Copenhagen to Melbourne

We packed up for the last time, said good bye to the nice lady in the hotel,and schleped the bags and the box down to the train station about 10 minutes away. I ran down the stairs onto the platform with the bike box, left it there, ran back up to get Anne's bag and ran back down again. When I got back to the box, an older Danish lady was scrutinising the box suspiciously, clearly just about to call security and the bomb squad. We  smiled reassuringly, just dumb tourists here, and I think she was rather disappointed, for she stalked off after giving us a disapproving glare.  Here is Anne waiting with our stuff.

Thanks to the wonderfully efficient Danish railway - a train to the airport every 8 minutes, trip takes about 16 minutes from central station - we arrived without any problems, and managed to organise the VAT refunds - some one the spot, the Brompton one via post so it won't be quick. Then we checked in bags and box, ran afoul of airport security - I forgot the tube of sunscreen and the little bottle of hand sanitizer in my carryon backpack. I forgot nail clippers coming over and the same thing happened. But after having the bag's contents emptied out and a stern lecture, they let me through, and we fought our way through the crowd to the welcome haven of the business class lounge. Ii hear that the number of points you need for a business class flight has just gone up significantly - these might be the last business class flights for a while. 

Flight to Bangkok was almost deserted up our end of the plane, which made things relaxing. But it is a long and body clock confusing flight and getting off in Bangkok we were a bit stunned. 

But not as stunned as we were when we stumbled off in Melbourne some 12 hours later. Still, getting through immigration, collecting bags, getting through customs and out into a taxi all went really smoothly and quickly, and here we are home, tired but happy, with bags that won't have to be packed again for the foreseeable future. Yay!

After sunny blue skied Denmark, Melbourne is cold, and it is pouring outside.  But it is mighty good to be home.

Copenhagen Canals and Christiania Freetown

I think we are beginning to run out of chuff. It was a struggle to get out the door this morning. We arranged to move rooms so we had to pack up every thing, which takes a bit longer. But slow cognitive tempo was the major factor.

Anne wanted to visit Christiania Free Town, so we went to the Tourist information centre for advice on how to get there. The lady behind the counter dispensed information grudgingly, and on what she considered a need to know basis. Get the 9a bus, it leaves from outside the station. We headed out, saw a 9a bus, hopped on to it, a got about three stops before we twigged that we had fallen for the old right bus but going in the wrong direction trick. Second time this month I have fallen for it. We caught right bus in right direction, but got off too early. We retreated to a nearby coffee shop with wifi, consulted Google maps, and on our third attempt made it to the right stop, a short walk away from Christiania.

The place is one of the last alternative communal social living experiments from the seventies. It has managed to survive at least, and it is said to be Copenhagen's second most popular tourist attraction.

I am not sure what people are expecting to see. I can't say I enjoyed our visit that much - it felt rather like the museum in Aarhus, like trespassing. And it was fairly grungy as well. Still, it is the place which invented and produced the first, eponymous, Christiania bikes, so it has made at least one great contribution to the general good.

It took us a while to find the way out, but we did, and caught a bus across to the spot on the canal where the tour boats depart. Our timing was good and we caught one just as it was about to depart. Seeing a city from the water has to be one of the best ways. The watery heritage of the city becomes much more evident, and you get to see some wonderful boats close up - including the royal family's splendid yacht - some waterfront appartments that I would be happy to own, kayakers, funky house boats, and some lovely swan families.

After the cruise we walked over to Nyhaven, and enjoyed a pleasant lunch and a beer, sitting in the sun watching the world walk by. Senior school students here are having their graduation celebrations at the moment. This seems to involve walking around town wearing natty nautical type caps, and drinking a fair bit. You can see the half empty wine bottle in this lass's left hand.

It all seems very civilized, and probably a lot less dangerous than schoolies back home. After lunch we stumped back along the shopping pedestrian mall, which was a mistake, as it leached away something of the benign good humour we had acquired with lunch. But we got back ok. I headed off again for a fruitless search for some little travel padlocks for our bags - the same lady from the tourist information centre sent me on a wild goose chase. But I got to see some more of the neighbourhood, good and bad. 

We have been lying low, doing some last minute research - if we actually get VAT refunds I will be pleasantly surprised, if we don't, I won't be surprised at all - and I have been pottering around preparing the Brompton for the trip home.

We have the train tickets to the airport, we have checked the plane tickets. Definitely time to go.

Copenhagen again

This morning we had our last breakfast in the garden at the back of the hotel - a bit chilly as we were earlier than other days and the sun had not risen enough to clear the surrounding tall buildings. Also the day was colder - a brisk wind and a hint of change in the air. Indeed, walking down to the train, Anne wanted one last look in Magasin, a clothing store, and I nearly froze waiting over by the Domkirke. But Aarhus was still beautiful, with unexpected bits of beauty round otherwise unpromising looking corners. Walking through a short cut between carparks, there was a lane covered with splendid roses.

The Domkirke itself has a distinctive presence. In 1500, the church owned two thirds of the buildings in Aarhus. The Reformation shifted the balance, and many of the church buildings have gone, but the Domkirke  survives.

The train trip was comfortable, coasting along through the rolling hills of Jutland, past lakes and fijords and neat farms, and we arrived in reasonably good shape in Copenhagen 3 hours later. We know the station well now, and our arrival today was a considerable improvement on our first encounter after the train from Hamburg.

We checked into the hotel, and find ourselves up on the very top floor. It is relaxing up here, a feeling of being up above things. It has been a busy few days, so we designated today a rest day, and had a siesta.

We wandered down for a meal at a nearby Italian restaurant - friendly and very popular, but the food was fairly average. The trip is just about over, and we are looking forward to getting on that homeward bound plane.

Aarhus goodbye

Another bright clear morning and we enjoyed breakfast in the pretty garden at the back of the hotel. Anne went to explore some more shops, while I did some low key organising - going through my backpack throwing out old receipts and brochures, checking our money, and doing some research for the process of getting VAT refunds.

Jeppe came round at 12 and we set off to visit the Aarhus Art Museum, only to find it was closed on Mondays. We had lunch at the nearby Musik Parken, a relaxed open spot with good views across the city, not too many people and some great sculptures.

Anne voted to have a quiet afternoon, and Jeppe took me for a walk around some of the creative spaces and nifty public buildings of Aarhus. We went through one area which was recognizably once a railway goods loading area, but now has people making furniture, prints, and most important, craft beer. Some great interior spaces with massive wooden arched girders.

Next, we visited the open air museum of Aarhus, Den Camel By. In the 1920's, when some of the older buildings in Aarhus were to be demolished, someone with a great degree of foresight had them removed and reassembled on this large site on the edge of the botanical gardens. There are buildings from the 15th Century onwards, and the place is organised into chronological zones, currently up to the 1970s. There is a Jazz bar which Jeppe visited when it was operating, but which has been reconstructed on site. It still runs as a bar, with music, on Friday nights. There are appartments which faithfully reproduce the appartments of specific people - a single mother and her son, a group of Turkish immigrants, a Somali family. They were unnervingly realistic, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I was trespassing in someone's home. There were young people photographing themselves next to a VW Beetle much like the one I used to have. There was a grocery store, a radio shop, and a hairdresser all of which faithfully reproduced shop windows and interiors from the 70s, all eerily familiar.

The really scary thing was the sign announcing that a new area, reproducing apartments from 2014, would shortly be opening. Disconcerting to see 2014 as the stuff of social history.

The last area we entered as billed as a time travel experience, showing the development of Aarhus over time. It sure has been knocked about over the centuries by various invaders. I was absorbed in the stories of the German occupation during WW2, when a chap appeared who shooed us out, as we were a half an hour past closing time. I think we were close to having been locked in for the night.

We met Jeppe and Maia for dinner up at the food market. It was so good to see them and to spend some time with such generous, interesting, energetic young people starting out on an ambitious life together. We had an icecream near the Domkirke, then said goodbye and went our separate ways. I don't like goodbyes much. I hope we see them again in the not too distant future.

So, tomorrow, up early and pack, then back to Copenhagen. Only three more sleeps till we get on the plane and begin our journey home. We have really enjoyed our stay in Aarhus, which I think deserves to be the Europe Capital of Culture for 2017.

Jelling

This morning we were a bit stunned when we woke up, despite having a very quiet and abstemious evening the preceding night. We went down the road for breakfast, then in search of a satisfactory coffee - a cafe latte with a double shot seems to do the trick. A beautiful quiet Sunday morning to be out and about.

Anne explored a couple of the nearby shops while I went for a walk down by the Domkirke and surrounding streets.

Jeppe and Maia picked us up at 12, and we drove to Jelling, to see in situ the Jelling stone. We have seen copies, in Lisbon and York, of this stone, which has been described - because the Runes refer to the country of Denmark and because of the image of Christ on one side - as Denmark's birth certificate.

When we first viewed the stone, the sunlight was bright and the sun was high, which made the carving difficult to make out. When we returned later in the day, the lower angle of the sun made the carving stand out in sharp relief.

After visiting the mound which stands in the exact centre of the site, and admiring the outline of the massive stone ship that must have predated the mounds, we visited the nearby museum. While the collection of artefacts is much smaller than Moesgaard it did a good job of conveying something of the context and history of the site. As well as having some very engaging interactive displays. Our favourite was an exhibit designed to convey the time it would take a Viking warrior to die from a variety of wounds - 10 minutes for an arrow to the neck, 30 minutes for a spear to a vital organ, 3 hours for an axe wound. The display emitted an appropriately gruesome noise and lots of simulated blood when you touched any one of the numerous weapons which were stuck into the unfortunate Viking warrior.

After the museum we visited the church, nestled between the two burial mounds, in the very centre of what was a pagan Viking site, then drove to Jeppe and Maia's new house. They don't get to move in till August, but it was good to see the house and location so we can imagine them in there. It is in a beautiful location.

We drove back to Aarhus and lounged around, enjoying their lovely apartment and admiring the great Danish design evident in the furniture and fittings.

It was good to be in a home setting - not a hotel or a restaurant, and we felt more relaxed than we have for a while. It made us extra glad we are heading back to our home soon. After a delicious dinner and interesting conversation, we walked with Jeppe to retrieve his car, getting a glimpse of Aarhus suburbia. Jeppe kindly dropped us off at the hotel.

A really lovely day, and although tired we feel sort of exhilarated, with lots of ideas for things we want to try when we get home.

Aarhus Moesgaard Museum

I am sorry to say we drank rather too much wine last night. It was fun at the time, but we didn't feel quite so good this morning. Jeppe came by about 10.30 and while Anne had a rest, we went for a walk around our neighbourhood. It was Latin Festival here today, Latin as in the Latin quarter of Paris, and the winding cobbled streets were decked out with tricolour flags, washing strung across between buildings, pots of lavender, and other french themed sort of decoration. There was a group of girls in French maid outfits dusting anyone who came too close. There were chaps from the local cycling club, dresses like Tour de France France riders from the sixties. There was even a baguette with a stuck on moustache and a tricolour scarf, cable tied to a drain pipe. It was all very festive on a lovely clear sunny morning.

We visited the Domkirke, with its whitewashed bright interior and candle stick holders on the end of the pews - even the church is hygge. Except perhaps for the alarmingly graphic and violent paintings on some of the arches, that have been uncovered by removing the whitewash layers.

We collected Anne, then drove along the coast and through the thick forest that lies only a couple of kilometres from the centre of the city, to the Moesgaard Museum. For a city about the size of Geelong,  this is extraordinarily good. They have focused on a few main themes - the evolution of humans, the bronze and iron age people's whose artifacts and remains have been preserved in the bogs of Jutland, and the Vikings.

The presentation was almost too good - after an hour pondering the confronting evidence of hapless animals and humans sacrificed and thrown into the bog, we retreated up to the cafe for a cup of tea and some sunlight before heading back down to the Viking exhibition. We now have a much better idea of Viking Aarhus. The location of our hotel is well within the fortified walls of the Viking settlement. The evolution of humans is very immediately represented by a series of life sized figures on the main stairway - VR viewers around the stop of the stairs give a representation of the environment that each human ancestor might have experienced.

We climbed up the steeply sloping external roof to enjoy the views across to the nearby islands, then drove back into town, stopping for an icecream at the yacht marina, a busy place filled with Danish people enjoying a sunny Saturday. A bumble bee joined us as we sat in the sun.

Jeppe dropped us back at the hotel and we had a much needed rest for a couple of hours, then walked up to the train station to collect our tickets for our return to Copenhagen on Tuesday, and a low key dinner in a Thai restaurant round the corner.

We like Aarhus a lot, much easier on the nerves than Copenhagen. Maybe we should stick to smaller places in future.

Aero to Aarhus

There was a storm out somewhere to the north last night, and the lightning woke me up. I lay awake listening to the church bell ringing out the hour and the half hour till 2, then finally fell asleep again. But I was feeling a little fragile when morning came round.

After breakfast we went for a walk along the poplar lined path beside the bay. A lady with a friendly Labrador passed us. "He is going to a dog meeting" she told us as she passed, and sure enough, up ahead at the point there were some people sitting on chairs and a pack of assorted dogs milling about, and behind us were a trio of more dogs, with owners, heading off to the "meeting". It seemed very Aero that local dogs had an organised event to attend.

There was a minor alarm when, a few minutes before the ferry docked, Anne realised she had left something back in the hotel room. Luckily it was not far, and I managed to run back to the hotel and then back to the ferry before it left.

Our friend Jeppe was waiting at Svendborg, and we had a nice lunch in a traditional Danish inn, where I tried the pickled herring in the interests of expanding my cultural horizons. Jeppe drove us to Aarhus, crossing on the way the vast bridges that connect Funen to Jutland.

It was great to catch up with Jeppe, and very nice to be driven. We stopped in a cool looking neighbourhood on the outskirts of Aarhus for the best coffee in quite a while, then onto our hotel, passing the striking Rainbow Panorama ontop of the Aarhus Art Gallery.

We headed out a bit later with Jeppe and Maia to a nice cafe for wine o'clock, then went to an ambitious restaurant for a self-consciously upmarket dinner. Aarhus seems to take its newfound foodie status very seriously. It was nice to have two bright young locals to talk to about Denmark and it's enigmatic ways.

Aarhus looks like an interesting and lively city. We are glad to be here, and glad we will be heading home in week.