The Netherlands & The Baltic

We arrived in Århus this morning and took a tour to the Fyrkat Viking Museum, which depicts life in Denmark under the reign of King Harald Bluetooth around 980 AD. Because Bluetooth is known for uniting the disparate Danish tribes into a single kingdom, the name was given to the technology protocol to imply that it similarly united communication.

The Fyrkat ring fortress is one of five fortresses constructed during Bluetooth's rule. The earthen ramparts would have been the foundation for wooden fortifications that guarded the fortress. 16 longhouses were situated inside the ring. They housed Viking soldiers stationed here to protect a key trade route. The Viking farmstead was a living museum that showed what everyday life would have been like for vikings at that time.

On the way back to Århus, we stopped at Råsted Church. The church was built between 1125-1150, just after the end of the Viking age and the conversion of Denmark to Christianity.

Tonight was the Orange party celebrating Holland America Line's Dutch heritage!Læs mere