July 30, 2019

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The man at the ticket counter at Kasteel Heeswijk recognized us from last week when we had arrived just before closing time. I was impressed. We decided to take the full audio tour, available on tablet (computer ones, not the ones Moses used). Pretty good system. This castle too has been through the wars and proven to be both an effective protector of its owners and citizens of Heeswijk, as well as a place where many royals stayed, from Spain, France, England and the Netherlands. It’s gone through some ups and downs, having been left in disrepair, partially burnt and continuously having been under dispute as to ownership. Today we found all of the rooms to be lavishly decorated as they would have been in older times. This is certainly not your average 4-bedroom house in the suburbs.

There was a wedding party on this afternoon and it’s a good thing we got here when we did, because it looked like it was closed to more visitors when we left about 2pm. A wedding at a place like this is something many can dream about, as Katherine told me in 2015 when we were here. It was a fine warm day and we wanted to sit in the shade as we ordered some coffee and some Berne Abdij Prior Dubbel, which is a darker beer and only 8% alcohol this time. Why does this stuff have to be so good?

I had stayed in Veghel with Mia back in 2015 and it was good to catch up again. We also stopped in at the local VVV (means: Vereeniging voor Vreemdelingverkeer, loosely translated as Association for Foreigner Traffic), which is a tourist information centre. Marion had looked for the familiar “i” sign but here it’s the three “V”s in a triangle.

As I reported before, many people use debit cards here, which is called “pinnen” because you have to use a PIN code. Many places accept only debit cards from local banks (not Canadian), or cash. Many also accept credit cards if it requires a PIN, because apparently it means instant payment. But we found that you can never be sure if you can use either, so we need lots of cash. No problem using a Canadian debit card to get cash out of an ATM.

We plan to leave early in the morning for a two-day trip to the northern Dutch province of Friesland. We’ll be seeing the sites as well as a competition in the Netherlands’ oldest sport called “Fierljeppen’ that is typically Frisian pole vaulting over ditches, although in organized competitions it’s over a man-made pond.

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Photos

Kasteel Heeswijk
Wedding party getting ready.

Reception area
Owners liked to show off with family paintings.

Genaeology study area
Used to do title searches to the castle.

To the top of the tower
More than two floors above highest staircase, need safety clips to climb to top.

Black swans and black & white cows
Seen from tower, all castle property.

Castle gardens
Changed from symmetrical to asymmetrical depending on owner.