I recently spent two days in the
Netherlands, in a town called
Heerlen near the German border.
One night, we had a dinner in a castle.
This is amazing to me.
In
Europe,
you can have dinner in a castle. And the castle happens to be right down the road! Amazing.
Coming from
America where everything is so new, all of this history is really impressive.
Where I grew up, in
New England, there is Old Stuff (by American standards). But most of it is very minimalist design, like the old houses in Plymouth Plantation and other buildings from similar time periods.
But in
Europe, the history is so much older, and the designs are so much more ornate.
Even in the apartment I’m renting in
Paris, there are ornate moldings around the edge of the room, a molding in the center of the ceiling that is clearly intended to hang a chandelier, and marble fireplaces (yes, fireplaces, plural. There are two.).
And this is not a super fancy apartment.
It’s just a very old building, built when fireplaces and chandeliers were normal.
This contrast of having something so old and historic, mixed in with modern life is something I really appreciate about living in Europe!
