A Dutch theme park located in Sasebo, Japan.
I drive by Huis Ten Bosch on my way to work. I admire the European architecture from a far, daily. I have been wanting to go for a while. A friend and I have been talking about going together. We decided to go for one of her son’s birthday. We went after 5 p.m., because they offer a discount on tickets, and we wanted to see the lights at night.
We parked at the first parking lot and walked towards one of the many hotels on the property. This hotel, Hotel Okura JR, is massive! It is one of the most iconic buildings when driving by Huis Ten Bosch. Looking at Hotel Okura JR made me excited to see what else Huis Ten Bosch has to offer.
We followed the brick walkway and walked towards the entrance. We were greeted by a park worker and had our temperatures taken. Then we walked to where we pay for our tickets. Before buying our ticket, we had to fill out a form saying we were Covid-19 free, hadn’t left the country in the last 14 days and we would wear our masks at all times unless eating. After filling out the form, we then bought tickets and entered the park.
Entering Huis Ten Bosch they have two areas to take a souvenir photos.
Then you enter Teddy Bear Kingdom. You may walk through a museum about Teddy Bears or you can bypass the museum. We went through the museum. Some of the displays were cute.
After Teddy Bear Kingdom, we were greeted by a path of windmills and tulips. We spent some time here taking pictures. It was beautiful.
We made our way to Amsterdam City by following the path. In Amsterdam City, they had some stores open and a couple of food places open. Only part of the park was open due to Covid-19. We mostly stayed in Amsterdam City and ate at European Village.
European Village had several huts with a few food places. They even had huts with tables for you to eat in. I got some fish and chips. The portion was filling and only 700 yen ($6.67).
After eating, it was dark, so we went in search for the Canal Art Festival. First, we stopped at Amsterdam Square.
The lights at the Amsterdam Square was beautiful!
Then I saw some more lights and we walked toward the canal. We made our way through the Canal Arts Festival. Then we found the Art Garden with another beautiful illumination. We made our way through a maze of blue lights to represent water.
Then we went to look for ice cream at the European Village but they had closed for the evening. We decided it was time to leave. We ended up going to 7-Eleven for some ice cream instead! Then we went home.
Overall, we had a fun time! I am glad we only went for the evening. It would be hard to spend all day there with Covid-19 going on. For it to be a Saturday, there wasn’t too many people in the park. There might have been 50 to 75 people in the park including us. Everyone practiced social distancing, had their masks on (which is required by the park), and hand sanitizer was everywhere! I hope to go again one day after the Covid-19 restrictions are gone but that is to wishful thinking.
Hale of a Journey 