one week left. (7)

Fredericksborg Palace!

 It’s official: only ONE WEEK left until I fly home. Less than that, technically, since my flight leaves at 12:30pm, central European time. It’s crazy. I don’t think it’s really hit me yet that I really will be leaving. But, like I said, I'm trying to make the most of my days here, and today was no exception. I did sleep in later than I would have liked, but when I woke up, the sky was at least a little sunny, which helped to motivate me to get going. I packed myself a lunch, checked the bus and train schedules, and headed out. The destination of the day was Frederiksborg Slot in Hillerød, a home of the famous Danish king Christian IV, located on three islands in the middle of "Castle Lake".

wooded paths :)

SO GREEN!

I had a nice long train ride to get there, and read my book for Bucknell in Nicaragua on my Nook, my new best friend since being abroad. The palace itself was beautiful, although I spent most of my time walking through the Baroque-style gardens, around the lake, and through the paths winding in the woods. If I lived closer to this palace, I would, without a doubt, spend time every day there, running on the trails and just relaxing. There were people running and riding bikes through the gardens- you know, no big deal, there is just a beautiful castle on the route they run on every day. The trails through the wooded area were my favorite though- I know that it was likely completely planned and planted by man, and meters from the carefully controlled and manicured lawns and gardens behind the palace, but I felt like I was just in nature. The paths were dirt, and wound across a stream and through the woods, with trees, grasses, and flowers all around. It was so peaceful.

ducky friend

I then sat on a bench by the lake, eating my lunch and observing the

casual run through the palace gardens

scene around me. There were ducks and a swan swimming and walking around, and of course, I found cute Danish children to watch. I layed down on the bench for a while and allowed myself to doze off, read my book some more, and then walked around. It was a very relaxing, peaceful day, and I'm glad that I got to see the palace. I debated stopping in Copenhagen on the way home, but felt tired and it was getting really cloudy, so I decided to just take the train all the way to Ishøj instead.

I napped on the train, which I don't normally do since my ride is short, but it was great. And Danish

controlled Baroque gardens

people are so thoughtful and considerate sometimes- at Nørreport, one of the main Copenhagen stations, a woman gently tapped me and asked, in Danish, if I needed to get off since we were approaching Central Station. Slightly disoriented, I said "nej, Ishøj...tak" (in retrospect I wish I had formed a full Danish sentence, which I totally could have done, had I not been half asleep- nej, tak; jeg tager toget til Ishøj- but it would have to do), and she smiled and got off the train. Although I would have loved a few more minutes of sleep, it was really cool to see the kindness of this woman, whom I had never met.

I stopped at the shopping center attached to the Ishøj train station and browsed for things to bring home. So, to all my friends in the States, get excited- I got a bag of salt lakrids, a delicious Danish specialty, for you all to try :) See you in a week! (?!?)

Fredericksborg, in the distance