Tea With the Queen Mother

As I mentioned before, we stopped by the palace of Het Loo on our way up to Bedum. We walked around the beautiful gardens and went inside. Photos, however, are not allowed inside the palace. I learned that my namesake, Princess Juliana, had a daughter Maria Christina just like me, so I felt at home.

I slapped together this quick and dirty panorama to give you an idea of the size.


Marianna & Paula enjoyed the stables and the tack rooms.


The trees were outstanding. They even had an orange one for the House of Orange.


This is just a piece of the gardens - you can see how well maintained they are. After an enjoyable lunch and tea with the Queen Mother, we headed up along the Smildevaart towards Bedum. We saw a boat named "Julia" and the significance of a Julia on the Smilde was not lost on us.


We drove through the town of Smilde but because John was not yet with us, I didn't want to take a picture. I thought it would be sad, like Princess Di by the Taj Mahal. So I present herewith a picture taken in the town of Smilde with John & I in 2003 - our very own carved bushes!