Drenched in Horten

Wed. 8/9

Last day in Oslo before we leave for Bergen. Went to Horten to see Viking Living History museum. Took a tram, train, ferry, and bus. There was a berry stand on the way in, and we enjoyed giant, delicious raspberries on the walk in. Excellent Viking history displays. The swains played Tafl. Played loggats and another viking game called kubb [from Wikipedia: Kubb (pronounced [kɵb] in Swedish or [kub] in Gutnish) or Stickey Sticks in English, is a lawn game where the objective is to knock over wooden blocks (kubbs) by throwing wooden batons (kastpinnar) at them. Kubb can be described as a combination of bowling and horseshoes.

Play takes place on a small rectangular playing field, known as a "pitch". "Kubbs" are placed at both ends of the pitch, and the "king", a larger wooden block, is placed in the middle of the pitch. Some rules vary from country to country and from region to region, but the ultimate objective of the game is to knock over the "kubbs" on the opposing side of the pitch, and then to knock over the "king", before the opponent does. Games can last from five minutes to well over an hour. The game can be played on a variety of surfaces such as grass, sand, concrete, snow, or even ice.]

We also tried our bows on the archery range, but it started drizzling. I went inside for an umbrella before

we ambled over to view the viking mounds.

It started raining in earnest, so we headed for the gorgeous ‘Mead Hall’.

Had a lovely time listening to the hall master tell us tales while we warmed ourselves by the fire and took photos. We didn’t drink any mead, though, since there was only water in the drinking horn, and we weren’t offered any.

Decided it was time to head back to town. We had to return their umbrella, and while we waited at least 20 minutes for the bus back, we were totally soaked by the rain.

The ferry back was warm and served cafeteria-style hot food which helped a lot, but our garments were dripping wet when we boarded the train back to Oslo. We were a very motley crew. A nice man gave me his seat on the train, and as I settled in, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned, and this woman about my age offered me her shawl. I tried to decline, but she said she didn’t want me catching cold. I took it gratefully, and thanked her very much for her kindness [in Norsk!]

Side note: about a month before the trip, I started learning Norsk [Norwegian]. It’s much easier than Lithuanian, and although I only made it through Lesson 4 of 10, I was able to carry on limited conversations.

She exited the train a few stops before us, and I tried to return her shawl, but she told me to keep it! I did, and I did not catch cold, and I’m still grateful to her. The shawl is Swedish wool in an abstract line pattern of white, black, and gray, and did keep the chills off.

From the train, we took the tram back to our place, and all of us stopped at the grocery store for food for dinner and our expedition to Bergen tomorrow. It wasn’t raining in Oslo. Max carried my groceries, and thank goodness there was a clothes-drying rack there. Packed what I could and fell asleep after a nice hot bath.