TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

I cannot remember how many times I have been to this castle anymore but every time I go, this castle never fails to always take my breath away. She is that stunning and out of this world! Castle De Haar

Last year at the end of November to early December, my old high school girl friend, Pinpin visited me in the Netherlands. We did Utrecht (read here ) and then Amsterdam on a very rainy Saturday (read here , here and here ). We also went to eat Dutch pancakes in the Lage Vuursche forest which I will post soon, and visited quickly, well actually we just took a peek, the Castle de Haar. Pinpin wanted to see a castle, but we didn’t have enough time, so we just quickly dropped by. This castle is quite near to where I live. Anyway, this blog entry is all about us and our pictures and very little to do with the castle, haha. Pinpin, this is for you! 3 months ago before this visit, I brought my cousin Dr Balin here at Castle de Haar. Read about it here . Pin, next time you come to the Netherlands, we will visit the palace grounds and the palace interior. You will love it, I am sure. Visit Period: December 2012 Destination: Haarzuilens, Vleuten-De Meern (Utrecht), The Netherland...

Europe is all about castles and the Kingdom of the Netherlands is obviously not exempt. Interestingly, ‘Kingdom of the Netherlands’ is the official name of the country and whenever we think of kingdoms, images of castles, forts and knights comes into picture. I am sure cousin Dr. Balin will get to see a lot of castles and forts in Italy as she will be staying there for a month for work. She does non-profit medical work back in the Philippines, educating and treating the poor people in the south of the country—a very noble profession and cause by the way considering that she could have practiced medicine commercially. So anyway, I made sure she gets a taste of the Dutch version of castles. I chose ‘Kasteel de Haar’ (De Haar Castle) in Haarzuilens, Vleuten to show her because it’s the most beautiful castle in the Netherlands and its just 8 kilometres from Utrecht. Luckily, last weekend was ‘Open Monument Day’ so entrance fees to the castle and its gardens are waived. However, the queue...

This summer has been quite busy for us, well, most especially for me. I have a lot of catching up to do for this blog. Unfortunately I don’t have enough time to post all the places I have been to. So I’m backlogged a bit but couldn’t help posting tonight what I did today! Blondine and I went to Kasteel De Haar in Haarzuilens, Utrecht, which in my opinion is the most beautiful and fairy tale-like castle in the Netherlands. There was also an event there called Fleurig 2009, a fair dedicated to outdoor living and gardening. Booth stands bidding gorgeous flowers and plants, landscape design services, garden furniture and even culinaire were there for visitors to enjoy. (Full screen to view fotos or make sure both fotos are beside each other) Castle De Haar in Neo Gothic design built ca. 1200 and restored just 100 years ago by the famous Dutch architect Pierre Cuypers. The castle is currently under renovation until 2011. The castle taken from the Rose Garden and next foto is the c...