Become a Viking, Live On Boat

 

Yesterday: a beautiful Saturday at the shipyard by the fjord.

I love the Roskilde marina; there's so much going on down there.
Boat-building, basket-weaving, rope-making.

I would love to live on a boat someday.

I'd also like to live in an Airstream, up a tree, at a commune, above a coffeehouse, maybe try out a yurt, too. And then, eventually, maybe, live in an honest-to-goodness house again.

We went in the Viking Museum and had a little history lesson, saw a few of the earliest ships
(or their skeletons, at least) ...

The word Viking was originally used in England and Scandinavia to describe a pirate. It is now used to describe the whole [time] period, as well as many aspects of the Viking lifestyle ... The Vikings came from the North. They were Germanic tribes who had not come into direct contact with Roman culture [but had] kept to their own way of life instead  ... Their contemporaries were distinguished by four main groups: Danes, Gauts, Norwegians, and Swedes, all of whom more or less spoke the same language - the Danish tongue.  Most of the Vikings made a living by farming, fishing, hunting, crafts and trade. It was only a very few of them who lived by piracy.

... Had a picnic in the sunshine, got some ice-cream, visited the art museum and glass shop by the harbor, went to the playground, bought yet another elephant for Isaac's growing collection.

... Took lots of photos.

And then we went sailing in a Viking boat! This was Isaac's reaction to the life-jacket (above). He loved the boat, though. There were sixteen of us in all, plus the first mate and the skipper (who has been sailing the ships for twenty years, and has this delightful way of saying things like 'we probably won't capsize today' and then laughing nervously at his crew of tourists). We actually got to row and steer the boat ourselves. We didn't do so well, but I loved every minute of it.

It was a good day.

And tomorrow I am going back to learn how to make my own basket. ♥