A while back, my friend Natacha and I were looking to escape from the hustle and bustle of London. As we scrolled down the Ryanair flight offerings, the choice was obvious—why not visit the so-called "City of Smiles," Aarhus, Denmark? Neither of us knew anything about Denmark or its second largest city, so what better way was there to learn?
Based on our hilarious 24 hours in "The World's Smallest Big City" (tourist brochures, not me), here are some things I recommend doing:
Time warp. We started our day at Den Gamle By, a collection of quaint, timbered buildings from the 1800s, where there are photo opportunities galore. (Try next to The Old Mill or The Mintmaster's Mansion.) After wandering into one of the various interiors, a woman dressed in period costume suddenly began to hit me with a feathery wooden stick while speaking to some children. Weird. Later I learned that it was a traditional "fertility stick," the Old World solution for hopeful mothers to be. Great, just what I needed.
Learn Danish via pizza toppings. After you get over the shock of Danish currency conversion, check out one of the most popular restaurants à la Americana: Mackie's Pizza where, as their slogan states in English, all people smile in the same language. Too bad we can't all read menus in the same language. But don't worry, most Danes speak better English than you do. Simply do what we did and ask the waiter to clarify what pizza toppings you've ordered. Then, you can confidently say, “I'll keep the skinke but please hold the hakket oksekød—I'm allergic.”
Spice up your mid-day with the "Old Dane." We found our main hang—an eclectic little pub called Unter Masken (Bispegade 3)—right off of the main church square. It's a delightfully grotty little place with low ceilings decorated with, you guessed it, an assortment of masks. Almost instantly we made a new friend, Sven (typical!). He offered us the traditional Danish bitter liquor—Gammel Dansk, which unappetizingly translates to "Old Dane." It wasn't my thing, but hey, when in Aarhus!
Celebrate a Danish birthday. After a stroll around town, we headed back to Unter Masken (why not keep a good thing going?) only to find it was now decorated with an assortment of Danish flags and banners. We asked Sven if it was some sort of national holiday. "No! It’s a birthday party!” he exclaimed, seemingly shocked at our naivety. “When you were younger, didn’t your parents come into your room on your birthday and wake you up by singing the national anthem and waving an American flag? This is what we do in Denmark." He wasn't even kidding—the proof is on YouTube!
Get your dance on. As we left the bar, with small Danish flags waving from our hair, we took a local's suggestion to check out one of the most famous nightclubs in Aarhus, the Bavarian-style Heidi's. The bar was packed, which made it clear to us that we were in a university town. If you want to dance your pants off to typical, top 40, Euro tunes in Aarhus, this is where you want to be.
Follow the crowd. When your feet start to hurt, head over to this local hot spot, 7-Eleven. Seriously, you can't miss it. Stuck unceremoniously in the center of one of the largest piazzas, it serves as a meeting place for hoards of young people. As we sat outside munching on some Pringles, Danish flags still in tow, Natacha asked some boys if they wouldn't mind singing the Danish national anthem in honor of our "birthdays." As they serenaded us, I wished I had another 24 hours to spend in the "City of Smiles."