Lage Vuursche: Revisited

We revisited Lage Vuursche yesterday on a very bright shining day. Our first visit here was last December for our first honeymoon. That was winter...and this time, it really pays a difference.

Yesterday was blessed with a sweaty 25C and even the rest of this week will have warmer days. As the sun shines and spreads its rays...people here in the Netherlands don't like to miss catching its blessings to radiate themselves and be willing to be sun's slave. Normally, people start to stand their tents and the hi-ways are throng with cars dragging their carts/vans for camping or any outdoor breaks. Last month, was a wet tempo in the flatland, and this month's is far from usual but close to the Dutch weather unpredictable mood.

Lage Vuursche is a town in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Baarn, and lies about 5 km west of Soest, in the middle of the forest. The village has been famous where Drakestein, the former residence castle of Queen Beatrix of the royal family, is situated just east of the village. The Queen of the Netherlands, sometimes stays to enjoy the beautiful scenery here.
Until 1857, the village was a separate municipality, under the name De Vuursche, together with the small hamlet "Hoge Vuursche". It then merged with the municipality of Baarn.



Lage Vuursche is centrally located between Amsterdam and Utrecht, that made it easily accessible. The village has only few inhabitants and vastly forested where you can walk or go for bicycle- or horseback riding. There are arrays of restaurants, hotel , souvenir shop and pan cake houses in the village center where also swarm of tourists, and locals winding around.

Our pictures are not very sharp. Photos are courtesy from my mobile fone 'coz we forgot our photocam...

We took an afternoon walk inside the woods for like an hour. My first walk here was only lasted for about a few steps since it snowed that time. I felt terribly cold since I was just a week old of my stay here in the lowland. Our walk lately was full of sightseeings. How green the surounding is. Pine and sturdy oak trees are standing aligned. How organized the Dutch people are :-) I can see it to the trees, uniformedly groomed and well-grown. The color of the leaves of some trees started to turn redish orange as Fall season is nearly awaiting. Schrub of black berries are along sides that I picked and ate some :-)

Colorful mushrooms named vliegenzwam or fly agaric ( fly mushroom) or toadstool in english (Amanita muscaria, scientific name) are also sprouting in the debris. And the last but not the least, are cows in the private ranch. What a nice place to live for these dairy four-footed beasts blessed with this bountiful nature. No wonder that they produced fresh....ffreshhhhhhhh milk :-)

We had passed Hotel "De Kastanjehof" (The Chestnut Yard) which is located on a idyllic spot in the beautiful woods of Lage Vuursche. The hotel is situated across the street from the small castle "Drakestein". This is where we stayed before.

Photo of one of the suites of the hotel (foto from www. de kastanjehof.nl).

The place has been able to preserve the atmosphere of old inns and stage-coaches as I remembered. This adds to the authenticity of the village Lage Vuursche that reminds of days long gone. It was so nice to have a glimpse of the woods and the place we stayed during the brighter days which was totally different last gloomy days. This charming hotel, decorated in English country style, gave us before the feeling of peace and comfort in a wonderful ambiance and I'm quite sure that's their remarkable service till now. De Kastanjehof's restaurant is well-known for its excellent kitchen too.

Right picture was our shot last December in the same suite as above.

Next to that hotel is the De Lage Vuursche Cafe-Restaurant. This is already 140 years old-place handed down to the present generation owners.

Our dinner was setted here last winter.

I already forgot what was our meal then but pretty sure it was heerlijk (delicious). We found a nice place to sit here closed to the fireplace. This is also a popular hang-out of some Dutch tv and radio celebrities since this village is nearby Hilversum, the Netherlands' tv entertainment hub.



The Pancake House.

As the sun slowly sets, we dropped by at the De Pannenkoekenhuis De Vuursche Boer for our take home pancakes. The shop was very busy but very well-setted place. Here you can choose assortment of pancakes that will suit your taste that satisfy your gastronomic wants.

After our order was handed we went back directly to my hubby's brother's home in Maartensdijk to share a family dinner. Maartensdijk is a lovely town just closed by the village. This is where our first destination actually for little David's 3rd birthday, hubby's white-haired nephew. After had our first stop here, that we headed to the forest to enjoy the rest of the sunny day...:-) Wat een gezellige dag te hebben! (What a pleasant day to have ! ).

P.S :
On our way-drive at A4 hi-way, we stopped at gas station to tank, and I found this cute stuff. I can't wait not to bring it with us...:-) His name now is MaCoy :-) I like to own a real one but not for now.