Roskilde

We were in Scandinavia, and our only knowledge of Vikings and Viking culture, was the Monty Pythonesque movie, Erik the Viking. We felt that a trip to a Viking museum was in order. Roskilde lies in the West of Zealand, the main island of Denmark. It is well known for its Cathedral, its music festival and its Viking Ship Museum, our target for the day.

The museum was very good. At the beginning there was an introductory film which explains how the ships were excavated and conserved and why they were sunk in the first place. In the exhibition hall, the remains of the ships are on display. There is also a Children’s corner where you learn to write in Runes or dress up as a Viking. (The website for the museum is very good too!)

More at fushmush.net

..at McDonalds before driving further south, plus it was raining. Anyway, charming little city all the same. Next time we’ll stay longer.

I am still missing the experience of staying on the camp side. And I do know that it is half of the festival spirit.

I never thought I would make it to the Roskilde Festival, ‘cause it’s something I’ve only heard about all my life, but this year – there I was. It was like no other festival before and somehow it was such an honour to be a part of it. It’s not just for everyone to have a good time, the workers there are almost all volunteers and it also donates all its profit to charity. And now I’m one of these people who think about going back there every year. Why? Dunno. There’s something about it.

The town of Roskilde is really small, just 20 000 people living there, but at the time of the festivals, it was crowded by 100 000 people. You did notice it. But everything worked. The Danes were friendly, the hostel in the harbour was cosy and peaceful, it was all wonderful. And the weather was heavenly. (I’ve heard about the mud in year 2004.)

It was for a 3 day rock concert back in 1984 or 1985. Cant’ be sure, but I was with some Danes and they wanted to earn money, so we got some face paint, and painted faces for a small fee that weekend. Lots of fun and I got to be the resident artist.