This morning most of us relaxed at the sommerhus while Susannah attended a workshop on problem-based learning held at nearby Aalborg University. In the afternoon, we all joined up to visit the city of Aalborg, where we saw the Limfjord. This body of water actually separates the northern part of Jutland from the rest of the peninsula, and has connections to both the North Sea to the west and the Kattegat to the east. Historically, the western outlet has come and gone with storm activity and shifting sands, and has only been kept open in modern times through dredging.

At the end of our visit to Aalborg, it was after 5 pm and all the museums were closed. Fortunately, just outside the city center is an area that can be visited at any time: Lindholm Høje, a Viking-era settlement site and graveyard. The area was in active use from around 400 to 1100 CE, but was eventually abandoned after storms covered the farm fields with sand. Archeological excavations have uncovered evidence of Viking longhouses and multiple graves, some unmarked but many ringed with stone markers. The site was quite picturesque in the setting sunlight. A rookery fills the woods surrounding the field: many ravens had nests in the treetops, and we could hear them squabbling and occasionally see groups of birds flying about.

If you visit Scandinavia it is almost imperative that you try the seafood. For our last stop of the day we had to pay a call to the aforementioned Jensens Fiskehus, now called Jacob’s. Located in the port town of Sæby, it offers an all-you-can eat buffet replete with lobster, crab, shrimp, mussels, and fish prepared just about every way you can imagine. Lobster and fish soups to start, a dessert table to end the meal — we all came out completely stuffed and happy.