Arrival at the Castle

I feel like I’ve lost a day. The day we left Boston, and the day we arrived in the Netherlands felt like one really long day when an unnoticed night pasted on the plane. There was a fairly long walk through the airport to get to the baggage claim, on the way someone looked at and stamped our passports. I followed the group and hoped that someone knew which way they were going, I was too tired to do any thinking myself. After we found our bags we went to the arrivals hall, after walking through some detector that only let one person through at a time and got mad and beeped at Jaci when she followed too closely behind Tess, we emerged and I was still looking for customs. Those of the group who’d already gone through were there gathering, as well as a few who had come to Europe by there own means. Then we all loaded our bags onto a truck, and climbed onto two buses.

After watching cows and sheep, separated in there fields by channels of water instead of fences, and a few windmills pass by outside the window, I decided to go to sleep. Mostly whenever I woke and looked out the window the view was fairly similar. Sometimes there where buildings with interesting architecture.

Whoever said the Castle was 10 min from Well, must have meant ten minutes for the slow and leisurely walker. After passing through a small quaint village where people looked up as the buses passed, we turned a corner, and were practically on the doorstep of the Castle. And it really is a real Castle, there’s a moat, actually it looks like there are two, but I’m not sure if both of them go all the was around, one might just be a river. We unloaded our bags and stood in the courtyard looking around at brick walls, some curved and rounded (the towers), and green grass, and trees. What I took to be a small fountain, but what might actually just be a sprinkler. There was a black swan in the moat. The inside of it feels like a mansion house. To get to my room I have to walk up this flight of wood stairs with a banister that curves around. In some of the rooms there are chandeliers. When I walked through the hall ways this morning while everyone was sleeping, the floors creaked. The Castle is a combination of really old buildings, and fresh paint, old wood floors, and new carpets. The inside still feels old fashioned, even though the plumbing is new. There is kinda an old building smell to it. I will add more details and post pictures, as I take them. I’ll try to give a tour of the Castle at some point.

(Day of Arrival before we moved into the Castle, in the middle wearing blue is one of my roomies, Melinda)

(From today while waiting to go to a meeting about the computer lab, Jaci with her camera)