Monday, October 22, 2018

A vacation in six walks - First walk - Slangenburg

The first week of October I got to have a free vacation by house sitting for my sister again who lives in te East of the Netherlands in a town called Zelhhem, which is in a region called Achterhoek.
 
During the week I went on six medium to long walks in different parts of the region. 
I cannot walk anywhere without taking pictures, so I will take you along with me vicariously by giving you a photographic impression of each walk. That means six posts of just landscapes, castles, windmills and other lovely scenery. 

I sure hope you will enjoy the view!

First Walk - Slangenburg Estate
Slangenburg is a castle about five kilometers south east of where my sister lives near the city of Doetinchem. It comes with a beautiful estate full of forests, lanes and farmland. I combined two shorter walks into a longer one that day, and halfway I took a break inside the beautifully redone carriage building that now houses a place where you can have coffee and cakes.

The estate also houses a monastery and the castle itself is a guest house for visitors who like to go on a private retreat. I have stayed there several times in the past and I highly recommend it. You don't need to be religious to stay there and you can participate in the daily order as much or as little as you want. All in all it's a beautiful area to be with yourself for a while.

Here's my impression of the first walk:











This is how the inside of the carriage building looks now. Lots of comfortable places to enjoy your apple pie.









The weather that day was very changeable but mostly sunny, cloudy and windy. There was a bit of rain here and there, but nothing too dramatic and it was blessedly cool, so perfect weather for walking.

Hope you enjoyed this first walk and we will continue exploring the area in my next post. Until then I wish you a wonderful and artsy day.