Fri-Man

Hello again. Sorry for my recent absence but I've been catching up on some rest over the past couple of days and still holding on to a few nice events that I did last week. In between some much-needed cleaning of my apartment tomorrow, I think I'll be able squeeze a post in. Right now though, I do have some cool stuff to share as tonight marked one of the most exciting adventures I've participated in since arriving in Denmark.

Since we don't play until Sunday, a team event was planned tonight at Tivoli Friheden (Free-dhen), an amusement park about two minutes from my front step. Before I go on, it should be noted that this park is not to be confused with Tivoli Gardens, Scandinavia's largest and most-visited attraction of the sort (third most in the EU). That park is located in Copenhagen and I have not yet had the pleasure of going there. Furthermore, neither location should be confused with Tivoli, Italy (just outside Rome), though both are named after it and its famous botanical wares.

To those in NH, Friheden is very comparable in size to Canobie Lake Park; on the small side, but bigger than you think once you've walked in and out of everything after a while. It's been an Aarhus staple since opening in 1958 and unfortunately seems to have a less-than-flattering reputation, as several rides have experienced malfunctions over the years. The aftermath of these has resulted from the minor (guests being stranded for a few hours in midair) to far more serious (fatality). One would never know this by looking at the place in its present condition now though, as it is a clean, seemingly well-functioning environment. On this particular night, despite (you guessed it) some more RAIN, the park was still filled with families and patrons of all ages enjoying the heck out of all it had to offer. It had been a long time since I was to an amusement park (five years ago to Universal Studios for a high school trip) and I really forgot how much damn fun they are. Friheden was certainly no exception.

Our night started with a buffet dinner at one of the restaurants in the park. Defensive and Special Teams Coordinator (and NTD follower), Anders Bysted (Byoo-steth) worked in security at Friheden for several years, so he set up the whole night's affair. The food was okay, but the softis (soft EES) or Danish soft serve was definitely the winner of the meal. It was probably the creamiest soft serve I've had since B & J's in Fort Washington, MD and tasted pretty good, too. After dinner, we were free (well, not free - I'll explain in a moment) to enjoy ourselves in the park. Part of the reason tonight was selected was because a popular Danish rock group was kicking off Friheden's summer concert series. The group was Kashmir and they sounded an awful lot like U2. They were enjoyable enough; not something I would normally listen to, but they seemed to have a pretty big following and they put on a decent show. Interesting note about their name:

They have actually been around since 1991 and were originally called 'Nirvana.' Somewhere along the way, three meddlesome youths from Seattle decided to go and become extremely successful and our Danish friends were caught in a bit of a pickle. To avoid any confusion (just in case their stark musical differences weren't enough), they changed their name to 'Kashmir,' after the famed Led Zeppelin number.

I must admit that I did not see their entire set. Bysted, myself and two others were busy braving several of Friheden's most treacherous rides during their first few songs. We did manage to catch about a half-hour of their performance though, which I'm glad we did. I'm a sucker for live music and it never hurts to say you've "seen so-and-so a few years back" during conversation. Add another one to the list. The guys I was with said they played a lot of their new material, which apparently isn't as "rock 'n roll" as their old stuff. I'd say not, just from my initial impression, but like I said before, it was just nice to see a few dudes having a good time, playing some tunes.

As for the rest of the night's adventures, I'm going to leave this as a rare "To Be Continued..." edition of NTD, as I'm pretty tuckered out at the moment. I will defintely get this one posted early tomorrow, possibly over breakfast (mmm ... Danish corn flakes...). I also have some really good pictures and will be sure to include those as well. For now, I'll leave you with Troels Vendelbo 'jumping for joy' on the way to dinner. It would have been better if (as Troels himself said) he got more than 5 centimetres off the ground.


Goodnight; be back in a few hours.