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 out of control with people.

Himejijo and the grounds are featured prominently in the Shogun miniseries. We had a good time watching it after having been there.

Posted on September 17th, 2008 under Japan. Tags: castle, cherry blossoms, himeji, japan pictures, sakura. Comments: None

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.

Posted on July 28th, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: castle, norway, pictures. Comments: None

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).

Posted on July 23rd, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: castle, Christian IV, pictures. Comments: None

The train ride from Copenhagen to Helsingor was pleasant enough. This was our first real glimpse of the Danish countryside. We were also offered views of the sea between Denmark and Sweden. This body of water is called the Oresund and links the North Sea to the Baltic.

The castle was more impressive than I was anticipating. You can cross the moat and have access to the interior courtyard without having to pay. I understand they also perform Hamlet (which is what this castle is most famous for) a few times each year on the interior courtyard.

Kronborg Castle is flanked by ancient canon which makes for an impressive sight.

Sweden is easily viewable from Kronborg. In fact, Helsingor is the closest point to Sweden from Denmark (and Kronborg Castle is right on the water’s edge of the town). Sailors were boating between the two and we caught sight of a pirate or two as well.

The views with the boats in the straight and the exterior of the castle grounds were very beautiful. The weather was outstanding and the clouds were, once again, amazing.

People and cars were being constantly ferried back and forth from Sweden to Denmark at this point. Here you can see the canon ready to make a few Swedes swim back home.

Actually there is some interesting history about the canon at this place. The canon was not defensive as much as it was an offensive threat to ships that came through the straight without stopping to pay tax. When the ship landed and the tax inspectors went on board, the captain had to declare a value for his cargo. The tax was based on the value of the cargo. If the captain undervalued his cargo to avoid paying tax the inspector had the right to purchase the cargo at the claimed value. Those were some tricky Danes! The tax for passing through was done away with long ago when the nations of the world paid Denmark a huge lump sum.

On our way back to the train station we went through town instead of following the same shortcut road that we took to the castle. Some of the buildings looked like they were out of a fairy tale. A few looked similar to those in Copenhagen on a much smaller scale, but most had a completely different and fun, Danish style.

Posted on July 21st, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: castle, clouds, pictures. Comments: None

Last Tuesday we had perhaps our most action-packed day of our adventure so far. We traveled what I will call the “Zealand Loop.” I highly recommend this trip if you are planning on being in Copenhagen for more than a few days. In fact, I probably recommend the Zealand Loop even if you are only going to be in Copenhagen for two or three days if you enjoy castles and/or the beach.

We were a bit concerned by the weather forecast which called for clouds and rain, but we lucked out and had a mostly sunny, warm day with no rain.

I took over 200 pictures in one day so I’ll break this entry down into four parts with today being the overview and the next three entries being the three places we went. I won’t bore you with all of my photographs either.

If you were to go to each of these areas from Copenhagen by train they would cost 115 DKK each round trip (about US$25). By doing them all in one day you only have to pay the 115 kroners once (with a 24 hour unlimited pass). As importantly, you get to see the wonderful areas in between the three locations, making a loop, rather than just treading the same path to and from Copenhagen.

We started off by going from Copenhagen to Helsingor (Elsinore).

(Don’t forget to have your train ticket punched at the Copenhagen station. The guy who sold us ours didn’t mention that fact and we got chewed out on the train. The lady didn’t fine us though which could have been as steep as 600 DKK (about US$130).)

The train line ends at Helsingor and you’ll want to get off anyway. A short walk of under half a mile takes you to Kronborg Castle, the setting for Shakespeare’s Hamlet. 

From Helsingor train station (which looks like a castle itself) you hop on a train for Gilleleje. Gilleleje has an awesome beach and tons of cute, Danish, summer cottages. We spent most of the day here.

If you want to see the inside of Frederiksborg Castle you’ll need to get there before it closes at 5. If you prefer beaches, or if you’d like to take pictures of Frederiksborg Castle at dusk or after dark, then hang out at Gilleleje until 7 or later.

From Gilleleje train station take the train to Hillerod. You’ll go through forests and see lakes along the way. The scenery was excellent and the windows on the train were huge.

You can walk to Frederiksborg Castle from the train station, but we took a bus, being rather tired by this point. Be sure to walk the grounds behind the castle. They are, in many ways, as impressive as the castle itself. We were there several hours after the castle had closed so there were virtually no tourists there which was nice. You can still walk the grounds and enter the courtyard even after the interior of the castle is closed so don’t worry about arriving late (unless you really want to pay to see the interior).

Finally, take the train from Hillerod to Copenhagen to complete the loop. Arriving back in Copenhagen was almost a shock. Even though we had been away for only 12 hours or so, Copenhagen seemed to have changed into a big city. I suppose it always was, but I didn’t realize it so much while living here everyday. It took a trip to the countryside and the relaxing feeling that came with it to wake me up to my Copenhagen surroundings.

Posted on July 20th, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: castle, copenhagen, living in copenhagen, pictures. Comments: None

. . . I think it was the Fifth of July. Actually, I know it was the Fifth of July as it was just last Saturday!

Everything changes in Copenhagen on the weekend. People seem much more relaxed, the car and bike traffic disappears (relatively speaking), and you can find lots of people having a good time at the numerous, large parks.

I love the parks here. Each has a unique, distinctive quality, yet all share a common Denmarkian (is that a word?–OK, Danish) feel that is very different from any park you’d find in the states.

60 Minutes recently did a feature story on the Danes being the happiest people on earth. On the weekends, at least, you can really see that at a park. They have laws prohibiting overtime work, a required maximum work week of 37 hours (which means most stores and businesses close right at 5 Monday through Thursday and at 2 on Friday), and forced vacations of at least 5 weeks a year.

Last Saturday we headed out to the largest park in our area, Frederiksberg Have.

While at the park we got caught in a very brief downpour (which seems to happen a couple times a week here in the summer). We headed for cover and wound up under a tree that was loaded with baby pacifiers hanging from it. Some had inscriptions attached to them, and reminded me a bit of Japanese ema. Not being able to make out what the wording attached to the pacifiers said (being in Danish of course), we asked a passerby what the deal was with this tree.

He said that people bring their kids here when they are ready to give up their pacifiers and tie them to the tree. They attach a written fond farewell and thanks for the help the pacifier has given the child to this point in their lives. Before winter someone comes out and takes all of the pacifiers down. Apparently the tree can’t support that many pacifiers and snow.

We thought it was a cute tradition. I think we had to trick our kids out of their pacifiers so the Danish method seems more humane and ceremonial. Plus, every Dane that we saw approach the tree had a smile come across their face.

The park and palace at the end of the park are over 300 years old. Frederiksberg Park contains some canals which were built in the century following the building of the “palace” (sometimes called “castle” in English). Apparently Frederik IV would sail around the canals. Last Saturday, people were rowing little boats around them.

While walking one of the trails we saw pirate signs so Ryan wanted to take that trail. It went through some thick foliage, but we never found the pirate treasure.

A wide variety of games were being played by the Danes, few of which I recognized. Some were playing catch with small balls (no baseball gloves so they didn’t actually catch the ball much of the time), others played variations on soccer, and the above photo shows a group playing something that sort of looked like baseball or cricket (but I don’t think it was either).

Posted on July 12th, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: castle, copenhagen, frederiksberg, living in copenhagen, pictures. Comments: None