Day 11 - Aarhus, Denmark (July 11th)

Aarhus (pronounced OARhoos), Denmark's 2nd largest city is a trendier, quieter version of its larger counterpart Copenhagen. Like Copenhagen though, Aarhus has adopted the "Free Bike" program, which allows the general public to borrow a bicycle from specially allocated bicycle stands around the city. You insert a 20 Kronor coin into the lock slot, turn the key and get your money back on return. We searched endlessly but only found empty stands or bikes in disrepair. So much for that idea. Some of the suggested sights such as Legoland or the Hans Christian Anderson Homestead didn't really interest us so a casual stroll around the shopping district and along the canal became our alternative option. We were looking for a more typical Danish experience so we settled for an afternoon at one of the canal side cafes. Here, over a few pints of beer, we soaked in the culture and caught up on our postcard writing. It only took us 10 minutes to walk back to the ship around 2PM and based on the number of bodies witnessed around the aft pool, it appeared that many chose to bypass Aarhus altogether. It wasn't the most exciting port and we didn't really have enough time to explore beyond the city limits. During sail away, I noticed that the harbor scattered with countless jellyfish and other sea life appeared greener and less sludgy than it had previously. Aarhus is outside the Baltic Sea. Maybe there is some truth to that theory about the Baltic being brackish and mostly dead.

Marlowe was at the blackjack table again tonight. Marlowe was a gentleman, probably in his mid 40s, whom I met early on in the cruise at the blackjack table. He wore pricey looking thick rimmed glasses, wore an ascot, slicked his hair back like Michael Douglas in Wall Street and had his boyfriend never more than a foot away. The level in which he put on the air of sophistication made me skeptical as to how genuine the personality was and as he started to get a little drunk, the quasi James Mason accent would disappear. When I called him on the disappearing accent, he always came up with a suitable explanation, which made for some good laughs around the table. "Oh I spent my formative years in California before being whisked off to boarding school in England," he'd say. He never did explain how he could afford to constantly purchase drinks for everyone at the table, not that I was complaining. It was rare and pleasant to see this level of sophistication on the Rotterdam even if it was just being aspired to.

I noticed out on deck that the sun had moved east and the water was getting rougher. We were headed north to more open ocean, the land of Vikings, and our last Scandinavian port: Oslo, Norway.