Hello Holland

image via flikr
After a rough trip (long bus ride to the airport in Spain, cancelled train upon arrival in Holland) we were happy to arrive at Stein's brother's house in Heino. By this time, we were a bit tired, so we laid low with the family and caught up. Stein's brother and his wife are very sweet, wonderful hosts and their three children couldn't be cuter. We had such a fun time watching the boys play and I got my baby fix holding Stein's 6 month old niece.

After a good rest, we set out the next day to explore the area on bikes. It is so fun to ride through the beautiful country streets, surrounded by quaint farm houses and fields of horses, cows and sheep. Beautiful! We spent the day at Kasteel Het Nijenhuis, a historic mansion that was once inhabited by a great art collector. Upon his death, the house was converted to a museum and his broad collection of works put on display.


The gardens around the house are just as impressive as the inside. It was like stepping into a painting...lush and green. There were a variety of art installations and sculptures sprinkled about. What a magical place...











The next day we had the pleasure of going sailing! Stein's sister-in-law's parents have a lovely boat and were eager to take us out for a day of fun. We headed North and set sail! I've never really been sailing, so this was quite a treat...


The boat was docked inland a bit. We then had to travel through a maze of canals through local farm land to arrive at the lake where we would spend the day. It was so strange to look out across the land and see sails gliding through the green grass.



We arrived at the lake and had a fantastic time on the water. It was a fabulous day...and very hot!






What a wonderful way to end our visit to the area. We said our goodbyes to the family and made our way to Amsterdam for three days alone in the city. We had such a great time, but more on that tomorrow...