Ålborg 1.0

My first full day in Ålborg really represents a decline in sight-seeing and a rise in simply living within the culture.  As I've headed through Denmark, the cities I've stayed in have gotten progressively smaller, and the attractions and activities available at each one have become less touristy and more cultural.  Ålborg itself really drove this home - there wasn't a whole lot to see.  I still had a great time, however.

Not the biggest henge in the world

I began my day by using a City Bike to drive north across the Limfjord to Nørresundby, on my way to see the Lindholm Høje - an ancient Viking burial ground.  Partway there, however, it began to rain fairly heavily, so I ducked into a supermarket for my fallback plan - Extreme Budget Shopping™!

As you may remember from my last entry, the extremely high cost of my accommodations, as well as the inadvertent water purchase made the evening before, had reduced my entire food budget for the day (really, my entire budget altogether) to 40 kr.  Converted to USD, that was about $8.  Keep in mind, this is also in a country where candy bars start at about $2 apiece.  I was going to have to get two complete meals worth out of 4 candy bars.  Excellent.

As an aside, I noticed a very odd revolving door on the way into the supermarket - it consisted of only two chambers, with areas at the ends of the divider for display windows.  It was the sort of thing that felt like I had seen it before somewhere but forgotten it existed.  But now back to Extreme Budget Shopping™!

Not the actual bread and cheese

My first thought was the stereotypical woodsman's lunch - bread (brød), cheese (ost), and fruit (frugt).  These items are filling, and can often be picked up rather cheaply.  As an American, I'd also try to slip some meat in there if possible.  I began by checking out the bakery when I first walked in.  There were various loaves available at the best rates, but I didn't have enough money to buy in bulk.  After looking for a while, however, I spotted a French baguette for only about 10 kr.  Jackpot.


I next stopped in the produce department.  Rather than having sprayers for each individual display area, Danish supermarkets have larger sprayers mounted near the ceiling, creating a pocket of higher humidity through the entire produce section.  Individual apples were only 3 kr apiece, so I decided to check on the meat and cheese and come back for an apple if I had the cash.

Actual fountains at said plaza

Meat in Denmark tends to be expensive, but eventually I found some red salami for 7 kr, which let me buy a block of 20 kr swiss cheese and one of the apples!  All this took several hours, and by the time I exited the store the rain had ceased.  Heading back across the bridge, I took a relaxing lunch in a plaza on the north side of Ålborg.  It's been colder up north than in the other two cities I've visited, so I was wearing a jacket most of the day (unless I was biking)

Scintillating.

After lunch, I stopped by the other site I planned to visit - Ålborghus Slot, or "Ålborghus Castle".  All in all, it was a fairly poor site to visit.  It had a path that encircled the earthworks around it, but the buildings had been converted for other uses.  The only part of the castle I really got to see was some dark rooms under the walls that got unlocked every morning and locked up again at night.

All in all, however, this was enough.  As I headed back through the walking district to go back to the hostel, I noticed a group of young adults singing and holding a sign near a stuffed witch replica.  I'd read about a Danish tradition of burning witches on a particular holiday, but I wanted to hear about it directly from the source, so I stopped and asked them what they were up to.  

As it turned out, that night would be the national celebration of Midsummer's Day, or Sankt Hans aften ("St. John's Eve").  Basically, it was an excuse to celebrate cultural heritage and drink a lot, both things that Danes love to do.  This particular group was promoting a political agenda, as well.  They belonged to the DSU, or the Social Democratic Youth of Denmark.  They were there to protest the recent gains in control that the Danish Folkeparti (conservatives, in case you couldn't guess), had wrestled recently.  I chatted with them for a bit, and decided to get home and rest, before coming back that evening to watch the witch burnings.

Bars, clubs, and lounges - probably at least 2 dozen

Later that evening, I wasn't able to find any bonfires.  I'd read that there was one at the zoo, but I had no money so I couldn't go to that one.  Instead, I walked along the Jomfru Ane Gade - A pedestrian-only street in Ålborg completely lined with bars.  Everyone was going crazy - drinking, singing, dancing.  I stopped in most every bar I saw, and was actually able to have a good time.  When there are musicians to watch and music to dance to, it makes it less awkward to be standing around not drinking.  I did have a short conversation with a young gentleman, but he was far too drunk to really converse with.  He said something about getting me a drink because I didn't have one, then staggered off and forgot about me.

Good times.

While my experiences in Ålborg were fun, they didn't really capture my attention the way Århus and Copenhagen did, so I headed back to my hostel to sleep before catching the train out to Holstebro the next morning.