On a hot day in July, while waiting for my wife to get a haircut, I took the opportunity to go for a walk through town with my camera, which, as the camera opportunist that I am, I had brought along. Hillerød is such a beautiful town and not just due to the fact that one of the most impressive castles in the world is located in the middle of it. As it happens that castle has, for years now, been marred by restauration work and the ugly scaffolds that have ruined many a castle shot (don’t get me wrong, I understand the need for maintenance, but I do feel bad for the tourists for whom the visit to the castle is a once in a lifetime experience). The below image is one of the few angles you can shoot from without getting the scaffolding in your frame.

Next I went into the castle park, which is one of my favorite places in town. It’s a mix of actual woodland and well-groomed park landscape. Narrow canals criss-cross the area and add to the idyllic scenery. You can even run into swans and, as evidenced in the next picture, the occasional herron. I came across this fellow when an elderly man, noticing my camera, came over to me and said to me in English, “Come this way, you should see this”. I went with him, and he pointed at the herron. I said, also in English, something to the effect of, “Oh, very nice, I enjoy seeing them here”. And he said, “Are you not a tourist?” And I said, this time in Danish, “No, no, I live in Hillerød.” I felt bad for probably embarassing him. He thought he had made a tourist’s day. Well, that may not quite have been the case, but it resulted in this shot, which is one of my better herron shots from the castle park, so I was happy..

As I walked back to pick up my wife, the sound of terrible dixieland jazz grew louder. My curiousity won out over my disdain, and I walked towards the sound. It came from the deck of a restaurant looking over the castle lake. People were sitting in chairs listening to the music. Some had even taken up position on the path running below the restaurant and along the castle lake. The image doesn’t show the band, which was hidden behind the tree, but if you imagine a dixieland version of “When the Saints Go Marching In” while looking at the image, you have a good idea of what it was like. I suppose you can say it was pretty cool. And it was a beautiful day. And the tree looked great. So, whatever…