Our day began in Gudvangen where we enjoyed the hotel breakfast buffet which had relatively few weird Scandinavian food offerings. We did watch a woman pour liquid yogurt into her coffee but we couldn’t tell if it was an intentional act or a traveler’s mistake.
In Gudvangen there is a Viking Village which is adjacent to the Joker gas station. Last night we wondered whether we should even attempt to visit this Norwegian tourist trap but the morning was cloudy, cool and, most importantly, rain-free. This compelled us to give it a try before leaving town for Bergen on the west coast.
We were rewarded with a marvelous experience.
The readers of our blog will relate to either Old Wisconsin, Greenfield Village, or colonial Williamsburg as reference for the Viking Village. There were blacksmiths, weavers, carvers, tattoo artists, warriors, and even a chieftain roaming among a number of faithfully reproduced buildings.
There were guides who were very informed and interesting and many times talked about what the archeology supports vs what modern culture has come to believe. They showed us how various weapons were used in battle. Our children took to the lessons and were happy to re-enact the “Battle of the Internet Memes” under the watchful (and bemused) eye of their mentor.
We learned that the Viking boats were constructed using overlapping pine planks for rigidity.
These boats were also flat-bottomed which gave the Vikings the ability to row them uprivers to portage (drag, really) overland penetrating deep into a foreign territory.
This Viking boat didn’t have a mast so it wasn’t necessarily an ocean-going reproduction but a boat like this was used to carry Vikings upriver into Europe, across the Caucasus mountain passes, down to the Black Sea, and into the Mediterranean Sea. There is evidence of Vikings having ventured as far as Baghdad during their time.
The kids were much more enthused about ax throwing and archery than learning about wool dying techniques and sailing ranges.
Mom and Dad took in much of the village tour and were happy to see the kids explore the area on their own. They learned to play Viking games and abused a wooden practice dummy with throwing spears and a wooden dagger. It was an excellent place for each of the 5 Adventurers to find something of interest.
The positive feelings about the Viking Village left us confident to try the cafe next door despite the “mixed” reviews online.
The boys chose meat and potatoes and Mom gave the reindeer sausage and sauerkraut a try. In the end, we increased their review average!
Tonight, we are staying in Bergen. We had originally considered following an itinerary which would have us travel from Oslo to Bergen in a single day stopping for a fjord tour along the way. Instead we granted ourselves a little more time to enjoy the trip west.
This included a short stop in the lovely town of Voss which sits alongside the Vangsvatnet lake and is surrounded by several 5,000 foot peaks. This area attracts campers, skiers, extreme sports fans, and (today at least) hundreds of youth soccer players.
It was very festive and lively. It seems apparent to us now that dutiful soccer parents who coach and cheer their kids on is pretty universal.
We arrived in Bergen and had a late dinner near the train station. We are all pretty tired so it probably won’t be a problem that the sun won’t set here until after 11pm!
5 Adventures Together 