Lassen Peak Photography

We all needed a slower paced day after the flurry of the past week, and thankfully we’d thought ahead and scheduled just such a day!

After waking, Marc cooked us a feast using ingredients we bought for breakfast at the supermarket, while incorporating some things we had left from making dinner the night before. It was delicious and a great way to start the day. We even had fantastic coffee made from grounds we picked up at a coffee shop in Utrecht.

Here is a photo our daughter took of our breakfast:

We then did mundane things like laundry, dishes, etc…all the things that need to get done, but that you wish could somehow take care of themselves.

Next was our main event for the day – riding the trains to Vleuten, and then walking 2 miles each way to see Kasteel de Haar (De Haar Castle).

We walked through town a little, but most of the way was on walking / biking paths through pastoral fields. It was a gorgeous day with the perfect temperature for an outing, and we were glad we chose to walk instead of taking a bus.

Here is what we saw on the way to the castle:

The Kasteel de Haar is the largest medieval castle in the Netherlands. It appears newer than it is, because it fell into disrepair and a famous architect named Pierre Cuypers was hired to oversee renovations from 1892-1911…the castle actually dates back to the 13th century. It is privately owned and the family who owns it traditionally takes up residence for the month of September. We didn’t go inside, but walked part of the 150 acres around the estate.

Here we are at Kasteel de Haar: