By Kristian Serge Skov-Larsen
ksl@adm.au.dk
Football
All three of Denmark’s group games in the World Cup will be shown on a big screen at Store Torv next to the cathedral. Plenty of Danish football fans with red and white faces are guaranteed to be there, and this will give you the chance to see the Danes in a more relaxed mood than normal. Because if Denmark beat the Netherlands in their first game on 14 June there’ll be plenty of perfect strangers who might want to give you a big hug!
Denmark’s next two group games are on 19 and 24 June, and with the usual Danish sense of reality the people responsible for erecting the big screen have already announced that they’re ready to show all the Danish games – right the way through to the final.
Music
The Århus Jazz Festival is on 10-17 July. Many of the concerts cost money of course, but there will also be a number of open-air events which are free of charge. See the full programme at www.jazzfest.dk, which is also available in an English version.
Museums
In addition to the best known museums in Århus (the ARoS art museum and the Old Town or National Open Air Museum of Urban History and Culture), the city also has a number of smaller museums which may be a little harder to find.
The Women’s Museum is right next to the cathedral and has exhibitions about Danish women through the ages. In the basement you will also find a small museum about the occupation of Denmark during the Second World War.
South of the city there is the large Moesgaard Museum and Aarhus University’s departments of Prehistoric Archaeology and Medieval and Renaissance Archaeology, as well as the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology. Moesgaard Museum focuses on prehistoric Denmark, and bus number 6 will take you almost to the door.
And if you don’t fancy going too far during your summer holiday, why not try the Steno Museum, a museum of science in the middle of the University Park just a stone’s throw from the Lakeside Lecture Theatres?
The exhibition posters at all these museums are also printed in English.
Cinemas
If you simply don’t like the sun (or the rain of a typical Danish summer), you might like to visit one of the cinemas in the city. Apart from the traditional mainstream cinemas, Øst for Paradis is well worth a try. The programme is available in Danish at www.paradisbio.dk. But make sure you check the original language of the films, because films are always shown in the original language with Danish subtitles.
Beaches
Århus has a range of great beaches, although the temperature of the sea might put you off in the early part of summer unless you have the true blood of the Vikings running through your veins!
A few kilometres north of the city, by beautiful Risskov forest, you’ll find the wonderful bathing facilities known as “Den Permanente”. This is a very popular beach, but the crowds on a hot day don’t matter so much because the beach is so great! The best way of getting to Den Permanente is by cycling north alongside the railway line, following a cycling and hiking path next to the forest all the way to the beach.
Further north you’ll find Bellevue beach in the suburb of Risskov about 4 kilometres north of the city centre. The long sandy beach is simply wonderful, and there’s a great view back towards the centre of Århus.
South of the city there’s Ballehage beach by the Moesgaard forest. If you don’t fancy a beautiful (but hilly) cycle ride by the sea and through the forest, you can take bus number 19 either to Ballehage or to Moesgaard beach a bit further south. In the summer Moesgaard beach is extremely popular among families in particular – the grass behind the beach is perfect for picnics, ball games and barbecues.
Parks
A nice warm summer’s day can also be spent happily on a rug with a good book in one of the parks of Århus. The most popular of these are the Botanical Gardens by the Ring Road between the School of Business and Aarhus University, and the University Park itself. In good weather people like to hang out here until quite late in the evening.
The Mindeparken memorial park south of the city is also popular. Bus number 6 will take you there, and here you’ll find pitches for playing pétanque, plenty of green grass, and a great view of the Queen’s summer palace.
Further afield
If you’d like to see a bit more of the surrounding region, bus number 123 from the bus station will take you north to Ebeltoft, where you could spend a happy day visiting the Glass Museum and the longest wooden ship in the world, Fregatten Jylland – as well as simply wandering around in the ancient cobbled streets of the town. Ebeltoft gets a bit crowded in the summer, so if you’re looking for peace and quiet the nearby Mountains of Mols (a protected nature reserve) are always worth a visit. You might not be impressed by the height of the mountains (the highest point is 137 metres), but the Danes are proud of them!
