Hillerod, Denmark

So, to continue where I left off....

We walked back to the Helsingor Station and saw what we thought was a train in the distance. We rushed to board it and sat down in seats that looked nothing like the ones we sat in on the way there. A few minutes later, we left the station at a rather slow pace. We quickly realized that we were on the tracks that we had walked along earlier in the day, and that we were not on a train, but on a tram. Instead of taking 30 minutes to get to Hillerod, it took us an hour and fifteen minutes. We figured, "oh well, we are getting good use of our klippekort" and none of us wanted to get off the tram and then walk back to the station to board a train (it would take the same amount of time in the end).

So we rode the train and enjoyed the countryside and scenery that passed us by. We talked about our plans for the upcoming week and trips that we hoped to take while in Denmark.

Finally, we arrived in Hillerod around 5:15pm. We were welcomed by the rain [Note: it would be too good to be true if the rain hadn't shown up all day. While in Hillerod, the sun was shining with only a little wind]. We took the bus to the Frederiksborg Slot which was about a five minute ride.

We stopped at a cafe across the street to use the bathroom and the group ended up getting ice cream (an appropriate snack for the weather) as a "thank you" for letting us use their facilities before we headed over there.

My friend, Sam from Minnesota, has a friend who lives in Hillerod and she met us at the Slot. This girl is 17 and did a year abroad at Sam's high school. She was a friendly tour guide that showed us different areas in the Slot since everything was closed and we couldn't get maps or ask anyone else.

The front of Frekeriksborg Slot

 The gates were still open, so we could walk in and look at the walls of the Castle from inside the square.

The view from the inside

As we were looking around, the night security guard, Henrick, came up and talked to us. He informed us (although we already knew) that the Castle was closed and jokingly gave us a hard time about coming too late. We told him we were at Kronborg Slot. We stood and talked inside the square. Quite the history buff, Henrick told us about the history of the Kronborg and Frederiksborg Slots. He's a security guard at four of the Castles in Copenhagen, including Amelienborg Slot!

After talking for a bit, Henrick told us we could come back in an hour, around 6:45pm, when he would let us see the church because he would have to make his rounds for the night. Exclusive access to the Slot? Boy did we feel special!

So we headed out of the Slot and to the gardens, which were well manicured, of course. The view of the Castle and the surrounding area was spectacular! See for yourself:

View of the Castle and the garden

The mini "castle" where the king would take his baths

After exploring the gardens, we headed back to meet Henrick. Once we entered the gates, he closed and locked the giant door...definitely VIP status. He took us up a narrow, winding staircase to the church where he let us have a look around. We got to go to the balcony of the church and look down too!

It's a little dark, but the view of the church from above

While in the church, Henrick told us stories and cracked a few jokes. He was so friendly and we truly appreciated the opportunity we had to see the inside of the church when no one else was there...a little private tour, I'd say.

Afterwards, we headed outside. By this time, it was almost 8pm. We were pretty exhausted when we went inside the church, but by this time we were definitely spent. Henrick offered to let us see inside the Castle, but Sam's friend had to go home and everyone else seemed ready to take the train back to Copenhagen. So we kindly declined, much to my dismay. But it's okay, we had a long day and it was great to be able to see the Frederiksborg Church after it was closed to the public.

We stood inside the walls of the Slot little longer as Henrick talked to us about the Danish language and how to pronounce the letters and certain words. He also is fluent in several other languages, including Swedish and French, so he entertained us by speaking those and telling us how they are different. He even went into a little rant about the stark differences between Danish and American politics. His perspective was very interesting and he brought up very insightful points about the way elections work in the US (how we have the electoral college) versus those in Denmark. He also discussed religion and how he encountered a hypocritical American when he was on guard at Amelienborg.

Although he is extremely opinionated and would probably get into heated debates with many Americans, I thought Henrick was knowledgeable and friendly (very talkative too!). Even though we only got to see the church, I truly appreciated the fact that he broke the rules to let us international students explore ta small part of Frederiksborg Slot. Just another cordial and interesting Dane I have met since I began this journey a month ago.

Afterwards, we headed back to the train station and caught the (correct) s-tog to Norreport Station. By this time, it was 9pm and we had arranged to possibly meet up at a bar later on in the night since Matthias' friends were leaving the next day. Since the guys didn't have bikes, they met up with Matthias downtown while Sarah, Sam, and I got back on our bikes and headed to our separate kollegiums.

I got back to my room, ate, and relaxed.  It had been a long, but very enjoyable day. I loved the fact that my friends and I got to spend the whole day together on this trip to the greater Copenhagen area.

...and no, I didn't end up going out that night.