Aarhus - the shopping experience

 

This might be a total hip-replacement amongst the shopping lanes of Aarhus.

Aarhus cathedral

 

Aarhus Cathedral is the longest and tallest Chuch in all of Denmark. Building began in the last decade of the 12th century, coming to full fruition some three hundred years later.

We enter from the streets of shops outside, only just starting to come to life in a bright Autumn morning. The first thing we hear, to our delight, is the sound of young mothers playing with their babies under a ballooning parachute in front of the alter.

This is the way Church should be...

The walls are painted white, above them a beautiful series of ceiling arches picked out in embossed gold. The atmosphere is light, airy and serene.

I make my way to the stalls that lead up to the alter. The wooden seats feature both elaborate carvings of heads (presumably patterned on priests and wealthy burghers) and graffiti scratched and scuffed into the surface by long-dead hands. Both exist in total harmony.

Later in the day we return to climb the one hundred steps that lead to the top of the Chuch tower. What a view greets us.

Aarhus - the Botanical Gardens

The Botanical Gardens at Aarhus are just up the way from Den Gamle By. We pay a short visit just before closing time.

The Gardens were opened in 1873 to promote fruit trees and other useful plants. In addition to the extensive grounds there are series of linked Tropical Houses which are home to plants and trees from around the world.

We climb a spiral staircase to a rooftop eyrie above just as the tropical sprays begin to mist the palms. What a beautiful way to end our day here.