World Cruise Day 161/163 Scenic Scandinavia - Århus, Denmark - Århus is a very, very, very fine hus...

Cruise day: 161/163

Ports days: 89
Sea days: 72
Countries: 28
Continents: 5
Ports: 63

Here, you can see our path from Germany to Århus, and then tonight's travel path to our finale in Copenhagen

This morning, we found ourselves at sea, on the way to our noon arrival in Århus, Denmark.  We learned today that the original spelling was Aarhus, but then they invented a new character, Å, that replaced the "Aa".  So now, either spelling, Århus, or Aarhus is appropriate.

Since we were at sea this morning, Cruise Director Bruce hosted another Baggo competition, this time it was guests versus officers.  Once again it featured three rounds.  Round one was normal Baggo.  Round two changed the game so the target was the center of the board and the hole was zero points.  Round three went from up the stairs and had to be thrown overhand, like a basketball shot.  In round three, only two players, Arlona and another lady on our team, actually scored!  In the end, the guests were victorious and enjoyed mimosas.

Bruce also hosted another Bruce's Brain Buster trivia.  We paired up with another couple and managed to finish in second place - a pretty respectable showing as the questions were tough.  Our misses.

• Was Rugby named after a person, place, the ball, the jersey, or none of these?
• The place - Rugby, England
• What country claims to be the birthplace of steel drums, calypso music, and limbo?
• Trinidad and Tobago
• What tiny country is sandwiched between China & India?
• Bhutan
• What seven-letter word is both a sport as well as a dog-powered form of transportation?
• We thought "Dogsled" or "Sleddog" - nope - "mushing"
• What was the first animated Disney film to win a competitive Academy Award as well as the best song Oscar - and what was the song?
• Pinocchio - When you Wish Upon a Star

That was the last trivia for our journey - we learned a lot, and won a little. 

When we got back to our room, our luggage tags were waiting for us as well as our disembarkation information.  What immediately caught my eye was that the flight listed for our departure was most certainly not the flight that Viking had booked on our behalf when we extended to the Scenic Scandinavia cruise.  After investigating, nobody knows why it changed, but it changed.  Now, rather than Scandinavian Airlines, we will be flying Delta and arriving later in Orlando.  That meant I had to contact the car service we are using and try to reschedule our pick-up.  I love last-minute stress.  It is what it is.

With that little jewel of fun in the books, we headed out on our included excursion, Århus on Foot. This was a three-hour walking tour of Århus with commentary on its history and highlights. It was overcast, windy, damp, and chilly with the temperature in the low 50s. Rain was threatening, but we lucked out and it didn't rain during our excursion.

Århus is an industrial port and certainly has the look of it

You know it is a commercial port when the welcome sign is mounted on a crane

Dokk1 or Dokken is a government building, public library, and culture center

On the balcony, kids play on a playground that circles the building - the structures are designed to complement the countries they face - this bear slide faces Russia

These sculptures honor the workers that worked on the docks - the sculpture shows old men - the models were actual dock workers from years past

This parking facility is under Dokk1 and is fully automated and robotic - this woman just drove her car in - if you look closely just under the gate arms, you can see the top of her car as it is lowered underground where it will be stored

Here, a driver's car has just been retrieved and returned to the surface - it was extremely busy and seemed to work quite well

Above the parking area is an art installation that the locals refer to as the "Magic Mushrooms"

Local regulations require that new buildings set aside 1% of their construction budget for art

We continued on with the tour, heading to what is now a canal, but Århusians (our guide's word) still think of it as a river.  It was this river that drew the Norse to this area.  This area was settled by what is commonly known as Vikings.  She took exception to this since as they were actually Norse and Viking was more of an act of exploration, trade, and in some cases pillaging. "Aros" meant "mouth of the river, and that is how Århus got its name.

This area had a moat and ramparts - those have long since been filled in and torn down

This is a meeting room and office for the Danish department responsible for sustainability

The Århus Cathedral from the 1100s

The cathedral is the longest and tallest cathedral in Denmark

The two decorations midway up are interesting - the right one - the anchor - represents St. Clement who was martyred by tying an anchor around his neck and tossing him into the sea, and the left one, the three roses is the symbol of the bishop at the time, Peder Vognsen

The altarpiece was quite impressive

The back of the altarpiece was also elaborate

There was a small set of organ pipes up near the altar

One of the rediscovered frescos that had been whitewashed and one of the many vaults

The pipe organ was absolutely beautiful

You can find a ship in every church in Denmark - a gift from a seafaring family to help protect the mariners while at sea

The Århus Theater

The Århus coat of arms featuring St. Clement on the anchor on the left and St. Paul on the right

This devil was added at the last minute as the church didn't like the sacrilegious theater being so close to the Århus Cathedral - so the architect reacted by adding this devil at the peak of the roof staring directly in the direction of the church 

Even the manhole covers feature the Århus coat of arms with St. Clement with his anchor on the left and St. Paul on the right

This elevated area is an old bomb shelter

You can see the air vents on the top

Now a furniture store, this was a bank that dates back to the mid-1800s

The Danish queen will be here tomorrow as part of her Golden Jubilee celebrating 50 years on the throne

We witnessed a dry run of her parade

Church of Our Lady

This used to be a poor area, inhabited by mill workers and their families - the mill workers died young due to inhaling flour powder, leaving many young widows that turned to the world's oldest profession to pay the bills

Today, it is a trendy area featuring 900 square foot homes that sell for one million euros

Elskovskampen (The Battle of Love)

Mølleparken (Mill Park) in the area where the mill used to stand

This is a really cool kinetic sculpture that moves with the wind

ARoS Kunstmuseum - art museum

Danish National Archives - a former library

Århus school of music

Magistrate's Court

Humpback Gunship - an art piece that Århus purchased based on a city-wide vote

City Hall - you can see the tower on the right

Pigs - art by city hall - if you look closely, the left pig facing away is peeing

City Hall

Looking back at the entrance from inside City Hall

After our tour, our guide walked us back to the ship.  We enjoyed the tour and our guide.

As we got ready to sail away, you could see many of the buildings we had just seen

The City Hall tower was clearly visible

As we sailed out, we were amazed at the incredible architecture at the harbor entrance.

This was in our room tonight - our final saliva sample test tubes

After dinner, we decided to start packing.  Tomorrow night, we will have to put out our suitcases by 10PM.  It is all feeling quite odd after 161 days on the ship.

Tomorrow, we will be in Copenhagen.  We plan to do a little walking early in the morning, take the shuttle into town later in the morning, and then take the optional tour, Christiansborg Palace and Tivoli Gardens, in the afternoon.  We will see if the weather cooperates with our plans.