Getting Our Viking On

Day 10, May 29

L’Anse Aux Meadows

We were two days too early for the L’Anse Aux Meadows historic site, which opens for the season on June 1. But we went there anyway because we boondocked very nearby. Also, some people on yesterday’s boat ride said they’d gotten access to the outdoor portion, which features a recreated Viking village. (We previously visited the site in 2018.) There are fun silhouettes on the hillside.

Indeed the Visitor Center was locked up tight, but we remembered a boardwalk trail from our earlier visit, and set out for a quick hike, just to stretch our legs. Little did we know that our 15 minutes would stretch into two hours.

The boardwalk passed through a tundra bog, a carpet of red, yellow and orange plants. Some of the plants are carnivorous, which is always fun. I found a moose print in one patch of mud.

Then the path rose to rocky areas that wound through patches of caribou lichen, a white lichen that’s the caribou’s favorite food. Honestly, it must be why caribou are so lean. Can you imagine an all-lichen diet?

Though I’ve read that some chefs are experimenting with this food.

(Can you spot Big Blue in the photo below?)

Hiking is probably the time we have the most distance from each other. Doug tends to wander step by step, his mind in a blissful place. I tend to walk fast until something arrests my attention, then I stop and stare. Sometimes I don’t even take photos, because they don’t do the place justice, not at all.

Check out the large iceberg in the distance.

Then the path crossed huge basalt rocks and dropped to the coastline that led to the Viking huts.

We looked at the buildings from the outside, then walked through the mounds and ruins which are being excavated.

Finally we finished the loop, only to discover that it went through the Visitor Center, which was locked. We didn’t want to backtrack two kilometers. So we bushwhacked around the side of the building, which was built partially underground, probably to mimic the Viking huts. The sloping sides were piled with rather jagged rocks, which we climbed over, foot by careful foot. (Please do not imitate our illegal acts. We are just stupid amateurs.)

Finding a Viking Lunch

The area has a couple restaurants that feature “Viking meals” and we were ready to eat like Vikings. But one of the restaurants was listed as Closed, and the other, which was listed as Open, was not. Sometimes your phone lies to you.

As we drove away, a local man flagged us down. He helpfully suggested other places for lunch, and we realized he was simple. He held up a little Ziploc baggie with two shells in it. He said that he collects them on the beach and sells them, $5 dollars per shell, or two for $10. Overpriced of course, but we obliged him and bought some.

Then he dropped his voice, “I’m not the one who told you this, but if you follow this road down, there are five Viking huts and a 52 foot Viking ship. But don’t tell anyone I said that. Please, please don’t get me in trouble.”

We thanked him, but we’d already seen Viking huts and were hungry for lunch. Even though it felt like backtracking, we returned to the Dark Tickle store. Cafe Nymphe is upstairs and has a nice view.

We split a bowl of curry parsnip soup, which was warming. Then I had fish cakes and Doug had fisherman’s brewis — both made from salt-dried cod. Since it’s too early in the season for fresh cod, this is a perfect time to try other options.

Our meals came with a small salad of grated carrots, sunflower seeds, and dried berries. I also had a cup of tea that was nothing but steeped partridgeberries. Deep purple in color. Pungent. Perfect.