Today we were given 2 choices of shore excursions for the morning, and the choice was difficult. We are still immersed in areas of the Benelux that are rich in WWII history, and the tour of the region by a local guide based on the story of “a bridge too far” where Allied troups suffered horrible casualties trying to capture Hitler's last big defensive barrier, the Rhine fascinated me. The choice we opted for however, was De Hoge Veuwe National Park and the Kroller Muller Museum. With “Quietvox's” around our necks we drove to the park, about 45 minutes away. The Dutch towns we passed were something out of Disneyworld with their beautiful flower gardens and well-tended small red brick houses complete with big picture windows. The windows are always spotlessly clean with curtains drawn to show to their neighbors that they have nothing to hide.
Having visited many great museums in Europe, I have a definite interest in learning about art history, and today's excursion definitely provided a step toward that goal. The photo on the left of Tana and I was taken at a stop in the National Park. A very wealthy couple in The Netherlands, Antone and Helene Kroller-Muller, helped found the National Park De Hoge Veluwe. This beautiful park provided not only a retreat for the Mullers from their busy schedule but also a wonderful park for others to enjoy. The park has numerous bicycle stations where you can pick up a bicycle and cycle through the park or enjoy a picnic in a scenic location.
Helene Kroller-Muller loved art and virtually "discovered" Van Gogh long before he was recognized as one of the greatest artist of the 19th century. The Kroller-Muller Museum has the second largest collection of Van Gogh paintings in the world, second only to the Rijksmuweum in Amsterdam. We spent a wonderful couple of hours seeing the works of this great artist and learning a great deal about his life and struggles. The grounds contained many impressive sculptures.
Back on ship we had another wonderful lunch followed by very informative lecture on the history and future of the EU. The afternoon weather was delightful, and we sat up on the top deck and watched the river scenes -- windmills are starting to appear in the towns we pass!
Our ship docked at Kampen at 5pm, and we immediately went ashore for a stroll through another delightful village. Kampen was a major commerce center in Th Netherlands until it was surpassed by Amsterdam in the Middle Ages. The second picture is the old city gate (the midgets at the bottom ar Tana and I -- It was a tall gate.) It was fun to just explore the little shops and the park with it's lovely flowers. Wish we could grow flowers like this in Texas but think we lack this great climate.
Tomorrow promises to be a fascinating day as we expore the Zuiderzee in the morning and visit the Schemer Windmill Museum and a Dutch cheese farm in the afternoon.
Until tomorrow...Linda
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