Posted by I spent the last chunk of the summer of 2006 on a five-week solo bicycle/camping trip across Scandinavia. I started in Denmark and on August 5th I was still in Denmark, a country that I found mercifully flat with a cruel windy streak that stayed in my face throughout the entire nation.
I spent the day fighting the elements with my bike aimed at Aarhus, one of Denmark’s biggest cities. My plan was to make it to town mid-afternoon and spend the rest of the day visiting churches and museums. Alas, Mother Nature kept me from arriving in the city until nearly five o’clock, leaving me only enough time to find a tourist booth that informed me that everything I wanted to see closed at…you guessed it…5pm.
Sigh.
I spent an hour meandering the city’s cobblestone streets and admiring several examples of millennia-aged architecture – if only from the outside – before hopping back on my bike and continuing on in search of a spot to spend the night.
Just as I was hitting the outskirts of town I came upon a park teeming with young people. I jumped on the brakes and joined what I quickly discovered was the Chill Out Festival, a one-day affair that had DJ’s and beer vendors set up in a park. It was happening here today and then again the next day in Copenhagen and it was free.
I blew the daily budget on a couple of beers and sat on a grassy knoll taking in the scene for the next forty-five minutes of so. The music was certainly “chill”; subtle, relaxing beats gave off a sort of rager-Muzak wallpaper vibe that suited both the young euro-crowd and the placid surroundings perfectly.
I even wrote down the names of the DJ’s: Pete Gooding, Steve Harvey (not that Steve Harvey), and Lulu Rouge, though none of the names mean anything to me.
As evening started to approach I had to get out of there and find a place to hang my hat for the night, so I bade the Chill Out Festival farewell and rode off into the sunset.
I didn’t even give them a chance to thank me.
Todd Man Out 