Aarhus, Denmark

As some of you know, I was in Aarhus, Denmark for approximately 2 weeks (June 27-July 9) for my study camp, which is part of my MBA. I had extended some days for travelling prior and after the camp. Below is my “little experience” in Aarhus:

Aarhus weather:
1st week – Humid, Cold (around 17-20 Celsius) and getting warm (up to 29 Celsius); At night, 16-24 Celsius
2nd week - Humid, Cold (around 19-20 Celsius during day time, around 11-17 Celsius at night)

The weather is pleasant when I arrived in Aarhus (it is pronounced as “Oo-hus”), approximately 17-20 Celsius during day time and around 16-24 Celsius at night. Sunset is at around 10pm and the weather varies greatly after that. Sunrise is at around 4am during summer. According to the locals, this is one of the hottest summer in Denmark. I am rather disappointed as most of my clothes are thick and it can be rather hot at times in the afternoon.

Denmark is a land of blondes. I see more blondes here than anywhere else in the world and my coursemates agree to this. Aarhus is a lovely and quiet city with a lot of greeneries. People here are friendly and they speak good English. I have no problems asking for directions.

Shops here close around 5pm for Monday to Saturday and for the whole day on Sunday. Restaurants and grocery shops generally has longer opening hours. After most of the shops are close, the street is almost empty. The atmosphere is totally different from Malaysia, where the happening hours are after work and weekends.

The common transportation here is bicycle. There are lots of bicycles everywhere and public bicycles (in blue) are available for free. I got very excited when I knew about this. Unfortunately, the bicycle’s seat is too high for me and I did not manage to get a ride around the city. The common public transportation here is the city bus (yellow colour). Each bus ticket costs 19 DKK (around RM7.20) and valid for two hours. If you will be travelling a lot by bus, you can get a “klipperkort” (10 tickets) for 120 DKK. There is no expiry date for the 10 tickets and you can use it whenever you want. There is no bus conductor. Tickets can be bought at the machine in the train station or in the bus. In the bus, there are two CCTVs.

In general, the Danish food is quite nice – creamy, cheesy, cold (for seafood) and raw (for seafood and vegetables). Danish is famous for its pastry. For breakfast, I normally have fresh bread, strawberry/raspberry jam, bacon, cheese and milk. I have almost the same breakfast throughout my study camp and it can be rather boring. Occasionally, they have the fruit yoghurt which is thick and creamy. Danish people seem to like salty and sweet food. Some of the food such as the herring is really salty and some desserts are too sweet. My favourite is the salmon dishes. It is fresh and they have numerous ways of cooking nice salmon dishes.

Attractions:

Den Gamle By (The Old Town) is one of the main attractions in Aarhus. It is a living image of life in a market town at the time of Hans Christian Andersen. Buildings in the Old Town have been rebuilt based on materials of the original building. In the town, you will be able to see people dressing up in 1800s costumes. It is as if the town has been “revived”. My favourite building is the mintmaster’s house. It is also one of the major projects of Old Town. Even though the architecture of the building is not fascinating, its internal design is splendid. Surprisingly, they changed the colour of the building according to the latest trend. From the mini models, I can see the changes across different eras.

Legoland is a theme park in Billund. Inside of Legoland, there are plenty of models or statues made of Lego. Some of these models such as aeroplanes, ships, boats and mindmill are moveable. The designer of this park is so detailed that almost every single thing in the park is made of Lego. For example, snakes in the bushes and monkey on the roof. Games in Legoland are very interactive and built based on the Lego series. For some games such as the pirates, both people inside the ship and right outside of the boundary are able to shot water “bullets”. A lot of parents are engaged in the games with their children. I am really amazed on how the layout the theme park and design the games. Lego has definitely put in a lot of effort and thoughts into this.

Mindeparken is a park near the sea. It is very nice and pleasant park with lots of greeneries. Beside the park is the royal summer palace. In the afternoon, you will be able to see a lot of people sunbathing, barbequeing or playing games with their family. Some ladies even dress in bikini or only bra.

ARoS is an art museum. Near the art museum are the court house (which seems to be very quiet) and the old barracks. The concept behind the art museum building is very special. It is designed in a way that it blends well with the city. At the lower ground, there is a bookshop and people are allowed to walk around freely. Therefore, the museum is lively at all times when it is opened. There are many levels in the museum and different arts are located at different levels. My favourite is the modern art section and 9 spaces. The oil paintings are refined, beautiful and alive. The 9 spaces is a gallery of light art, video art and installations. It is very interesting way of presenting “art”. My favourite will be the 2nd space. It is a room with a living room and a “window” (it is not a real window but perceived to be one). At different times of the day, the sky colour changes and so as the lighting in the room. At night, there are “stars” on the ceiling and floor. They have exhibitions of special themes for a period of time. The theme when I went was “love”. Well, their definition of “love” is much different from what I expected. It is really an eye opener. There was a short video with the “bisexual” theme and the way they filmed it is very artistic.

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