Short Break

Like our boy Andy, we're taking a short break. See you in just over a week.

Gazebo

This is the gazebo on the burchtplein (at the other end from yesterday's "Storm" post). It's a tranquil place, other than people walking their dogs or the occasional summer concert it is usually pretty quiet.

Wassenaar Storm

These stylized letters are quite eye-catching. "Storm van 'sGravesande" was once the mayor (burgemeester) of Wassenaar. This monument sits at one end of the burchtplein; at the other end of a narrow pond is a gazebo.

Tulip

Continuing on the flower theme, here's one of the tulips from our garden. This one is actually an early bloomer, the photo was taken about a month ago. When viewed closeup, to me it's not so obvious that it is a tulip.

More Keukenhof

This long ribbon of hyacinths seems to go on forever. A river, perhaps, or a road?

Embassy

There are a lot of grand homes in Wassenaar; this one happens to be the Brazilian Embassy. Nice digs!

Sunny Attitude

The lion on the right is the one with the attitude.

More windmills

These three windmills are located in Leidschendam/ Stompwijk, about 17 km from Wassenaar. We "discovered" them while exploring the Vlietland, a picturesque area with a lot of biking/hiking trails and a special bird area. According to the Hague website, they are named the "above" (boven), "middle" (midden), and "under" (onder) windmills ... very creative!

Spring Lamb

This curious little guy was checking us out as we were riding our bikes recently. It amazes us that we can bike five minutes from our house to a field of sheep! It's particularly entertaining in spring when the lambs are playing around.

"Our" Windmill

The windmill (molen) is one of the most common symbols of The Netherlands. We are lucky enough to look out on the Windlust windmill from our front windows.

Still operating as a flour mill, this version dates to the late 1600's, though there is evidence that mills have been located here since the 1400's. As you can see, it's particularly scenic on a nice day.

Sunshine Blooms

The Keukenhof is a one-of-a-kind spring garden located about 30 miles north of Wassenaar. The trip itself takes you through the colorful bulb fields that cover this part of the country. There are indoor/outdoor gardens highlighting bulbs and flowering shrubs.

Swans

The Landgoederenroute is a bike route that goes through Wassenaar to The Hague. It's very scenic, as it passes through some beautiful neighborhoods and natural areas.

These swans posed for us as we rode around the Wassenaar portion a couple of weeks ago.

16 Apr 07 -- Welcome (Dunes)

Welcome to the photo blog for Wassenaar, The Netherlands, located just north of The Hague. If you'd like to learn more about the town, click here and click on the British flag for english.

I hope you'll find the images interesting. For the first image, I thought it would be good to surprise those of you who think that The Netherlands is completely flat. The town of Wassenaar is separated from the North Sea by beautiful dunes. If you use your imagination it almost looks like there are mountains in the distance. It's a wonderful hike to the ocean in the Meijendel dunes.

Okay, so the country is actually pretty flat, except for the dunes and the southeast. This natural beauty is one of the reasons we chose to settle here during our stay in The Netherlands.

Enjoy and feel free to comment!