Day 6

All the Danes have been much friendlier since we got out of Copenhagen. Odense felt so much more like the quaint Denmark we expected. During the night we spent there, it rained a lot and we got soaked as we walked past H. C. Anderson's house on our way to get pizza. However, the streets were still impossible to navigate on. We had intended to go to a place that served "the best kebabs in town!", but after following a map as closely as possible it seemed to have disappeared, so we went for pizza. The people who owned the place spoke Danish, Italian, and English. The menu was a little indiscernible, and we ended up getting a pizza with shrimp and tuna fish on it and a calzone with spaghetti in the middle. They turned out to be cheap and delicious. We also bought cheap beer at the super market. The prices have decreased a lot since we escaped Copenhagen.
Yesterday morning we got on the train to Aarhus, Denmark's second largest city. To our surprise, it turned out to be a rainforest. Our hostel was right in the middle of a ton of huge beautiful trees. Aarhus hosts many jazz festivals throughout the year, and we managed to catch the end of the latest one. Upon choosing a random bus station, we followed the sound of live music and entered a packed bar. The music was great, and we split a liter of beer for about twenty bucks. After that, we went walking along the canal and made it to two more bars. One had blaring techno, our favorite was a remix of the song at the beginning of the Lion King. The other played a lot of indie music we recognized and had several foosball tables. We watched one of the games, and based off their skills figured these people frequented the bar. After feeling very splendid we then noticed our ravaging hunger and ate dinner at 7/11 once again at about two in the morning. We have taken a liking to the chocolate milk that comes in a box with a little Danish girl on the front. We caught a taxi back to the hostel, smelling strongly of cigarettes and booze.
This morning we got up and went for a hike on the trail leading right out if the hostel into the rainforest. It was finally sunny, and all the bugs were out. There was also an abundance of bright orange slugs. The path we took lead us into a higher end neighborhood with a stunning view of the sea. Even the mansions here seem to be reasonably sized, and everyone seems to have the same tiny car if they don't just ride a bike or the bus. We caught a bus into town and found some more live jazz after being approached on the street by two people in a row who asked if we needed help finding our way. Even in the city, the pace of life seemed so much slower and the people so much friendlier than in Copenhagen. The second band we saw was comprised of four guys only a few years older than us. It was a hipster quartet. After seeing a couple more bands we went into the huge cathedral. There were several hundred years worth of art style represented in all parts of the church. There were also grave stones built into the floor. It was chilling and beautiful. Upon leaving, we heard loud drumming and saw a circle of people on the courtyard. In the middle of the circle were people dance fighting - called Capoeira. The native Brazilians were absolutely incredible at it. The Danes who partook were very enthusiastic, but not quite as coordinated or talented.
After shopping a little and eating, we went to the train station. We are now on are way to Frederickshavn, where we will spend our last night in Denmark. Tomorrow we are catching an eight hour ferry ride to Oslo! We'll update as soon as we can once we're in Norway.