A is for Aarhus
My first love.
The very first time I fell in love was on the 12th March 1975.
The day my Dad took me to my very first ever football match. That evening at Somerset Park, Ayr was the beginning of a lifelong love affair with Ayr United Football Club (do you feel sorry for me yet?). An evening match played under floodlights only increased the thrill, and I was delighted to see Ayr winning by four goals to one. Ayr's opponent that day was a Danish football club called Aarhus. Ever since then, I've had Aarhus in my mind as an exotic, exciting foreign location. So when I was plotting my SUP trip through Denmark, there was really only one location to visit. My road trip from Hamburg to Aarhus was a journey with meaning. A real meaning.
After Copenhagen, Aarhus is the second largest city in Denmark, with a population of 280,000. Some of the roads were closed the day I arrived because a local half marathon was taking place, but that apart, the whole place was calm and tranquil. I was even calm and tranquil as I fought against my satnav’s desire to take me through the roads which were closed for the race.
And what an inspired choice Aarhus turned out to be. I spent two hours with twenty of the most friendly, welcoming and crazy paddlers! I was surprised to find all of them wearing wetsuits when I turned up in a rash vest and shorts. They probably thought I was mad, but I had no idea what they had in store for me!
This wasn’t any ordinary paddle. It was an afternoon of fun and games. I don’t think I've laughed as much or fallen in as often in a long, long time. I think everyone who SUPs should have fun and games like this now and then. And everyone who SUPs should fall in now and then.
Tug of war. No-fin races. The matador challenge! Relay races. Running across a raft of boards and jumping off at the end. Eventually, cold and shivering despite the warm mid-June sunshine, I realised why everyone else was wearing a wetsuit.
I often travel and paddle alone, but I’m making more of an effort now to reach out to local paddlers, and this is why. I had a million wonderful experiences on my Midsummer Night’s Dream SUP Tour, and I met so many wonderful people. But for sheer joy and laughter, this little stand-up paddle trip at Aarhus is hard to beat.
Later I walked from the marina into the city. Perhaps it was because it was a Sunday; very few people were around as I wandered around the centre. I found a café and purchased a small but pricey cappuccino.
I thought this would be a timely moment to ring Dad to let him know I was in Aarhus. Inevitably, the name meant nothing to him. He told me he had never heard of the place! Although he did recall taking me to a football match at Ayr many, many years ago. ‘It’s strange how an experience can be life-changing and unforgettable for one person and a minor footnote in life’s long history to someone else’, I reflected, with a hint of sadness. But why would it be any other way? We are all our own people. Why would Dad remember? I realised what a generous birthday present it had been.
My home for the night was an immaculate campsite a few kilometres north of Aarhus. Now that I come to think of it, everything about Aarhus seemed immaculate. I had the choice of a few different, sparsely occupied camping fields surrounded by trees. I chose a field with tiny, gently undulating hills and pitched my tent. Although the sun was low in the sky, it was still very warm, so I set out my wet clothes on the grass to dry. As the sun inevitably sank lower behind the trees, I had to move my gear further out of the shadows and back into the sunlight. And then, as the sun sank even lower behind the trees, I had to move my gear even further out of the shadow and back into the sunlight. You get the picture. Until the sun sank so low that I ran out of grass.
Thank you everyone from Aarhus SUP Club - Surf Agency for such a fab SUP adventure. And thanks Dad for taking me to a football match 40 plus years ago!
