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A Saturday cycle through nature in Hoge Veluwe National Park

written by Sarah

The weather has been lovely in the Netherlands this weekend – bright blue sky and 20C/68F with lots of sunshine. Having been here for some time now, we know we should enjoy good weather when it appears – so an adventure was called for! We had been discussing a trip to the nearby Hoge Veluwe National Park with friends, and happily the stars of good weather and open schedules aligned for a Saturday afternoon away.

About the park

Hoge Veluwe is outside of Arnhem, a mid-sized city about an hour’s drive east of Utrecht. As the country is quite developed with a high population density, ‘natural’ land can be hard to come by. There are, however, a number of preserved areas and parks which showcase the unique ecosystems of the sandy, low-lying, coastal country, with Hoge Veluwe being one of them.

Although it is possible to take the train to Arnhem and bus/bike to the park, it is a bit easier and quicker to rent a Greenwheels car-share car, which is what we decided upon. After picking up our friends in Utrecht we pointed ourselves east – driving our little Volkswagon Up through the flat polders of farmland, and finally reaching gently rolling hills and forests close to Hoge Veluwe.

Combining nature and art

Hoge Veluwe exists thanks to a wealthy Dutch/German couple – Anton Kröller and Helene Müller who started developing the estate in 1909. Kröller was an avid hunter, and purchased a significant track of land, which was then managed for game. His wife had a passion for art, and amassed quite a collection of it – especially contemporary art – which includes one of the largest collections of Vincent Van Gogh’s work. The couple was keen to share the combination of nature and art with the public, and – in collaboration with the Dutch government – the couple created a museum for the art on the estate and converted it to a National Park for all to enjoy.

Phil and I had visited Hoge Veluwe before to visit the Kröller-Müller Museum, which is absolutely wonderful. The Van Gogh collection is indeed stunning, covering the different phases of the painter’s short but prolific career, with some of my favorites like the Four Cut Sunflowers and the Portrait of Joseph Roulin. I also remember some lovely Signac and Seurat paintings, as well as a rotating contemporary art exhibit and lovely sculpture garden.

Enjoying the park

This trip, however, was dedicated to getting outside and enjoying the weather. Hoge Veluwe is also famous for its free white bicycles (1,800 of them in total!), which can be borrowed from any entrance to the park, and used to pedal through the many kilometers of bicycle paths that bisect the park’s forests, dunes, heath and fields.

In order to fuel our ride, however, we first stopped at ‘Ijs van Co’ – a little ice cream shop in a town at the north-eastern entrance to the park, called Hoenderloo. We had also stopped here on our previous trip and loved it – this return did not disappoint! The ice cream is homemade soft serve – spooned out with a scoop. It only comes in vanilla, but is so delicious and creamy that it is one of my top-10 ice creams ever…which for me is saying something! 😊

Nature in the Netherlands

Energy and blood sugar levels high, we left the car at the park entrance, and walked a short distance to pick out our white bicycles. The first path we struck out on took us immediately into a lovely coniferous forest, with flitting birds and the sweet smell of pine and moss in the air. The path continued – winding in and out of mixed forest patches and open grassland fields. With the deciduous trees beginning to turn colors for autumn, and the sun filtering through the branches and pine boughs, it was a beautiful, peaceful ride. We stopped quite a few times for pictures, found many mushrooms, fallen acorns and chestnuts, and late season flowers.

When we reached the teahouse at the hunting lodge on the estate – which sits on a lovely pond, we stopped for a break and picnic. Refueled again, we continued on through the rest of the northern section of the park – passing into sandy heath and sand dunes – with many small coniferous trees and pleasant vistas. Here we saw a few of the red deer that the grounds are famous for (though too far away for a picture!) and enjoyed the softening colors of the sky as the sun began to set.

Bicycling past the museum, though too late to go inside, we headed back to the car along a different path. Again, passing through mixed forests and open fields we chatted and enjoyed the passing scenery in the early evening twilight. Back at the Hoenderloo entrance, we parked our bicycles along with the others and walked back to the car – tired but content, with lungs full of fresh forest air and thoughts of nature in our heads.

The ride home passed quickly, and ended in the dark. Everyone seemed happy to be home and cozy, but also to have enjoyed the adventure, so it was considered a success! We noticed that there is a camp ground at the park, and as Phil and I have yet to use the tent we brought all this way, perhaps during our next visit we can stay a little longer, and explore the rest of the park! Until then, we will enjoy the pictures and thoughts, and knowing that such a lovely relaxing place is only an hour away!

A Saturday cycle through nature in Hoge Veluwe National Park was last modified: May 26th, 2020 by Sarah
September 30, 2017 1 comment
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LifeTravel

A September beach get-away in the Netherlands

written by Sarah

This weekend Phil and I made a last grasp at summer and headed for the beach. Visiting the wind-blown, sandy seaside – with rolling grass-covered dunes on one side and the white-capped North Sea on the other – is a decidedly Dutch experience, and coming from the Great Lakes region, it’s one we thoroughly enjoy. (It is also easy to see why Dutch immigrants settled along the western coast of Michigan…the two sets of farmlands meeting sand dunes and a great expanse of water feel very much the same!)

At any rate, somehow our summer was quite busy (and seemed to have a disproportionate number of cool rainy weekends) so we had not yet made it for our annual trip to the beach. But since we have experienced lots of nice September weather since we’ve been here, and with this weekend relatively free, it seemed like as good a time as any to get away. We also had a good deal on a hotel we needed to use, so decided to make a small, one-night trip of it.

Getting there

The hotel, Hogerhuys, was in Noordwijk, a beach town outside of the university town of Leiden (and close to the famous bulb fields and Keukenhof Gardens of Lisse, which bring over 1 million visitors to the province of South Holland every spring.) Originally, we had planned to take our bicycles on the train to Leiden (about an hour train ride from Utrecht) and to cycle the remaining 40 minutes to Noordwijk, but the weather was uncooperative – with wind, rain and thunderstorms threatening throughout the weekend. In the end, we reserved the car-share car parked down the street from our apartment, and stayed comfortably warm and dry on our rainy hour-long Saturday afternoon drive.

Thankfully, by the time we arrived in Noordwijk, the storms were blowing through, and after checking in to the hotel we had a lovely, refreshing walk on the beach. We looked at flotsam washed ashore, stopped for coffee and a snack at the Branding Beach Club (a lovely beachside restaurant) and eventually enjoyed the sunset filtering through the remnants of the storm clouds.

Noordwijk

Noordwijk struck me as very similar to the other Dutch seaside towns that we have visited, with cute, storm-ready houses and hotels nestled in between the dunes, which give more change in elevation than is usual in such a flat country! There was a pedestrian shopping street as well, though everything seemed to be closing up shop at the end of the day and likely for the end of the summer season. In fact, we had hoped to rent bicycles, but being late in the day on Saturday, and with most places being closed on Sundays, we struck out with finding anything at all. Instead this meant that we enjoyed a slower paced wander on the beach, which was a lovely up-close experience in itself.

We ended the evening with a cozy dinner in the hotel restaurant, and fell asleep to the sound of the wind blowing between the dunes. The next morning the sun was shining through the morning mist, and the ever-present North Sea wind was chasing gray and white clouds across a blue sky. After a hearty hotel breakfast (nearly always a scrumptious affair in Europe) we checked out and moved our car to a beach-side parking lot for a few more hours of stretching our legs and breathing the fresh ocean air.

Beach combing

It seemed like we were in good company…although there were only a few intrepid, wet-suit clad surfers, and one brave father-daughter pair swimming in the ocean, the beach was most busy with lots of groups, families, kids and very, very happy dogs. Almost all were well bundled for a hike in the wind, and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the brisk beach of September. Phil and I walked along the surf, hiked a bit in the dunes, and finally stopped back at the same beachside restaurant for an alfresco lunch on the terrace, soaking up the sun along with many Dutch families, before turning our sights back toward Utrecht.

All-in-all it was a quick, lovely and relaxing weekend trip. It felt good to visit the beach and stretch our legs a bit. It was also nice to see life in this part of the Netherlands again, and to remember the Dutch connection to the temperamental sea. Now back to reality and a busy week of work…here’s hoping everyone had a wonderful and relaxing weekend as well, and a good start to the week!

A September beach get-away in the Netherlands was last modified: May 26th, 2020 by Sarah
September 18, 2017 0 comment
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CultureLifeSustainabilityTravel

Welcome to my little life in Europe

written by Sarah

Hello, world! Phil and I have lived as expats in Utrecht, the Netherlands for almost three years now, since moving here for Phil’s job. It has been a wonderful, wild European adventure, but I have not been very good at sharing it with people, so I am working on this blog to make it more accessible.

Life in Europe has definitely been exciting and different. It is amazing to a North American that you can travel between completely different countries with their own unique languages, food and culture so quickly and easily. We have done our best to take full advantage of these opportunities (meaning we travel whenever we have a good excuse and the time/money to do so) so I will share some of these experiences when I can.

Europe is also an interesting place, because although many things about life are similar between home and here, they are also strikingly different. Since I find these distinctions interesting I also want to share some of those details, like the nuances of daily life, Dutch and European culture, the European natural world, and the overall expat experience.

In addition, I work in the field of sustainable development, so there are lots of things about the way the Netherlands and Europe operate that I find fascinating from a sustainability perspective, and I will feature those when I can.

I also want to create an open dialogue here, so if you have questions about life in the Netherlands, or Europe in general, be sure to ask them in the comments and I will do my best to answer them.

At any rate, if this sounds interesting please keep an eye on this space for more. I am aiming for one post per week, to start, so follow my RSS feed or Bloglovin profile to have the posts come to you! Also, be sure to follow ALLIE in on Twitter and Instagram for more glimpses of life in Europe!

Welcome to my little life in Europe was last modified: May 26th, 2020 by Sarah
August 27, 2017 0 comment
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About Me

About Me

Hi, I'm Sarah.

From the minutia of daily life, to cultural perspective and grand adventures - I love experiencing this little life in Europe and sharing my observations here.

Recent Posts

  • For the love of bicycling in the Netherlands: Part 2
  • For the love of bicycling in the Netherlands: Part 1
  • A Saturday cycle through nature in Hoge Veluwe National Park
  • A September beach get-away in the Netherlands
  • In praise of the European drying rack

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