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Why are these two photographers pointing their camera at me and taking my picture? Have they never seen a gaijin before?
Actually they probably couldn’t even see me. They are taking pictures of Himeji Castle. I was in the top room taking pictures from quite a distance with maximum zoom. I didn’t even realize I had captured a couple of photographers looking my way until I offloaded the pictures onto my computer and cropped out much of the image.
“There is one place in Japan where it is thought unlucky to cultivate chrysanthemums, for reasons which shall presently appear; and that place is in the pretty little city of Himeji, in the province of Harima. Himeji contains the ruins of a great castle of thirty turrets; and a daimyō used to dwell therein whose revenue was one hundred and fifty-six thousand koku of rice. Now, in the house of one of that daimyō’s chief retainers there was a maid-servant, of good family, whose name was O-Kiku; and the name “Kiku” signifies a chrysanthemum flower. Many precious things were entrusted to her charge, and among others ten costly dishes of gold. One of these was suddenly missed, and could not be found; and the girl, being responsible therefor, and knowing not how otherwise to prove her innocence, drowned herself in a well. But ever thereafter her ghost, returning nightly, could be heard counting the dishes slowly, with sobs…
Her spirit passed into the body of a strange little insect, whose head faintly resembles that of a ghost with long disheveled hair; and it is called O-Kiku-mushi, or “the fly of O-Kiku;” and it is found, they say, nowhere save in Himeji…
…the people of Himeji say that part of their city now called Go-Ken-Yashiki is identical with the site of the ancient manor. What is certainly true is that to cultivate chrysanthemum flowers in the part of Himeji called Go-Ken-Yashiki is deemed unlucky, because the name of O-Kiku signifies “Chrysanthemum.” Therefore, nobody, I am told, ever cultivates chrysanthemums there.” (Lafcadio Hearn, 1894, Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, p. 363)
Himejijo (姫路城) is probably the most impressive castle in Japan. The city of Himeji is a relatively short side trip from Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, and Okayama. We went on a Saturday, which was a mistake, just before the cherry blossoms peaked. It was so crowded inside that we could barely move. In fact, we couldn’t move at times. But we still had a good time, especially on the grounds.
If you decide to visit Himeji, your best bet is to go on a weekday. If you must go on a weekend, be sure to get there before 11 a.m. The afternoons can get very crowded with people inside the castle.
Himejijo and the grounds are featured prominently in the Shogun miniseries. We had a good time watching it after having been there.
Once back on ship we still had about 40 minutes before actual departure. Since we were tired from all the walking some of us took a nap. I woke up just minutes before we were set to depart and went up top. It turns out that it had rained hard while I was asleep (and was still sprinkling a bit but for only a minute or two). This was the only rain of the day and I missed it. I’m glad the rain fell as the air was now crystal clear. Blue sky came out in places and the scenery went from excellent to outstanding.
We were to once again “sail” through Oslofjord south to Copenhagen.
I was awestruck by the views. I would love to visit and explore Norway’s fjords again. Further north, along the west coast, they are supposed to be even more fantastic.
I didn’t want to leave or go back inside the ship, but dinner was scheduled for 45 minutes after departure so I had to drop a few decks and head for the interior. Luckily, we had window seats for dinner.
My daughter wanted to try out my fancy sunglasses which have polarized lenses so they made looking at bright views much more comfortable on the eyes.
The next morning I got up and went to the top deck before 7 as that is when we were supposed to be passing Kronborg. We didn’t actually pass the castle until 7:40, but I did get some nice pictures of Gilleleje from a distance. No one was up there with me so I got to enjoy the peace and beauty of the morning alone.
We passed the last couple hours through the Oresund Straight before our “ferry” pulled back into Copenhagen. What started out on some ominous notes turned into an enjoyable Norway trip that I’m very glad we took.
The train ride from Gilleleje to Hillerod was great. We were the only people on the train or at least our section of it. The views were spectacular as we headed through Danish forest with occasional glimpses of lakes and farms.
My son took advantage of our empty train carriage to stretch out. The windows in the train were larger than any I’ve previously encountered.
We took a bus from the train station to the castle (as buses which normally cost at least US$4 for even short rides were free with our 24-hour, unlimited pass). We missed the stop to get off which turned out to be a good thing as we ended up entering the grounds from the extensive wooded area in the rear. My only regret now is that we didn’t explore the park-type areas more.
Once you see the castle, though, you are drawn to it, and it becomes difficult to stay in the beautifully landscaped outer grounds. They weren’t just trees. There were lakes, lily pads, canals, bridges, sculptured gardens, wildlife, flowers, and more.
Frederiksborg Castle is not to be confused with Frederiksberg Castle which is near our residence many dozens of miles to the south.
This is the setting in Music & Silence. There is even a carving of the king’s orchestra on the castle wall. I wonder if the lute player in the carving was the inspiration for the book (as the main character in the book, Peter Claire, was a lute player for King Christian IV).
When you click on the above image you’ll see lots of black flying things. I’m not sure if they are birds or bats, but let’s say they are bats to make the photograph be even cooler. 
These statues appear to be fairly newly restored. Some of the other ones didn’t look like they had been touched in hundreds of years.
We were there after 7 p.m. on a weeknight and the interior of the castle had closed at 5 so all of the tourists were long gone. This made for some great photo opportunities as I’m guessing this shot could never happen with tons of tourists in the way normally. If you like uncrowded self-tours then I highly recommend you plan your visit for the evening or early morning hours. I would have liked to have stayed until the sun set, but that would have been another 3+ hours. The sun never seems to set in these Danish summers.
This last picture was taken back in the center of town. The statue is the only thing near the camera, on a plaza where you can enjoy a meal or drink. Nearly everything was closed and very few people were around. With a view like this and so few people to enjoy it, the sensation was strange.
We then headed back to Copenhagen on a 40-minute train ride, pretty much ending a very eventful and wonderful day. It wasn’t that expensive either. With food, train tickets (kids were free), etc. we ended up spending less than US$100 which is very hard to do for four people in Denmark even when you aren’t going to three amazing locations around much of an entire island (Zealand).
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