Overnight on a Houseboat

We had six days home in Amsterdam after England before leaving for our road trip to France. We also had the keys to a friend's houseboat in Leiden. Dilemma! YOLO. Off to Leiden we went for a night before welcoming Oma and Opa back from their Viking cruise. Our kids' former ISA music teacher and our friend, Violeta, was spending part of her summer in Williamstown so we talked to Oma and Opa and they graciously offered their house to her and her friends. In return, Violeta offered to let us stay on her houseboat, a bucket list item for me! Man do I envy her. The house is so nice and incredible peaceful to be right on the water watching the boats, ducks and swans float by. The deck backs up to a huge patch of lily pads and I wanted to stay out there all night! 

House on the right

It wasn't all play. I had scheduled work calls, which I made from my sweet home office. I did find all of the boats going by a bit distracting! 

A great neighborhood playground for the kids

Walking to dinner. Grateful we had such a lovely night to do this. Dutch summers- you just never know!

I had brought Nana and Pops to Leiden on one of their recent visits, but had forgotten about this old citadel you could climb, something we had done on our first trip to Leiden when Jude was 1 years old. 

Even prettier than I remembered.

A lot has changed in 4 years! 

I loved the morning stillness on the water before any boats were about.

We took the kids to the Rijksmuseum Boerhaave, a museum of science and medicine. The outdoor water play area was a highlight.

Thank you, Violeta for this great experience! 

The Magnificent Castle Howard

A wonderful final day in Yorkshire with a visit to the Castle Howard! There was something for everyone at this gorgeous palace and grounds. Sarah and James had left that morning for their summer holiday so it was just the four of us again. We were especially excited to visit because a brand new adventure playground for kids, Skelf Island, opened that day. 

The castle is in the Howardian Hills (the Howard family was obviously very important!) with beautiful rolling hills all around the property. We took turns touring the castle and playing with the kids at the playground. 

One of the last photos of the day, but such a great family photo, I wanted it first :) 

Approaching the castle, you drive through two imposing gates, giving you an idea of the grandeur that is to come. 

Walking around, I felt like I had stepped into a Jane Austen book/movie set. Then come to learn the Castle was used as the set for the TV and film adaptation of Brideshead Revisited (by Evelyn Waugh). A unique feature of the castle was the central dome. Walking into that room was a serious wow moment (which I said aloud to the amusement of the guard). The dome had original paintings by Pellegrini, which were destroyed when a fire caused the dome to come crashing down in 1940. 

Hall leading to the central room. The simplicity of this room gave no indication of what was to come. 

Wow!

The castle hosted Queen Victoria in 1850 and the central room was transformed for the occasion. I can't wait to see the Downton Abbey movie and get an idea about what that visit might have looked like behind the scenes.

Views over some of the gardens from the castle

The other highlight of the castle tour was the chapel, so colorful, with beautiful stained glass. 

I walked to the adventure island down by the lake, excited to see what Skelf island was all about!

The island can be reached by a high wobbly bridge or by a lower wood bridge.

Two of the magical skelfs (what is that?!) were on site to welcome everyone to their playground that they spent 100 years building. I love how kids want so badly to believe in magic!

"Skelfie" time

Overcoming her wobbly bridge fear

Thoroughly worn out, we went to explore the property more.

A walk through the woods to... 

...views over the Howardian Hills

At the site of the temple of Venus

Walking up to the Temple of the Four Winds

A beautiful temple with views to match. 

Slap happy girl

This older couple was so cute!

Tantruming on the way to the fountains. She was spent and fell asleep 20 minutes later in her stroller. Sorry sweet girl!

Atlas fountain. Perfect place to...  

... dig in mud of course! 

Last stop, the formal gardens

We had take out Indian earlier in the week and when we picked it up, I saw that it was next to a Pizza Hut. Unable to get my favorite pizza in Amsterdam, I felt no shame getting deep dish pepperoni for our last night in England :) 

Goodbye England! Thank you for the wonderful memories!