(Hillerød, Denmark)
While Copenhagen has many things to see and do, I decided to take a trip out of town on my first full day there. The reason? It was a Monday and almost everything in the city of interest (such as the royal castles) to a first-time visitor was closed. As the massive Frederiksborg Castle in nearby Hillerød was open, albeit for limited hours, I decided to see a little bit of the country outside the capital.
I’m really glad that I went. Frederiksborg has been described as the “Danish Versailles” and it was great to experience it out of season with no crowds. Once you get through all of the fortifications, a large portion of the palace is open for wandering. Approximately 70 rooms, many of them stuffed to the gills with paintings and furnishings, can be explored at your leisure. It’s not just a former castle; it’s actually the Museum of National History. The castle is dark, though, and flash photography was not allowed inside.
It was interesting to see how interconnected all of the European royal families were during the heyday of monarchies. The great hall in Frederiksborg featured massive portraits of not just the Danish royal family, but also their cousins such as the tsar of Russia. The supply of German princes and princesses also seemed to be limitless!
I also wandered around the extensive grounds and gardens. Even in late November, it’s all very green and carefully cultivated. It was nice to look at the gardens from the upper floors of the castle too: sometimes it is hard to put things into perspective when you are right in the middle of them. I’ll likely put some more pictures from today’s visit into a future post.
After a few hours in the castle, I was famished and in need of sustenance. I bought a “Dürüm Kebab” from the only person (so far) I’ve met in Denmark who did not speak perfect English. It worked out fine and I quite enjoyed eating the Dürüm Kebab at an outdoor table on the main street of Hillerød. Back home in Canada, it was snowing!
It is incredibly easy for an English speaker to get by here without knowing the local language. Reading Danish is not too difficult, as it is essentially a Germanic language and I recognize a lot of the words from German. Spoken Danish is another matter, however: I don’t seem to have an ear for it.
Hillerød is a quaint little town and is probably the closest I will get on this trip to “small town Danish life”. Unless there is a special site such as Frederiksborg, late November in small-town Denmark is characterized by very short daylight hours, short opening hours, and a relative absence of people in the streets. For that reason, exploration of rural Denmark is probably best done in the summer.
Was one castle enough in Denmark? Of course not…stay tuned for food, fun, and more castles as my Danish adventures continue.