It's a big city with a big cathedral and big crowds. Saturday is peak tourist day and the area around the cathedral was so crowded it made it hard to enjoy the sightseeing. We did, however, enjoy the "only available in Cologne" kolsch beer and some very good schnitzel and sausage. After lunch Deidre headed back to the cathedral and did a tour climbing all the stairs to the top! 

Mom and I opted for a rickshaw ride and lucked out with the most delightful young woman as our driver/guide. When we told her we were absolutely done with the crowds and wanted to see some quiet corners of Cologne, she took us through some side streets to a lovely church with a courtyard garden filled with beautiful roses. She'd stop along the way to share tidbits and stories. She succeeded in transforming our memories of Cologne from bad to delightful.

After dinner there were a couple of incredibly talented local musicians playing classical guitar and violin in the ship lounge.

Day 4: May 18

Today we awoke in the shadow of a castle, wandered the quiet streets of Braubach (extra quiet as all the shops are closed on Sundays), then spent the afternoon sailing through the narrow stretch of the middle Rhine where there is nearly always a castle in sight. It was overcast and cool for much of the time, which made the afternoon sharing of Rudesheim Coffee (with brandy and chocolate) all the more welcome.

The sun finally came out for the last few castles and it was glorious! I loved seeing the quaint and picturesque towns that line the shores and reveled in the thought of camping beneath the walls of a castle (there are tons of campgrounds all along the river with adorable small campers, often with giant "tent" porches).

The other notable thing in this area are the vineyards that cover the steep inclines. This is where the majority of the grapes used for Riesling wine come from, harvested by hand by workers who often have a rope around their waist to keep them from falling! We ended the day with a walk into the small town of Rudesheim, with a giant Ferris Wheel and a river walk lined with some very unique trees.

Tomorrow we'll cruise through the most scenic section of the river with something like 30 castles or castle ruins. The weather looks good for another great day. 

Look for Part 2, Days 5-7, next week.

ALESUND, NORWAY: An Art Nouveau Gem and Much More

Alesund, Norway. View from the city park.

The last part of our recent trip to Norway was spent in and near the city of Alesund, a small city on Norway’s west coast, once the center of a thriving cod liver oil industry.

On the Alesund waterfront with statue honoring the historic cod fishing industry.

In 1904, most of Alesund was destroyed by a catastrophic fire. With help from other European countries, it was rebuilt, providing the opportunity for new architecture in the Art Nouveau style. Almost every building features some kind of ornament.

Alesund. Art Nouveau inspired house design.

Art Nouveau was a movement within architecture, decorative art, and fine art that took place during the transition from the nineteenth to the twentieth century. In Scandinavia it is known more commonly under the German name Jugenstil. New materials and techniques were explored, and the classical models of the past were abandoned in favor of creative forms of expression inspired by the organic vitality of nature. 

In the Alesund Art Nouveau Centre, everything--from furniture and window treatments, to wallpaper and doorknobs--is in the Art Nouveau style. 

Spiral staircase in the Alesund Art Nouveau Centre.

The Alesund Art Nouveau Centre, housed in historic buildings near the port, tells of the fire and its aftermath, and displays examples of Art Nouveau furniture and home decoration.

Bookcase.

Viking inspired silver baskets. 

The Fiskemuseet (Fishing Museum) in Alesund is also worth a visit. Exhibits, some with life-size figures, show how cod were processed to produce the rich oil, a source of vitamins A and D. I remember that when I was a child my mother put cod liver oil in my orange juice and how I hated the fishy taste.

Historic photos and containers of cod liver oil at the Fiskemuseet.

Many people come to Alesund for trips into the fjords, and before we came to Norway we had thought we would like to do that. But it turned out that our days in Alesund didn’t coordinate with the days of the boat tour. So we adapted our plans.

Former lighthouse at Alesund Harbor, now the honeymoon suite of a local hotel.

On our third day in Alesund we took a local bus to the Sunnmore Museum, a collection of 40 historic houses and other buildings resituated in a large park, as well a museum of boats, including several from Viking times.

Boathouse at Sunnemore Museum.

Graveyard of the Borgund Church, Sunnemore

It was a beautiful spring day, warm, and flowers were blooming.

People in National Dress at Sunnemore, on their way to a reception in a historic meeting hall.

As we walked around Sunnmore, we noticed groups of people in the traditional Norwegian dress—women in long embroidered skirts and men in dark suits. Even children and babies were wearing the national dress. While Norwegians don’t wear such clothing on a daily basis, it is apparently usual to wear the traditional clothing for confirmations and other special events. 

National dress, in store at shopping mall in Alesund.

Later, when we went into the shopping mall near our hotel, we saw the dresses and accompanying accessories on display.

Traditional design wall decoration, historic farmhouse at Sunnemore Museum. 

Our final excursion from Alesund was to nearby Runde Island to see the nesting seabirds. For more about that, go to my post of May 20, 2024 .

On Runde Island..

Norway is a big country and in the two weeks we were there we only saw a small part of it. But our visits to three cities—Oslo, Bergen, and Alesund—gave us a good taste of the landscape, culture, people, food, weather. We’d like to go back someday to experience more.

Art Deco window decoration, Alesund. 

  

GETTING TO KNOW GREENLAND - PART 1: NARSARSUAQ Guest Post by Caroline Hatton

From the plane: the Greenland Ice Sheet, glaciers, and lakes with clear blue to milky beige waters.

My friend and fellow children’s book author Caroline Hatton and her husband Bill visited Greenland in July 2019. She took all the photos in this post.

Ever since I first saw Greenland from the air, as a teen tourist flying with my parents from home in Paris to New York, I’ve dreamed of visiting this world of snow and ice and mountains with unknown names. Half a century later, I decided to go to Greenland before global warming makes it “all melt away.” Considering the headlines about the June 2019 Greenland IceSheet record melting spike, I hoped July 2019 wasn’t “two weeks too late…”

What should we see and do? We found no tour books. Old Iceland tour books had only a paragraph about Greenland. With insufficient info online, choosing destinations was too hard.

What does the landscape look like? Are there hiking trails or maps? How many days should we spend in each place? In the end, my husband picked a packaged tour, a sampler combining a Viking archeological site, icebergs, the midnight sun, history, culture, cuisine, and free time for hiking. The package included flights to three towns, “one with a name that starts with an N,” Bill said, “the capital, and one that starts with an I,” my first clue that Greenlandic is a challenge.

Flying from Reykjavik, Iceland, to Narsarsuaq, Greenland. Image courtesy of NASA, with red added.

We flew 2 h 20 min from Reykjavik, Iceland, to Narsarsuaq in South Greenland.

Greenlandic Bluebells (Campanula gieseckiana ssp. groenlandica)

I found Greenland phenomenal because of the enormous size and fluorescent blooms of its Greenlandic Bluebells (Campanula gieseckiana ssp. groenlandica), the myriad shapes and shades of blue of its waters in fjords and glacial lagoons and icecap meltwater lakes, and… the ferocity of its mosquitoes.

Former World War II movie theater. Marlene Dietrich sang there in person.

Narsarsuaq is a former World War II U.S. military airbase. It was needed as a refueling stop for planes headed for battle in Europe. American soldiers wounded in Europe received care at the base hospital on their way home. The Narsarsuaq Museum tells the story with roomfuls of photographs, news articles, documents, correspondence, military and medical paraphernalia, and every-day objects. The runway and some original buildings still exist.

This is Narsarsuaq: a runway, a hotel, a supermarket, a museum, a one-room school, four places to eat, and a tiny harbor (not in photo)... Across the fjord, the current sheep farming settlement, Qassiarsuq, and Erik the Red’s Viking ruins.

A 15-minute boat ride across the fjord is the Viking archeological site of Erik the Red’s farm, Brattahlíð, which is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The most substantial Viking ruins at this site: the wall stones of a Christian church, inside a turf fence. Other stones are still aligned where house and barns once stood. Nearby replicas of a long house and of an earlier, minuscule church are open to visitors.

Erik the Red came from Iceland in 982 and later established a Norse colony in what he named Greenland to attract more settlers. South Greenland truly was and still is heavenly green.

After more than 400 years in Greenland, the Vikings abandoned their settlements, but not until after the Thule ancestors of modern Inuits had arrived. Then the area became uninhabited again for roughly 300 years, before sheep farming restarted and continued until now. This history is summarized by tour guides and at the Narsarsuaq Museum.

The only musk ox we saw was on an appetizer at the Hotel Narsarsuaq restaurant—dark, dried, and shredded atop raw scallops. Edible wildflowers were picked outside the hotel and kept fresh with crushed ice: a purple Greenlandic Bluebell (Campanula gieseckiana ssp. groenlandica), pink Dwarf Fireweed (Chamaenerion latifolium), and yellow Greenland Buttercups (Ranunculus auricomus).

Today, guides lead visitors on foot or by boat or helicopter, to the Inland Ice (Greenland Ice Sheet), glaciers, icebergs, viewpoints, nearby towns, villages, tiny settlements, or more Viking ruins. Seeing musk ox, a wild and woolly beast of the Arctic looking bovine but related to sheep, would have been cool. But we would have had to research where locals might have seen some, then hire a guide and a boat for a day… at a phenomenal cost.

Permanent nylon ropes helped us climb a rocky slope.

Instead, we took a photo of the trail map hanging in the hotel lobby and went hiking past the ruin of the World War II hospital, through Flower Valley, and up to one of several small lakes.

Kiattuut Sermiat, an average backyard glacier, as seen from the trail

We loved the exercise, the scenery, and our mosquito-net jackets and headwear. Taking each photo two or three times was enough to get one without mosquitoes parked on the camera lens, creating big blurry blotches.

At the Polar-Tut Café: imagine thumping music.

For dinner at the Polar-Tut Café, we ordered from the menu board, handwritten in English and Danish, the second language taught in school (because Greenland is a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark). Reje burger is Danish for shrimp burger, shrimp and fish being the top Greenlandic exports. Local Qajaq beer on tap came in three shades: Doppelbock, Pilsner, and Dunkel.

After three richly satisfying days in Narsarsuaq, we flew up the west coast to the capital, Nuuk (pronounced nuke). There are no roads between towns in Greenland, so people get around by boat or plane. Clear skies made flightseeing a highlight of our trip.

For more info

Extreme melting in Greenland is not the only problem due to climate change: huge Arctic wildfires burned there and in Siberia, Scandinavia, and Alaska.

A U.S. World War II veteran pilot’s dramatic personal account of flying through Narsarsuaq