I’m glad that we missed the bus. Missing the bus meant walking, and walking—despite looking very, very far on the map—turned out to be a pleasant stroll through fields, between water and trees, cows and grazing sheep.

We had arrived in Schleswig—an itty-bitty coastal town in northern Germany—the night before, and we were on our way to the Haithabu Viking Museum and the neighboring reconstructed Viking village.

Haithabu, an area now referred to as Haddeby on modern maps and bus schedules, is considered one of the most important Viking settlements in northern Europe, its port a center of trade and activity, and one of the oldest. Now almost a century of archeological finds from the original village’s site can be viewed in the museum: pots and bowls, weapons, jewelry, and bits of cloth. From these artifacts archeologists have constructed a detailed picture of Viking life for museum visitors, which after a short walk through more fields and woods, is brought to life in the reconstructed settlement.