Aarhus

After 5 days of settling in to our neighborhood in Copenhagen, Chuck and I decided to take advantage of a forecast of 2 days of beautiful weather to take a little trip to Aarhus, on the western peninsula of Jutland.  We quickly booked ourselves a hotel and bought train tickets for the next day.  It was a very peaceful 3+ hour train ride through the mostly flat countryside, with cropland, forests, small towns.  When I learned that Mollehoj, the highest point in Denmark (171m high!), was located quite close to the train line in Jutland, I got my phone out to take photos of the mountains or hills or bumps that I might see, being a mountain girl at heart.  It was surprisingly difficult to determine when we were passing the highest point!

After we arrived at the train station in Aarhus, we quickly found the lively pedestrian street (Stroget) that led us up thru the center of town, across the canal, thru the Latin Quarter to our little hotel.  We visited the rooftop of the Salling Department Store, which I now agree is the Best Rooftop in the World: there were winding paths, gardens, viewing platforms, cafes, even a swing! 

Rooftop of Salling Department Store

More of the rooftop

Next morning after the delicious breakfast food spread (fruit, yogurt, granola, cheese, meats, pastries), we headed straight for ARoS Art Museum.  What an amazing museum!  Words don't do justice to some of the interesting displays currently being exhibited.  I loved seeing Boy (a hyperrealistic 4.5 meter figure), as well as other pieces by Ron Mueck.  

At the top of the museum is Rainbow Bridge, a circular path with windows overlooking the city, with each glass pane a different shade of the rainbow.

Rainbow Bridge

After the museum, we walked over to Den Gamel By (The Old City), a collection of old buildings from Denmark, dating from ~1880, 1927, 1970, or 2014.  There were interesting displays as well as costumed workers willing to discuss what life was like in their time.  I particularly enjoyed visiting bakeries from several of the older periods to compare how baked goods had changed over time.

We also enjoyed visiting Aarhus Cathedral as well as Vor Frue Kirke (Church of Our Lady).  Both had intricately painted frescoes on the walls that were white-washed during the Reformation: this seems a tragic loss of art until you learn that the white paint ultimately preserved the colorful paint underneath. The crypt below Vor Frue Kirke was built in 1060 and is the oldest stone church in Scandinavia.