Aarhus, Denmark

April 26-28, 2001

The second largest city has the deserted feeling of Odense after hours, but this time I’m travelling with Ritsuko so quiet evenings can take on a very different meaning than when solo travelling. Just before I left London, we put down the first month's rent on a new flat together that I'm anxious to settle until next week.

Being off-season and Denmark feeling so empty, I figured we could easily find a place to stay, but everything in the immediate center is full, costs a months pay or too low of a standard for a first night in a new country. Before dark, we found a place not excessively far, clean and reasonable. The next day we started exploring together.

The morning was spent in Den Gamble By, the National Open Air Museum of Urban History. 75 Historic buildings, some transplanted to save them from destruction, are open to see the living and working quarters they were during the Renaissance to the World War I eras.

Outside of that, the two old churches and town hall were worthy of seeing. Like many cities hundreds of years old, they are built upon an ancient city well over one thousand years old. Aarhus is no exception, but to see some of the Viking roots, you’ll have to go into the deep basement of one of the banks (not really advertised, but open to the public). It’s a strange dream like feeling walking past a queue of customers in a busy modern bank to slip below into another age.