Aarhus: My Soon To Be New Home!

I spent last weekend in Aarhus, the city I will be moving to February 15th, and I am thinking me and Aarhus are going to get along quite well. With a population of around 310,000 (around the size of Victoria, BC) it is neither too big or too small. It is referred to as "the world's smallest big city" meaning that it has everything that you would expect to find in a larger city, without an insane amount of hustle and bustle. Here are some more reasons why I think I am going to love living in Aarhus:

• Being a port city, it is situated alongside a large bay and has lots of  gorgeous sand beaches.
• Great people watching. I mostly like to see what everyone is wearing when I people watch, but you always get some more interesting shows in bigger cities. There are street musicians and performers, and we also witnessed a Bieber parade. For an explanation check out my post here.
• It has a good sized forest area with ample running/biking trails.
• The average age is the lowest in Europe, so the city caters to young people. This means there are loads of cafes, pubs, clubs, theaters, museums, art galleries, and great shopping!
• Subway. My beloved and incredibly missed favorite sandwich chain...hurray!
• Book stores that sell English books and magazines...hurray again! 
• Everyone exercises. It was warm and sunny, and pretty much felt like spring on Sunday. The streets and parks were overflowing with exercisers all afternoon. I was not so fond of all the physical activity at the time because I was a little under the weather from the night before. Honestly, watching that many humans be productive and healthy as I was driving along eating my chips really made me feel bad about myself. Now that I am well again I am excited about this and know it will keep me motivated to stay active.
• Reasonable traffic. Motorized vehicle traffic that is. The cyclists on the other hand are completely unreasonable and wild. They are everywhere and they are fast. They are pretty much asking to get run over, I just hope I am not the one to do it.
• You can rent bikes for free. Just put in a coin to unchain it, and when you chain it back up in the new location you get your coin back. I am a little apprehensive about cycling in the city, but it could eventually become something I enjoy.
• Did I mention excellent shopping? I love Danish shopping as you know if you are a regular blog reader, and Aarhus does not disappoint. The shopping streets are specifically for people, with no traffic allowed, and there is an endless amount of shops with amazing clothes, shoes, and accessories.
• The movie theaters have more up to date releases! Check out my blog on the Danish movie experience here for more info on how it differs from the theater experience in North America.
• It is nick named "The City of Smiles." Now who doesn't want to live in the city of smiles?

I was not kidding when I said the cyclist are everywhere! This is a bike parking lot.