"Aarhus, in the middle of our street..."

Today I write from Amman, Jordan, where I have spent the last couple of days in intense relaxation mode after what has been a week of extreme walking, climbing, and subsequent aching muscles, as I explored the ancient city of Petra, and the impressive sand dunes, rock faces and wadis of Wadi Rum. It’s been a sensational week, however I did learn the hard way never to trust a Pharmacist from Northern Ireland – as my planned leisurely stroll through the city of Petra turned into a waterfall-scrambling, rock-climbing, flab-converting race against the setting sun, as a seemingly straightforward adventure off the marked tourist trail dramatically turned into scenes reminiscent of Man vs. Wild. More of that in a future entry of course!

Later this afternoon, the next chapter of my adventure begins, and after a 26hr journey (including what is sure to be a thrilling 12hr overnight stopover in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia), I will be well and truly back in the southern hemisphere, as I begin the ‘Overland Africa’ leg of my adventure in Cape Town, South Africa. It is set to be one of the more unusual journeys of my trip – a distance of over 8000km, crossing the Equator, and both the Tropic of Capricorn and Tropic of Cancer – however while I will end up at a latitude just 1° north of Adelaide, the entire journey will take me across only one time zone! Having only ever travelled long haul to or from Australia, it seems preposterous I can travel that far without feeling the effects of jet lag… however I may feel the effects of sleeping on the floor in Jeddah Airport!!!

My last entry covered my travels up to Mamma’s Potatoes in Odense, Denmark, where I will pick up from today.

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Heading north from Odense, Eliza and I were off on yet another Danish adventure, in search of Christian. I met Christian and his friend Christopher (Chris&Cross) at a lookout in the Himalayas, and in my usual budget-accommodation-style suggested I might be a wonderful houseguest in the near future in Denmark. Of course, I was being completely serious with my suggestion, and luckily Christian was more than happy to oblige, with an invite to stay with his family in Aarhus.

Christian lives with his father Henrik, and siblings Thomas and Sophie in a beautiful home in the suburbs, where Eliza and I spent the next couple of days being treated like Australian-turned-Danish Royalty (that’s been done before!), and representing our country in the highly competitive world of Jungle Speed (to which I had introduced Christian to back in February), and Beer Bowling – a new activity to us, which Eliza took to like a fish to water. Coincidentally (but in no way disappointing), it turns out Christian’s house is also home to Europe’s BEST Banana Pancakes – a claim Eliza and I were more than happy to put to the test.

After a tour of the city with expert guides Christian and his friend Marie, our first night in Aarhus was spent at friend Liva’s house, where we were fortunate to be invited around for pizza… a serious business in Denmark! Unlike pizza back home, where the main sponsor is Dominos, and the quality is low to terrible, Liva’s family are experts on great pizza, with a built-in pizza oven and kitchen in the back yard… and Danish beer on tap!!! And of course, no pizza night would be complete without pizza boxes – of which the family had hundreds, bought wholesale and flat-pack, awaiting their IKEA-style construction. We had a great night meeting Liva’s friends and family, learning the intense rules to the famed ‘Beer Bowling’, and creating all kinds of curious-crusted-creations to go into the oven – all to be followed down with divine-Danish-desserts!

The next day it was time to get our ‘tourist’ on, as Christian and Marie took us to the ARoS Art Museum, where we spent the morning wandering the various reality-altering galleries, filled with all kinds of quirky and unusual exhibitions. While the ten-storey museum had a number of impressive exhibits, undoubtedly the most dramatic was the 150m long, 360° multi-coloured viewing platform on the roof of the building, from which you look out over the city through a range of different coloured panes of glass. The walkway (and its cost!) are quite the controversial topic – and it does feel a little bit like you are walking through a giant glass Mardi Gras tunnel – however it is undoubtedly a tourist drawcard, and certainly brightened the city on what was an otherwise dreary day.

We spent the afternoon further exploring the city, the gardens, and the university, and learnt all the local gang-signs (ÅÅ), before heading out of town for dinner with Christian’s mum, Marianne. Never having met Marianne before, I walked through the door expecting a polite, yet warm welcome… and boy was I wrong!!! I’d barely even put a foot on the doormat when I was verbally attacked with words such as ‘blame’, ‘responsibility’, ‘furniture’, ‘glassware’, ‘windows’, ‘poor Sophie’, and ‘insurance policy’ – leaving me cowering behind Christian’s six-foot-plus frame. It turns out my passion to teach Jungle Speed in Nepal had ramifications I would never have expected, and once Christian’s competitive siblings had been introduced to the game, the safety and welfare of all soft, hard, and human furnishings had been put at great risk! According to Marianne, I had created a monster, capable of total and complete home-interior devastation – and to think, all this with just one soft plastic totem and a deck of cards!!!

'Beer Bowling'

Fortunately for me, the Danish are quick to forgive, and Marianne and I were soon on pleasant talking terms – a development I am certain my appetite was thrilled about! Dinner was absolutely beautiful, and Eliza and I enthusiastically devoured the traditional Danish meal, while we learnt all about Marianne’s travels throughout the world, heard stories of Christian’s childhood, and of course discussed the most important topic of the week – Mr Bean’s appearance at the opening ceremony!

About 10kg heavier than when we arrived, the next morning it was time to say goodbye to Christian and his family, as we made our way back to Copenhagen, and our hilarious Polish friend Eric. We spent our last couple of days in Denmark exploring the ‘unusual’ Christiania district, climbing the impressive tower of The Church of Our Saviour, and watching Australia’s dismal Olympic efforts – made only slightly more interesting by the lack of English commentary – as we prepared to leave the fun and games of Denmark behind, and readied ourselves to get into Olympic fever in London.

A MASSIVE thank you to Christian, Henrik, Marianne, Thomas, Sophie, Marie, Liva and family for all of your hospitality, and more importantly, for introducing Denmark to the wonderful wonderment that is Jungle Speed!