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Hawk and Doug had split off to find food, and Big Mike was wandering, so I headed down to 3 where there was a lecture about LGBTQ (didn't stay to listen to it, but there were some exhibits on the topic sprinkled around this floor. the exhibits on floor 1 are exhibitions from the artist: Annette Messager - called "Desirs desordonnes" (Disordered desires) creepy! in the trip chat, some of the others had posted not to miss the basement because it was very strange (I think perhaps that was Andy or Steve). . and I had thought they were talking about this exhibit, which was rather Fv@ked up. . . imagine my surprise when I went down to the zero level for a winding batch of rooms in a Permanent Installation that would give Meow Wolf a run for it's money! very retro room. . a fully stocked dorm/apartment. . . complete with a stocked mini-mart and down another hallway, this creepy very Japanese room. . that had a perpetual rainstorm going on. . .complete with lightning, rain falling on the windows, and dripping water into buckets. So freaking cool. and an endless stairwell. . .reflecting into infinity. another retro room.. . complete with accessories one could interact with. and a room that just had a giant, glowing, vibrator in the center of it. which, honestly, was a bit mesmerizing! a quick perusal of the gift shop. . where I picked up this magnet: and then we were on our way. I stopped and asked a guard the directions to Aarhus Domkirke (the well known Cathedral), and she assured us it's an easy walk, up some of the beautiful canals. . . so with her directions, big Mike and I headed out on foot to check out the Cathedral (and the close to it Viking Museum, and Museum of Gender - if either were still open). to her credit, it WAS a lovely walk. . and past the university and entertainment area. . . so lots and lots of folks out and about (we even passed Doug & Hawk eating in a cafe and said hello as we walked by) so many interesting stores here! ' is it a clothing store? or a shoe store? or a nudist colony money laundering front? I'm confused! around the corner was the Cathedral. . . it really is beautiful. . especially in the late afternoon. didn't stick around to take too many pics of this statue, as behind it, there were probably 5 guys pissing on those trees. so . . yeah. . .kept to this side of the statue a look around the "square" where the Cathedral is in the center. . I thought this was the Viking Museum. . . sadly was closed (they closed at 6 I think).. but looking at the pics, perhaps it's a theater? they seem to be advertising some shows (King Lear) the Gender Studies museum was also closed. . but they had this interactive display out front encouraging you to see if you fit in the gender shape. for "Male". . check! for Female: Also "Check". . if I tuck shame they were closed, but we decided to wander up the side streets to the port area, and just enjoy the scenery. Charlie Brown in Lucy's dress. . . awesome! a big building by the port. . perhaps an amphitheater for music/shows? and I had seen this graffiti on flyers around town. . . so I think it might be a well known one (or artist). . but it was kinda neat, so snapped a pic of it. and at this point, my feet were hurting. . so I said to Big Mike, "I'm gonna flag down a cab, and cab it back to the hotel". . . so we did, and had a nice driver who told us all about the city while taking us back to the zleep in. . . where I crashed hard from a full day. but was excited, as tomorrow was Djurs Sommerland. . . a park I had very much been looking forwards to. I was worried I wouldn't be able to sleep due to the excitement, but I was out immediately (and probably kept AJ up with snoring, since I was so exhausted). hope you've enjoyed this update!

Part 11 A Most Unusual Day: Skara Sommarland This may be the strangest day of the TPR Scandinavia Trip for two reasons: One of the group, Barry, had to spend some time in a Swedish hospital after getting an enormous splinter in his foot at the park's wake-boarding attraction. Tranan, a notoriously unreliable S&S Free Fly coaster, ran pretty much all day while other, simpler attractions broke down frequently. Did I say "splinter"? From what I understand, Barry impaled his foot on a huge piece of the wake-boarding pier. He rode in an ambulance to a hospital in another town, accompanied by Colin, one of his trip mates, and caught up with the group in Stockholm by train after being released. Barry and Colin were both real troupers during and after this incident; Barry was able to get around the rest on the trip using crutches and wheelchairs and the help of other TPR folks. As for Tranan, it's fun but very weird as you cruise over, under, and beside the track. ERT on this ride, and on the park's bizarrely named new bumper cars, Badrings Bumpers (the park's webiste also refers to them as "Swimming Ring Bumpers"), went well. But other rides were having issues. For example, Robb and some of the group got stuck midcourse on the park's spinning mouse. A technician rode up on a bicycle, reset the ride (which resumed operating), then rode off again. The ops sent the next car full of riders, which got stuck in exactly the same place. Newton, the park's flume ride with cute little whale-shaped boats, also kept breaking down. Even the deck outside the restaurant where the group had lunch had some technical issues. Seating inside was limited, and it was a rather hot day (especially for Sweden). Fortunately, awnings provided shade for many of the tables. The staff extended the awnings, which work with electric motors controlled inside the building. At the table where I and some others were waiting, the awning extended, then slowly retracted, leaving us in the blazing sun. They tried three or four times to get the awning to stay in place; each time, it retracted. Finally, they let us eat inside. Good lunch, as I recall. Well, we did grab some ice cream before we left--yay! On to Stockholm! Skara is a popular campground with a surfing-beach-themed water park. So maybe this should be "Valkommen-a-bunga." Would you trust these birds on Tranan? Looks like they may have smoked some weed this morning. "Er, these birds look a little stoned. Is this a good idea?" "I'm sure it will be . . . fine." Lord, what the hell is happening? The bird is upside-down? How is this even possible? This ride provides a different sensation than any other coaster I've ever ridden. It is, indeed, unique. You feel really exposed on these very open trains, and you're held in by nothing more than a rather funky seatbelt. I think it's fun but just really weird. What has this bird been drinking, and where can we get some? Tranan can have strange effects on people. (I think this is an Andy or AJ photo.) The theming of the new bumper cars is rather . . . interesting. Lots of manspreading here. "I can see everyone's crotch, which fills me with joy." Thank god my shorts held up! (Photo by Elissa, I think.) Time for a manly lunch on a Manly Beach. This weird snake ride used to be at Grona Lund (the same people own Skara). I'm sure Robb got some interesting footage. "We broke the ride! I can't wait to post the POV!" This is as close as Eric and I got to riding Newton. I know there's some ice cream around here somewhere. But where could it be? Goodbye, Tranan! See ya around, Snake! Catch you later, Karp Pond!

1. Visit Centralia 2. Look at Cornfields 3. Hang out at Sheetz 4. Yuengling brewery is somewhat close As said above, the park is in the middle of nowhere with nothing really of interest in the area (other than hiking...plenty of that) but it is definitely worth visiting the middle of nowhere in this case.

and Drag Queen Chickens! that I loved so much I bought the magnet, even tho I HATE Disc-O's and didn't ride the ride