De Hoge Veluwe National Park & Kroller Muller Museum

When I think of the Netherlands, I do not think about National Parks. However, there is one that is over 13,000 acres and is called De Hoge Veluwe National Park. This is a serene oasis of Dutch Elm and other species of trees. It is home to dear, fox and wild boar. There are "white bikes" with many bike paths and the bikes are to be used for free and just returned to any parking lot with other "white bikes."

What is amazing about both the park and the Kroller Muller Museum is that the were provided to the government of the Netherlands by one family. Set in the park is the country home of the Muller Family. The Museum was created by Helene Kroller Muller who collected art during the early 1900s. Her favorite artist was Vincent van Gogh but she also loved Picasso, Seurat and many other fine artists of this period. She collected over 11,500 works of art. Some of these reflect the best works of the respective painters such as "Dying Sunflowers" by Van Gogh and "Le Chahut", one of the few large paintings by Seurat. The Museum is a real treasure.

Every afternoon there is a fun and informative lecture on board the boat. Today the subject was Dutch Treats so there was some great sampling as well as the cool information learned. This area of Europe is really well connected to sweet treats and cheese!