Out and about in Houten, NL

Although I am now back in Aldinga Beach, I still have some photographs to share with you.

Some of the following photographs relate to Koningsdag, which is a national holiday to celebrate the King's birthday.   King Willem-Alexander is the current King of the Netherlands.

The celebrations include partying, wearing orange costumes, flea markets, concerts, and traditional local gatherings.

Orange is the national colour of the Netherlands due to the House of Oranje-Nassau, the Dutch royal dynasty, and its founder, Willem of Oranje, who led the country to independence in 1544. 

The flag is now red, white and blue although it started off as orange, white and blue.

So on Koningsdag there is orange, orange and more orange.

The local delicacy. Tompoes or Tompouce, is made from pastry, custard cream and icing.   It looks similar to the Australian vanilla slice, however not as good.

Walter and me, eating out slices of Tompoes.    We were very happy with it, and no complaints.

Walter dressed in an orange polo shirt and orange socks, while I wore an orange hat, with red, white and blue bows clipped on, plus orange socks.    All appropriate for the day.

Kylie took me to the flea market, absolutely huge and covered a large number of streets.   On this day people sell items they no longer use, plus a couple of people selling new items.   I bought a second hand jacket plus a glass bird to put in the garden.

Later on in the morning the path was filled with people.  Kylie in front of me, dressed in her new orange fleecy jacket.

The bars were filled with drinkers dressed in orange clothes.   The music was very loud and went on to about 11 pm

There was also a band and stalls in the Rond on the previous evening.   And much drinking, plus the aftermath of plenty of vomit around.    The street cleaners were very busy during the Koningsdag!

Walter, standing outside our favourite cafe, the Barista.    

The stage being set up for Koningsdag..

Kylie took me to visit two garden centres.   I was in my element.    I loved the stands of artificial flowers.

Artificial chrysanthemums.

And more artificial flowers.

Displays in the garden centre.

A beautiful display of flowers.

The trees rapidly went from brown branches to green leaves during the three weeks.

The white wisteria in front of Aaron and Kylie's house.   

The gardens on our walk between our apartment and Aaron and Kylie's house.

Cherry blossoms.    The lilac bushes were also out in flower.

The courtyard in Aaron and Kylie's house starting to show its colour.   The tree in the pot is a fig.

Their lovely sunny courtyard.

The woodland behind their house.

Aaron and Kylie's house just visible through the trees.

A view of our apartment block, through the glass at the railway station.    Sadly the present owners are currently selling off the individual apartments, with a starting price of 250,000 euros each.   

Zwolle

It was a long drive to Zwolle, but so worth it.    Such a pretty city, with plenty to see.    

In the 8th century merchants settled here, on the Zwarte Water.   Zwolle probably comes from the Latin 'Suolle' meaning a high altitude area that remains dry during floods.  It became a member of the German Hanseatic League, and became n important trading city in the 15th century.

We crossed the outer river before entering the city centre.

A leaning house.   

The city centre was very busy, as it was a Friday and market day.

Lunch at a lovely cafe, unfortunately we had to sit in the shade, the only table left.   The Dutchies love the sunshine.    There was a very steep staircase up to the toilets, which is not unusual.   A delicious lunch.

I have finally learnt how to cut a kroket in order to place it on a buttered piece of bread, with mustard on top.   It has to be cut lengthways, otherwise you end up with quite a mess.   Our lunch also came with tomato soup and a roll with a slice of raw beef.    

A narrow street, bathed in sunshine.

The lovely carpet in the Grote Church, or St Michaelskerk.    An enormous church, which now has a cafe and second hand bookstore in it.    Plus a huge and well preserved organ.

Aaron reading the tour guide.

The organ.

Beautiful windows in the church.

An art display.

And to continue our walk through one of the squares.

This courtyard was the home of an educationalist, Joan Cele, during the Middle Ages.    The institute is considered the beginning of the gymnasium because of its curriculum.

I think the city was getting ready for a festival, or perhaps Koningsday, which is tomorrow.   There were plenty of pissoirs around.   Nothing for the ladies though.

The art gallery.

The city gate, the Sassenpoort, was built in 1406, and is made of brick, and decorated with natural stone.

The houses beside the gate was originally connected to the gate.   There were two gates, an inner gate and an outer gate.   When Charles, Duke of Guelders, tried to invade the city in 1524, both gates were closed as he, and his men, where passing through it.   They of course died a nasty death.

A street view of the gate.

This square was packed with restaurants and people sitting in the sunshine.

The glass statue of the Archangel Michael.

The enormous library.

And then we walked slowly back to the car park.  

Altogether a delightful day out.  

Paleis Het Loo

We visited the beautiful Palais Het Loo, located on the outskirts of Apeldoorn.     The Dutch royal family lived there until 1975.   It is owned by the State of the Netherlands.    Since 1984 it has been open to the public as the National Museum Paleis Het Loo..

It was built by the King, William 111, who was the great grandson of William of Orange, in 1686.   It had a mixed history, in that it was unoccupied for some time, was plundered and destroyed, become a hospital during  Louis Napoleon reign, then become a summer palace in 1815, become a royal residence again during the 1800s under William 111's reign, and was used as a convalescent home during the 
German occupation.

William 111's wife, Emma, lived here with her daughter, Wilhelmina, as did successive royal Queens, although I think it was mainly a summer residence.

It is a very impressive palace, and also very stylish.

My first view.   I thought this was the palace.   But no, it is part of the horse stables.

The palace, with an impressive and modern water feature in the front.   

I thought this was a crocodile feature, but no!

A long walk to the palace itself.   Glorious weather.

The line up outside the palace.

Aaron looking very happy in front of the stables.

There was a huge hall under the water feature, which you can see in the ceiling.

Great displays at the sides of the huge hall.

Once through the hall we walked up the stairs to the palace.

A very long hall.

Most impressive, without being too 'over the top'.

Up on the roof!   A bit scary.   But not as scary as the lifts.    It was fantastic that they provided lifts, but they sometimes went past floors, and clanked and rattled, and a few were very tiny,  

The view of the magnificent gardens.     Very formal, and laid out according to the 17th century Baroque style.

Very precise.

Walter in the open topped lift.  Thank goodness I walked down the stairs.

The corridors, stairs and walkways in the castle were carpeted with a robust material which matched the floor coverings in each room, ie, tiles, wood or carpet.    The photo below shows how well the walkways were matched to the floor coverings, in this case the inner carpet.   My foot marks the edge of the walkway.

The next few photographs were taken in Wilhelmina's home (19th and 20th centuries).    I liked this wing the most.    I think this might have been Queen Emma's drawing room.

Prince Hendrick's hunting room.

Prince Hendrick's drawing room.   He loved showing off his animal trophies.

King Willem's 1's office.

We had a quick look at the palace coaches.    I think this is Queen Wilhemina's funeral coach.

Another royal coach.

And finally afternoon tea with apple tart, with cream, and coffee, plus a beer for Walter.

Altogether a delightful day.