Huis Ten Bosch

With a coupon we received from Yukiko, Soojeong and I decided to take a day trip out of Nagasaki and visit the theme park called Huis Ten Bosch. This park is an amazing recreation of the Netherlands complete with tulips, windmills, old architecture, and other interesting attractions relating to different cultural aspects of the Netherlands.

We took a bus from Nagasaki and rode for an hour until we reached Huis Ten Bosch. It is strange going from Nagasaki, a bustling Japanese and Chinese culture hub, to a place out in the countryside that looks like a European city. I was amazed with how amazing every thing looked. Even though it was winter, tulips of all colors were in bloom all over the park, there weren't many people there, and it was a peaceful place to spend a day with Soojeong having fun.

During our time there we did everything from go to a teddy bear museum, ride a boat down the canals, walk among the windmills and tulips, rode a ride or two, and watched a couple of short documentaries on everything from old folk-tales to works by MC Escher. With hardly anyone there, we were able to go from ride to ride without any problems at all.

I think that the most impressive of all of the building there was the Huis Ten Bosch Palace. The pictures I have posted only show the front entryway with all of the tulips, but the inside was decorated magnificently, the back gardens were beautiful and full of hedges and fountains, and from the second floor of the palace, you could see all the way out to the sea. The weather became a little cold and rainy, but for me, it was a perfect day spent with Soojeong doing fun things together that I will always remember.