Kasteel Ruurlo walk, February 9, 2019.

With the weather surprisingly mild for this time of year (about 50 degr.) I decided to visit another one of the top 10 castles, Ruurlo Castle, # 9 on the list.

On the way to Ruurlo I spotted a few wind mills, and naturaly had to take a few pictures of them.  Soon after, I parked at the train station in Ruurlo.  From there, it takes about 5 minutes to walk to the castle, where a path leads all the way around it for some nice pictures.  The castle was built in the 13th Century and has been in the possession of the Van Heeckeren family throughout the centuries.  From 1980 to 2005 it was used as the city hall of Ruurlo. Starting 2013 the castle and grounds went through a complete restoration, and is now open to the public.  Back at the main gate, I took a left turn to continue the 9 mile walk, passing by an old Maze, which was closed for the winter, and continuing  the route through some pretty wooded areas and along farm land back to the starting point.

Being that this was my first walk this year, I got pretty tired during the last couple of miles, especially with my feet protesting strongly.  In addition, the very strong winds made the walk extra challenging.