Day 15 – Aarhus

 

Day 15 – Aarhus

We knew nothing about Aarhus, Denmark before studying guides and had minimal expectations.  It was a partly cloudy but cool day, requiring layers to stay comfortable.  The port was closed to pedestrians so we had to wait for shuttle buses to take us to town.  Once in town, we realized that the tram system did not accept credit cards and we had no local money.  With no way to buy tram tickets, even at the transit station, we were helped by a local man to call a taxi.  A short ride later we were at Den Gamle By – an open air museum containing an astonishingly wide spread of buildings from all over Denmark and representing the culture from the 1600s to the early 20th century.  It was amazing – a wonderful window into Danish culture, architecture, and experience, with lots of “nooks and crannies” to explore and ancient staircases to climb.  There were even buildings full of children’s toys and trains and steam engines and “new fangled” gadgets (for those times).

We spent 3+ hours there and then walked towards town center along a canal to the Latin Quarter.  The main church in Aarhus (Domsogn) is a massively built brick structure with little grace on the outside.  However, the interior is full of light, graceful columns and vaulted ceilings, and a magnificent organ (Joe our church organist should visit this one).  Since the churches in major ports are often focused on prayers for mariners, this church had a model 3-masted ship hanging from a side chapel ceiling and a carved sailor (perhaps a bow sprit figure) hanging in another.  Since most of the northern European churches were heavily redecorated during the reformation (Catholic statues, artwork, and other overt Christian symbols were removed) the churches are often painfully plain.  This was not the case in the Aarhus Domsogn.

We walked past many ornate neo-classical buildings including the opera house and entered the atrium of the ultra-modern AROS art museum.  It sits high above the surrounding streets and features a 360 degree walkway at the top which continuously varies in colors and designs.  The main library (DOKK1) was equally unusual: elevated above the streets with broad outside walkways featuring unusual play structures.  A bear wrestling a snake formed a climbing structure and slide, for example.  The interior of the library is enormous with very people friendly spaces and lots of variety – an example of what libraries can and should be.

All in all, Aarhus was an unexpected pleasure, full of surprises and experiences.

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