While our wadlopen excursion was cancelled due to thunderstorms that never really materialized, we made the best of our day and drove our day rental car east to two sites that I had wanted to check out.
The first was Fraeylemaborg, a manor house once owned by a powerful family but now functions as a museum (and a surprisingly great restaurant). The white manor house starkly stood against the green woods surrounding it, partially wild in the English tradition. After koffie and a snack, we headed inside to see the rooms, furniture and paintings. One curiosity in the kids’ bedroom (I think) was a glass cabinet filled with stuffed birds. It was overflowing! And a bit haunting. Afterwards, we walked around the grounds to get more views of the house.
On the way to our next stop, Bourtange, it did thunderstorm for a few minutes, but afterwards the sky was mostly clear with beautiful, big clouds.
Bourtange is a star fort that sits on the border with Germany. It is still to this day a small village where people live and work, and there’s a few shops and restaurants that sit in the center. Thankfully it wasn’t too busy, and it was so pleasant to stroll along the high dykes and view the tiled roofs. There were also “secreet” which is an outhouse that sits over the moats surrounding the fort.
We came and departed via the same bright red bridge gate, and drove back to Groninginen where we were staying for the weekend.
