A postcard from The Netherlands this time! It takes 8 days to travel to Hong Kong. The sender placed two stamps there. Both are released in 2013. The right one is from the Dutch Country Houses stamp series, featuring Keukenhof Castle in Lisse. Oh, after google, the castle is a big and beautiful garden in Europe, and I remember Lok from digitalrev visited this place in one of their videos, taking photos of sea of tulip.
Country houses
A country house is a large house or mansion, often with outbuildings, that forms a harmonious whole with a surrounding garden or park. In centuries past, this sort of house was built as a refuge from the bustling city, a place where the residents could enjoy the peace and quiet of the country. More than 600 of these country houses still exist in the Netherlands, some open to the public and others still in private hands.
Keukenhof Castle
Keukenhof Castle is situated in the middle of an estate with a 200-hectare wood, a park, meadows and various outbuildings, such as a coach house and a playhouse. The castle was built in 1640 as the country house of Adriaen Maertenszoon Block. Over the centuries, this country house has been sold on to various, mainly Amsterdam, families, who made various renovations and extensions as required through the years. The castle’s English garden was designed by the horticultural architects Zocher, a father and son. As early as 1661 mention was made of the “Keukenhouff orchard and plantation”. The Keukenhof Flower Show, an annual event held on the northern part of the estate that attracts visitors from around the world, was first held in 1947.
The second stamp features drawing of windmill by artist Joost Veerkamp. There are totally 10 stamps within this series. Each stamp with different color and different windmills – I guess the ten windmills are built with different styles.
Update (18 Aug 2013)
Other similar stamps. I could not find information for the right one.
