I made sure to buy a gift for brother-in-law for his birthday celebration the next day. His birthday gift request, a kitchen apron. You know, in Dutch culture it’s normal to tell close friends and relatives attending your little celebration your birthday present wish list. The Dutch are practical folks, they want to give something that the celebrant actually can use. These Dutchies obviously don’t have a weakness for surprises!
The Maarten Maartenshuis built circa 1901 is a small castle in the Kaapse Bossen in Doorn. The manor can be rented for events and is quite popular as a wedding location.
I sneaked inside and took a foto of the coat of arms hanging on the walls of the hallway.
More fotos of the manor and the terrace on the front courtyard.
Anyway, for Dutch brother-in-law birthday celebration, we all went to the forest, the "Kaapse Bossen" in Doorn. We’ve been here many times and I've blogged about this place before. It’s one of those nice (secret) places to go for a picnic because this estate has a small castle and an outside terrace in the middle of the forest. There are coffee tables and chairs on its frontyard grounds that the public can use. Moreover there is a big and open grass yard that the children can play (they played football, and later, hide and seek). The kids are almost grown up and one day they will start bringing someone called "boyfriend" and "girlfriend" to family birthday gatherings.
The little castle here is called Maarten Maartenshuis and on top of the entrance doorway you can see a sun signage. Before this manor was called what it is today, it was originally known as “zonheuvel”, in English, sun hill or maybe sunny hill.
I don't have a clue to the names of these plants (and their fruits or flowers), but surely the red olive-shaped fruit is from the pine tree family.
Chestnut season now! The prickly covering can hurt as hell so be careful when picking them and peeling the nuts away from their porcupine shells.
Autumn always has lovely colours especially in the forest. Autumn is my favorite season.
Cool fotos of the kids in the forest. They are still kids, they are very active and like to climb everywhere.
This is the koetshuis (a storage locker room of the castle) which is now a restaurant and a multi-functional place.
There was also a wine tasting event in the afternoon in the castle but by the time it started we have left for the forest already searching for chestnuts. I managed to take a peak inside the castle's lobby and hallway. I must say they have some nice antique-looking furnishings.
And, its chestnut season now! The forests are full of them! Dutchman pleaded with me using his I-can't-break-a-glass puppy look not to bring the nuts home. He said I can pick them up for the Dutch family but please please not to bring them home because he knows I will never do anything on them and just let the little brown things accumulate dust somewhere in the kitchen. Ugh, I’m such a lazy slob when it comes to these things.
Anywho, I have another Dutch birthday family feast to attend to this weekend. ‘Tis the Dutch family birthday season again stretching all the way until January . Unfortunately I will be going alone because the Dutchman is somewhere in the Caribbean right now for work, precisely in an island called Tortola.
Sounds familiar eh? I watched the Pirates of the Caribbean Movie the other week and Captain Jack Sparrow was saying something about sailing the Flying Dutchman ship to Tortola… and now... the Dutchman, my Dutchman has just flown into Tortola. You get what I mean?
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the fotos above.
Visit Period: October
Destination: Doorn (Utrechtse Heuvelrug - Utrecht), The Netherlands
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