It's like clockwork now, visiting our Shutterchance's photoblog friend, Philine, each Spring and Fall, where she lives in her senior community in Münster, Germany. As long as we all are able!
It's a double pleasure for Astrid and me because we book our favorite Fletcher hotel in Lochem, NL, for 2 nights, giving us a needed break from our normal activities at home:
It's only a 1.5-hr. drive from home to the hotel, so we arrived in time for lunch.
It's like we had the place to ourselves...again, like the last time!
Did I mention that the hotel is in the middle of the woods?!
And because this time the sun was shining (and our room wasn't ready till 3p), we went for a 4-km walk.
BTW, those are Pentecost/Cuckoo flowers (bottom-left) that bloom only at this time of the year.
At one spot, on the edge of a hockey field, we were startled by this memorial.
Once back at the hotel, Astrid Googled to find out it was for a 19-year-old female hockey player
who was struck by a falling tree during a storm while riding her bike there.
Once out of the woods, continuing our loop back to the hotel, we found ourselves in farmland.
As you can probably tell, we desperately need rain right now,
but we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day!
That was this past Tuesday, April 21. The next day, Wednesday, was our Philine day in Münster, a 1.5-hr. drive from the hotel...
first meeting up with her in her lovely apartment...
followed by being her guests in their lovely dining room for a 4-course fish lunch!
Needless to say, Philine is well taken care of there, which gives us great comfort.
After lunch, we were then off in our car to visit the Burg Vischering, a moated castle from 1271 that we had visited with Philine back in 2014 but wanted to see again with new eyes. Besides, it was Philine's first outing of this new year and on a gorgeous, sunshiny day. We were all READY for it!
Let the photos speak for themselves!
On the path around the castle was a mirrored wall for a fun photo op (top 3 images).
But THIS was my favorite photo of the day!
All the way around and back to the entrance!
Because she's part of our photoblog, I had fun taking pics of Philine taking her photos.
We ended the afternoon in the stable café, enjoying our coffee break.
MY choice was the ice-cream-coffee drink which I hadn't had in years. Heavenly!
A perfect way to end the day before heading back to Münster!
After dropping Philine off at her senior community, we drove back to the Fletcher hotel for a quiet evening, sorting through photos, more Five Crowns, and then bed....
only to be awakened by a fire alarm at 1:30a!
Yes, all of us went outside and waited for 40-min. before finding out it was a false alarm,
triggered by a very inebriated woman who, after causing considerable damage, passed out.
SIGH
We DID get back to sleep right away, thankfully, and awakened sufficiently refreshed...
ready for another breakfast we love from this place!
And then, just like that, Thursday morning, we were back in the car for home. THIS is the kind of break we love. Not exactly a vacation but a very nice break that also included dear Philine, our friend!
Oh my everything was wonderful (until the fire alarm!)! But even that was taken in stride, it seems. Bless you both for creating these beautiful experiences together ❤️
ReplyDeleteThank you, dear Ruth! These are the pegs upon which we hang the Memories of each year. What would we do without them?!
DeleteWat een heerlijk uitje was dit weer in Lochem en Munster.
ReplyDeleteGenoten van de rododendrons tot aan jullie laatste ontbijt.
Wat een mooie belevenissen allemaal.
Fijne zondagmiddag en morgen een fijne Koningsdag toegewenst
Hartstikke bedankt, Marjolein, for following these journeys with us. You clearly know how much they mean to us, especially because of the photo ops they give us. Happy King's Day to you, too!
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