There are 1800 bicycles in…

…… the Hoge Veluwe National Park which is 8,998,209 less than Katie Melua thought were in Beijing. In Holland, they are all the same colour and free to use. What no-one tells you is that they’re fixed wheel with no brakes and stopping takes a bit of thinking about.

The National Park is a cultural estate founded by Anton and Helene Kroller-Muller, at the beginning of the 20th Century. Anton’s hobby was buying up hunting grounds and Helene was an avid art collector. Helene’s dream was a museum to share her passion, finally achieved in 1938. Luckily the Canadians stored some tanks at the museum in 1945, which proved rather useful at the Battle of Otterlo the last battle to take place in the Netherlands.

We didn’t manage to explore all of the park exhibits but started with the Kroller-Muller museum and Sculpture Park. This houses Helene’s art collection which includes the second largest selection of Van Gogh paintings in the world. Throw in a few Picassos, Toulouse-Lautrecs and Mondriaans and there’s quite an eclectic collection. The sculpture gardens cover 25 hectares with over 160 sculptures. Both art and sculptures had been added to over the years, helping to keep the museum fresh and current.

Here’s a selection of photos

After lunch, we managed to cycle 10km on our single speed, fixed wheel upright Dutch bicycles around the park to visit the Kroller-Muller’s country residence, Museum Jachthuis Sint Hubert. Built between 1914 and 1920 the brief was to make it artistic. We were too late for a guided tour so sat in the warm autumn sunshine admiring it’s elegance and views across the lake.

A leisurely cycle back through the woodland and heath, past the Memorial to General de Wet, gave us time to refresh before dinner

At this point we have to admit, last night, we were a little harsh about our accommodation. We didn’t freeze over night because we worked out how to put the heating on, there are common rooms where we can socialise with other inmates and breakfast exceeded expectations. Our room is still tiny but we didn’t bring a cat to swing so that’s ok.