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The Noordam
docked alongside the Port of Århus on Sunday, July 20th, 2003 for the
day. I did not select a shore excursion on this day but rather
decided to explore the city by foot. It seemed as though it would be
a quiet day given that a lot of things in Europe are closed on
Sundays. I enjoyed breakfast in the Lido Restaurant with Joanne and
Karen and, much to my surprise, discovered that the msy Wind Surf
was docked next to us in port! Upon disembarking and starting my day
ashore, I took a brief tour of the Wind Surf. It was
particularly interesting in that I had never been aboard a Windstar
Cruises ship previously. Most surprising after I disembarked the Wind
Surf was my running into a fellow co-worker as she and her husband
were heading into town! I was very much shocked as we both caught up
on our respective trips in Europe. We walked into the city together
and then headed off in our own directions.
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of the first architectural sites that I encountered was the Århus
Domkirke. The first steps of its construction began in 1200
and is one of the oldest red brick buildings in Jutland. The
original structure burned down in and was left unused for many years
until the Gothic style reached Denmark. At that time,
reconstruction began on the cathedral and was completed in
1500. The Århus Cathedral is dedicated to St. Clement, the
patron saint of sailors, seats 1200 people, and is 93 meters in both
height and length. |
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In
stark contrast to the rich history of the Århus Domkirke, I stopped
in to a local McDonald's for a bottle of water and remarked on just
how similar the format is to that of the United States save for the
language differences. |
Like most other days in port, I decided to simply walk until I found
a lot of the main sites. I seemed to have even less of
direction on this particular day save for one or two sites that I
had heard about previously. Some guests on board could have
elected to take an excursion to Legoland
in Billind, Denmark. Along the way to my first site, I noticed
various structures that wonderfully reflect the beauty of Denmark. |
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After
approximately a half-hour walk from the Port of Århus, I happened
upon Den Gamle By. Den
Gamle By, opened in 1914, is a portrayal of what life was
like in years gone by and sees more than three million visitors each
year. It is the main purpose of this museum to depict the
history of the Danish market towns with specific reference to the
ways of life, trade, and building culture.
Just some of the research that lies as a foundation for Den Gamle By
includes : Crafts and Guilds (1480-1900), culture and leisure life
of the market towns, the origin of the Scandinavian market town, the
cultural history of Christmas in Denmark, and farming in the Danish
market towns (1600-1900). |
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| Århus
first developed in approximately 1900 when industrial growth
attracted rural populations into the town. The population of
Århus has almost doubled since 1935. Given the younger
average age of the population, Århus is considered a relatively
young city.
It is quite
easy to navigate oneself through Århus with a good map and to find
all that one would like to experience. Holland America Line
distributed helpful maps and city guides in each stateroom prior to
the port day. |
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As I
changed directions to begin my general return to the Noordam,
I found another interesting architectural work : the Århus Town
Hall. The Århus Town Hall was designed by Arne Jacobsen and
Erik Møller and its official opening was in 1941. The town
hall has come to be known as a prime example of Scandinavian
Functionalist architecture. This is one reason that the town
hall, and its immediate surroundings, were listed for preservation
in 1995. |
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| Sites
Along the Århus Bugt Waterfront |
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After
getting ready for dinner and meeting Karen and Joanne for a
pre-dinner drink in the Piet Hein Lounge, we decided to watch Final
Snowball Bingo. Joanne and Karen bought cards and convinced me
to buy a final game card. Joanne shuffled her and Karen's
cards and said that one of the two of them would be the winning
card. Little did we know that just minutes later, Joanne was
calling "Bingo" for the winning game and won the
jackpot! We could hardly believe it given what had been said
about the cards! |
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| While
Joanne met with the cruise staff to go over the technical aspects of
the winning, Karen and I headed to the Amsterdam Dining Room for
late sitting dinner. As we had done each evening at dinner, we
all shared our day's experience with our table mates. We also
exchanged contact information in order to keep in touch as well as
expressing our 'thank you' to our table server, assistant server,
and wine steward. Overall we had wonderful service in the
Amsterdam Dining Room and thoroughly enjoyed the meals each evening. |
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We
had all completed our packing earlier that day or prior so Karen,
Joanne, and I enjoyed our last evening around the ship in the
various public areas. It was great to catch up with some of
the staff that we had socialized with throughout the cruise as
well. Karen and Joanne made it a tradition to attend trivia
each day and cruise staff member Mike Connachan made it a really fun
time for them.
Karen had a very early departure from the ship the following morning
so we had to say our 'good byes' this evening prior to returning to
our respective staterooms.
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The following morning
I had room service delivered once again and then made some final rounds of
the Noordam to get some photos that I may have missed prior.
Eventually I met up with Joanne in the Lido Restaurant where we would be
waiting for our luggage tag color to be announced to disembark the
ship. We had a bit of time on our hands so I enjoyed a couple of
cups of coffee and read up on the city next on my itinerary : London,
England. We disembarked the ship close to 10:00am and then took a
taxi to Kastrup Airport in Copenhagen.
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