We stayed in a great campsite at Horst – the kids loved it because it had go-karts they could ride on. I even had a go but PC’s foot couldn’t handle it so he only got to watch.
The apartment we stayed in was modern, sunny and clean and had everything we needed. Great!
The main reason and highlight for staying at Horst was to be able to visit the Hoge Veluwe National Park so we could visit the Kroller Muller museum – which has a large collection of Van Gogh paintings. We drove into the park and visited the museum first. The paintings were great to see, here are some of my favourites:
Unfortunately many of the Van Gogh’s were put away to make room for the modern art the Director of the Museum had collected on his previous 12 month tour. Even if we don’t like the modern art it’s always interesting to see the kids reaction to it! Daniel is pretty scornful and Amy is bored! Early on in our trip Daniel said his favourite art was Picasso, but now he says Van Gogh is his best, but he’s keen to get a canvas, put a few splotches on it and try and sell it. He’s more of an entrepreneur than an artist I think!
The museum is in a lovely setting, right in the middle of the park.
After our visit we used some of the free bikes and rode through the park for a few hours. Even Peter managed to bike! The paths are well set out and easy to ride on (nice and flat, it is Holland after all!).
We came to a big restaurant and playground in the middle of the park. I left the kids roam free and thought wasn’t it interesting no parents were watching their children. After awhile I went over to see the flying fox and discovered all the parents were watching, just a bit out of sight of me sitting eating my lunch! When saw the climbing equipment I felt a little like an irresponsible parent! It was pretty high and exciting! Great for developing an adventurous spirit! My friend Andrea who has spent a couple of years trying to get to a new playground installed in her community would have loved it!
After the playground we explored another museum which was about life underground, and it was underground itself. The kids loved it, especially the earthquake platform. But best of all Daniel would say was the store where he bought some plastic animals including an okapi (who needs to go to a zoo??)
We drove back to the campsite ready for a good nights sleep before our trip the next day to Roil in Germany.
(Week 30C: Friday, 14 September 2012 – Sunday, 16 September 2012)