Paleis het Loo II.

And we're back at Paleis het Loo. After being exposed to the scorching sun for about an hour, we sought shelter in this gorgeous enclosed garden path* and danced around with our cameras (most of the dancing was done my miss Honey). 

In the previous post I promised to tell you about my encounter with the fish. There was a really small moat in the gardens, with a steep embankment on both sides. So in order to get close enough to the fish to take pictures, I had to slowly slide down the embankment, until I was able to place my feet on the edge of the moat. Miraculously, I did not fall in and I ended up with some pretty pictures and footage.

There isn't a lot of palace related stuff left to talk about, so let me tell you about my love/hate relationship with koi fish. When I was 9, I went to a movie night that was hosted by my local youth/church club (the one that I've been volunteering at for the last 6 years) and the movie they picked was 'De Rode Zwaan' (The Red Swan). The movie was based on a children's book by Sjoerd Kuyper. I can't really remember much of the storyline, but one thing I do remember is the lake scene. I think it all starts when the young boy accidentally cuts himself and some drops of blood fall into the lake. Time stops and everyone, except for the boy, is frozen. That on its own is scary enough for a 9-year-old, but then an army of soldiers with koi faces starts marching out of the lake. Unfortunately there are no pictures of these koi soldiers online, so you'll just have to do with the book cover. At the end of the evening all the kids were too scared to talk home by themselves and I suspect that this movie is the reason I am still fascinated with koi fish.

The end.

*phrase by ©marionhoney.