It may be that I reside in Manhattan, arguably the most overwhelming metropolis on Earth in which to live. It could be the unending, alluring way in which travel invigorates the need to see and do more. Whatever the reason may be, gradually but conspicuously, the travel experiences that leave the most lasting affect on me are increasingly those in smaller and lesser-known places as opposed to major capitals or commercially visible locals.

Memory escapes whether I first learned of Aarhus in the New York Times 36 Hours article or if I had already heard rumblings of the place and the article simply solidified my desire to visit. Regardless, I was sure that my ancestral exploration of Copenhagen needed to be extended to the west, to Aarhus, in order to gain a fuller understanding of Denmark.

After a few surprisingly sunny days spent in Hamburg, Germany a single highway led us back through the border to Denmark. The border crossing was not as luxuriously easy as it was going in Germany; we were stopped by border officials and questioned briefly on the purpose for our entrance to the country. It resonated that while Europe maintains relatively open borders compared to the Americas, Denmark and Germany, two adjacent countries, have inconsistent expectations of security and separate standards of entry.

We made the unfortunate mistake of leaving both of our umbrellas on the kitchen table of the Airbnb in Hamburg as we made a quick exit to avoid letting Nuka, the hulking Rhodesian Ridgeback, out of the apartment. Generally chilly and rainy, Scandinavia in September meant a torrential downpour upon our arrival to Aarhus. Huddled under baseball caps and layering all of our vacation-wear, we began to realize what the New York Times meant when they said that Aarhus is “brimming with discoveries.”

We chose the only full apartment Airbnb of our trip; an airy little spot on the outskirts of the center, decorated in the typical Scandinavian way of white everything. Scrawled on post-its hung all over the refrigerator were notes from previous travelers complimenting the Airbnb host and the city itself. There is so much humanity to be found in staying in the apartment of a real person as opposed to a hotel room and so much connection to be had with past and future travelers through the age-old medium of notes and written recommendations.

There is something uniquely satisfying in traveling to a place for a short time due to finite vacation days or financial resources and being able to genuinely invest oneself in it. By this I mean to say that I often feel limited by the trips I take; they are impactful in what I can learn and take in during a definitive period but I usually leave a place feeling as if there is infinitely more to do that I didn’t have the time for.

It certainly helped mediate this feeling when I lived in Buenos Aires for five months and Paris for two months though conclusively I still did not accomplish all that I would have liked in that extended time. There is some relief in knowing that forever may not be long enough to achieve all that one would ideally do in a city; in New York I know that there will invariably be stones unturned no matter how long I live there.

In Aarhus the possibility to get to know the city was tangible. We had only two days but the size of the city (still the second largest in Denmark but somehow more manageable) allowed a flexible mindset; we could hit the key spots but afford time for walking slowly down side streets and popping into the one-off shop without the worry of missing a must-see touristic destination.

What I will take from Aarhus is a deeper connection to my Danish roots; one informed not only by the capital city of my grandmother’s heritage but by the enlightened understanding of a multifaceted country where east-west and north-south dichotomies exist as they would anywhere else. I will take with me the awareness of the benefits of situating myself in a single place in an amount of time to appreciate the nuances of that place and to attempt, in all of its difficulty, not to run so quickly from city to city when I travel.

ARoS Museum

The full spectrum of Your Rainbow Panorama — The full spectrum of *Your Rainbow Panorama*

Orange in Your Rainbow Panorama — Orange in *Your Rainbow Panorama*

From the center city it is impossible not to catch a glimpse of ARoS Museum, particularly at night. The multicolored lights of Your Rainbow Panorama exude their saturated hues into the black night sky. Lacking any light pollution with the exception of this circular pathway in the sky, the colors burn their imprint into the modest Aarhus skyline.

In the city of 340,000 people, including many college students from the local university, ARoS is the tourist attraction. Even so, when we visited the museum had a strong flow of visitors but at no point was it crowded, a feat rarely accomplished at the Whitney or the Guggenheim in New York. We came for the rainbow walkway in the sky but thoroughly enjoyed the art and interactive exhibits we found around the museum.

The artist of Your Rainbow Panorama, Olafur Eliasson, explained about the piece, “I have created a space that can almost be said to erase the boundary between inside and outside – a place where you become a little uncertain as to whether you have stepped into a work of art or into part of the museum. This uncertainty is important to me, as it encourages people to think and sense beyond the limits within which they are accustomed to function .”

As I walked, slowly and intentionally, around the pathway, the colors changed almost imperceptibly until yellow was green and then blue then purple. The view of the city itself adjusted; not just that it was viewed from changing angles but the filter of color modified the mood of the view.

Eliasson meant this permanent work to be integrated into the city so completely that it became no longer a work of art but a place in and of itself. In my view he succeeded; I was mesmerized and it remains an inimitable view of the city.

In a lesser-trafficked floor of the museum there is an interactive space in which patrons could find themselves immersed in a digital version of the museum’s artwork. At the first station, we sat in front of a screen and were showed images of certain pieces, during which time the technology was able to track where our eyes focused for the longest. Afterwards, there was a recap using a shaded line showing where our eye lingered specifically on the piece.

The second station, shown above, required the participant to make strange poses behind a translucent screen which then added works from the museum to create a Picasso-esque cubist image.

The final station was a small, dark room in which we sat and were shown several works of art and we were asked to talk about them to one another for the museum’s recorded archives.

Aarhus Brætspilscafé

On the way to dinner we passed this glorious board game bar in central Aarhus and became so engrossed in several rounds of Stratego that we never made it to dinner at all.

For 30 Danish krone (less than 5 USD) we were able to sit at a table and play games to our hearts’ content. Dinner turned into a personal bottle of white wine and a big bowl of popcorn consumed during moment of intense focus on the game. It was fun to be a part of the scene of Aarhus, one in which university students spoke multiple languages around us and challenged each other to the wall of board games. Plus, it was full of game-time hygge.

Kaffe

The ritual of coffee drinking is one that maintains completely disparate practices during day-to-day life versus on vacation. My gauge for a successful coffee outing while traveling for leisure is measured by how calmly and slowly I can enjoy a simply cup while taking in surrounding and people watching. On the weekdays in New York my measure for a great coffee trip is, more often than not, how quickly can I purchase it and drink it down.

In this sense, Great Coffee was a fitting vacation coffee spot. The shop, housed through a courtyard of a side street in the city center, was full of high-tech coffee instruments that they are known so well for. A little storefront offered souvenirs and the highly educated baristas guided me into an iced coffee with homemade blueberry syrup - this was a new one. Espresso just strong enough with a hint of berry sweetness, the coffee was unlike any I have had. The experience equally so; cerebral and serene as vacation coffee should be.

Aarhus Botanical Gardens at Sunset

Sandwiched between our Airbnb and the center city is the Aarhus Botanical Garden. Unlike in Copenhagen, we did not enter the indoor gardens but instead walked around the hills and outdoor gardens at sunset, two of the maybe five people in the large area to catch the magical change in sky. All throughout the property were patches of plants growing with labels sharing there names. It felt almost sneaky to have free reign of this incredible piece of land with so few others around. It tops my list of places to watch the sunset in Denmark.

Dokk1 Public Library

Local libraries are some of my most treasured spots to visit in a foreign city. The tranquility of walking through a soundless space full of residents, surrounded by the architecture representative of a place and the stories about cultures near and far is quite memorable.

Dokk1 is almost completely surrounded by water. Several stories tall glass windows line the back wall of the library where individual seats are situated for focused readers. An outdoor deck surrounds the place complete with slides and small jungle gym-like activities for children. As noticeable as it was when I visited Stockholm, small children with parents are everywhere in Denmark. Apparently this family time is the direct result of a country that allows for a year of maternity leave.

I say that Aarhus could be the best city to visit in Denmark because you’ve probably never heard of it before reading this… because you have to drive hours to get there from any major capital… because it requires that extra bit of effort, that adventurous urge to not only see something new but to be a part of it.

An Unlikely Opinion That Perhaps Aarhus is the #1 City to Visit in Denmark

ARoS Museum

Aarhus Brætspilscafé

Kaffe

Aarhus Botanical Gardens at Sunset

Dokk1 Public Library