5.13.10 – Day In Hillerod & Gilleje

This morning I got up earlier than I wanted however Dad had talked about meeting at the train station a little before 10:00am, and I didn’t want to be late. Interestingly right as I got off the bus, I received a call from dad from the train station pay phone (he left his cell phone in the hotel room). He was shocked that I remembered to get there at that time because he didn’t really recall planning a meeting time.

All three of us then made our way through town to the castle. I think Dad and Bob were surprised by the town because it was more built up than they imagined. I think they also appreciated that the castle seemed more castle-like than the Rosenberg castle in the city, which they had visited a couple days before. We then gave ourselves about 1.5-2 hours to walk around the castle. At one point, Bob and I ran into this fun guy who must have been a historian or something because he knew A LOT about the castle. Therefore, we practically received a personal tour in a few of the rooms. I enjoyed being able to walk around it for a second time. After all it is this amazing piece of history that I passed by everyday, I had more than enough reason to appreciate it more than once. I only hope that Dad and Bob enjoyed it too.

Following the castle, we began the 10 minutes walk to my house. When we got there, we met up with Charlotte and Caroline (who had yet to leave, so I got a chance to say ‘hi’ and ‘goodbye’ again). After a little tour of the house and waiting for Caroline to get all of her things together for her badminton tournament, we all piled into the car. First, we dropped Caroline off at a friend’s house, then we made our way up to the summer house.

When we arrived at the summerhouse, Dad and Bob received another quick tour of the house (it is much simpler and smaller so it didn’t take very long). We then sat down for a few minutes while Charlotte got organized and waited for one of her friends to arrive. We actually surprised Charlotte’s friend, Vibe, because Charlotte didn’t inform her who all was going to be there. It was a last minute sort of thing.

Once the introductions were completed, we all went for a walk down to the beach and the harbor area. I think it really reminded Dad and Bob of the Cape. It is always fun to see the beach too. We stopped at the harbor for lunch, where we all got some sort of fish, which was delicious (and fried and unhealthy ☺). After eating and when impending rain appeared threatening, we decided to make our way back to the house. On the way, we actually ran into one of Charlotte & Steens’ friends who have a home right on the beach (it used to be an old school house there). They kindly invited us to their home for a brief chat and a little tour of the home. They are still working on renovating it (themselves), but it was neat to see how the aspects of the schoolhouse fit into the newer design.

Following our little visit, we finally made our way to the summer house, where we learned all about the coffee maker (Dad and Bob at least know what I am talking about) and had some afternoon coffee and cake…a past time I will miss when back in the states. After another hour or so, Dad convinced Charlotte that we really should be heading back into town, and let Charlotte and her friend get on with their girls’ night. Unfortunately, we had just missed the train (which only runs once an hour – this is a local train that runs to the very northern parts of Zealand). Therefore, Charlotte and Vibe drove us back to the Hillerod station. There, Dad and Bob said goodbye, and we made our way into town. I had decided to go in as well, since I didn’t have any other plans for the evening, and there was no one at the house anyways.

On the train ride back in, Dad and Bob mentioned how much they appreciated the afternoon spent with Charlotte and Vibe. It was definitely an experience they wouldn’t have even imagined receiving in Denmark. They also thought it was interesting to experience someone’s daily activities and to observe that they are not entirely different from our lives at home. I was so happy that they had a good time.

When we got back into the city, we headed to the hotel for a brief rest and to waste some time before dinner. We then found a restaurant on Nyhavn to eat in for the evening, and then after that I simply headed back to the train station for my ride home. I finished my day with a nice warm shower and a relatively early bedtime.