The harbor town of Aarhus is off the beaten track . It is the
second-largest city in Denmark, yet all its main attractions are within walking
distance of the port: One is never more than a pleasant stroll from parks,
museums and shopping
The city was settled by the Vikings toward the end of the first millennium, and by 1100 was a major regional port. Aarhus later faded from prominence until the 20th century, when the railway once again made the town a center of commerce. Now, the city is back on the map as an educational and commercial center with the Danish monarch's holiday palace. It is also a lively university town (the University of Aarhus features a wonderful park and museums).
We docked in Aarhus about Noon on Monday. All morning it has been extremely foggy, not
too terribly cold, but very windy. The
fog horns have sounded all morning.
It’s cleared up a lot by noon.
The port is very industrial and busy.
Containers as far as you can see.
There has been an amazing amount of shipping that we’ve seen.
An interesting spectacle while waiting on the clearance: About 20 or so security guys with dogs
boarded the ship. Don’t know what they
are looking for, but we were late leaving last night while waiting on two
Russians….ummmmm.
The city offers shuttle service into the city gates. There were plenty of buses so it was
relatively painless to leave the ship.
We just walked around a bit and spent our last few Krones. It was a neat city; there were hundreds of
high school kids around…don’t know if school is out already or if they were
just in town for something special….but they were everywhere.
In 1963, while excavating a site downtown for a Bank, a
Viking village was discovered. Building
was halted and the Viking Museum was built at the actual site of the
village. The bank was then built on top
of the museum (located in the basement).
Steps down into the museum show the excavated levels by ages back to
95AD. Very interesting.
Supposedly, in Copenhagen, approximately 2200 people got off
the ship at the end of the first cruise leg and 2800 got on for the Baltic
Cruise. There’s a noticible difference
in the amount of people in the Horizon Court…don’t know where they put them
all, but I think there’s a lot of room sharing going on. We talked to a girl who’s tour guide placed
her in a room with 2 other women…she didn’t know them. That’s NOT what I would want to do. And I’ve seen families around and I’m sure
they are sharing a room.
One of the things we wanted to do in Aarhus was to go see the
art museum called, “Your Rainbow Panorama” located on the rooftop of a building
in Aarhus. It’s a walking tour of
artworks shown in a panorama of colors.
Would you believe, it’s closed on Mondays.
Disappointed. It was
interesting to walk the streets of Copenhagen and Aarhus knowing that two years
ago, our granddaughter, Cassidy walked the same streets while she was an
exchange student to Denmark. This
strange Danish language and the different customs make us admire her courage
even more for the decision to make this country her home for a year.
Arhus, Denmark:
 |
| Viking Museum in basement of white building |
Tomorrow will be an interesting day. We leave for Berlin with Alla Tours….small
vans. However, all train drivers are
now on strike and many were going into Berlin via train. All Princess tours involved coaches and
trains and will still go as they have chartered trains. It mostly affects the many, many people who
were going into Berlin independently on trains. The line at the shore excursion desk will be full today. So glad we’re already set.
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