Aalborg definitely turned out to be my favorite city in Denmark…it was the perfect size, had an enchanting old town, and lots of attractions to enjoy. We slowed the pace down a bit and only visited the Museum of Modern Art on our last full day in Aalborg, where I got to experience one of the creepiest installations I have ever seen.
Julie Nord is a Danish artist, her preferred medium is drawing. The exhibit was called Just Like Home and featured works in both indian ink and watercolors. Her work is…imbalanced. The installation was set up in a dark space, covering three galleries setup up to portray the interior of a house; a dining room, a hall and a nursery. Lining the walls were family portraits, but they were so ghostly, and yet so overwhelming in pattern that the effect was incredibly eerie and disjointed.
Each room had an accompanying soundtrack; the dining room had a ticking clock, flies buzzing and the sound of cutlery hitting plates, simulating a family eating a rotten meal. The nursery was filled with the sound of children whispering, giggling, humming along with the melody of a jewelry box. There were goosebumps…that lingered way after I left the space. The other piece I enjoyed was a part of a special exhibit called Dreamland
Where can that fish be?
And it went wherever I did go…
Enjoying culture is one thing…drinking beer is an entirely different thing, but equally as enjoyable. Thanks to Yelp, we ended up at The Wharf, a cask-ale bar with an impressive selection. John and I proceeded to get slightly toasted on delicious beer crafted by Trappist Monks. During our many hours paying homage to those dastardly friars, we made a new friend. Alan is an American who has been working in Scandinavia for a long time and, whaddyaknow? He’s a huge Yes and King Crimson fan. John is a magnet for such folks, which he sees as a win…I, however, tend to drink faster. In all seriousness, Alan was a great find…it was really nice hanging out with someone who didn’t react to our American accents or ask if we were carrying guns. It was nice and normal…and absolutely perfect.
We were scheduled to take a very early ferry to Gothenburg (Sweden) the next morning, however we were slightly…er, delayed by our headaches and heartburn. The perfect set of ailments to have when you are about to be stuck on a big ship for 3.5 hours. John and I, however, are pros…so we rallied a couple of hours behind schedule and made it to the 2:00pm ferry in Frederikshavn.
This ‘ferry’ included everything you needed to waste 3.5 hours on the sea. Slot machines, a game room with oversized chess, air hockey and foosball, a duty free shop stuffed with booze and perfume…and of course, the views.
We spent most of our time on the decks trying to spot sea monsters and marveling over how excited this woman looks at the prospect of being dumped into the freezing cold sea with her inflatable baby. 
We did venture down to the shop to buy a soda. BIG MISTAKE. I don’t think anyone other than us were using the ferry to get from point A to point B, unless point A = empty liquor cabinet and point B = enough booze to fill an olympic-sized swimming pool. 3 out of 5 people had at least 1 hand cart stacked high with cases of beer and boxes of booze. Some folks brought their own cling-film and packing tape to keep their booze jenga under control. We got stuck behind two of the oldest people on earth that were buying more gin than they could possibly drink during their remaining years. We just wanted a coke. Is there anything more disappointing than wanting a coke then finding out that pepsi is your only option? We hastily made our escape back to the deck. To our surprise…Sweden was waiting to greet us!
Categories: Europe
365 Days on the Road 