I wanted to post a stamp of the Muiderslot, a medieval castle which I visited as a child, and years later as a grown-up, and which still to me is the prototype of a 'real castle'.
Alas I can't find the stamp at the moment. It has been issued in 2009 and while I've sent tens on my outgoing mail, I thought I had kept a few. I hope to find one back before 'Castles' will be themed a next time.
Meanwhile I thought not to have any 'Palace' stamps, but on my search to the Muiderslot stamp I found even two stamps showing the 'Paleis op de Dam', the 'Palace at the Dam square', also known as the Koninklijk Paleis or Royal Palace, in Amsterdam.
The first stamp has been issued in 1982 and shows both the complete palace and the Dam square, on which the Monument op de Dam, or National Monument is located.
The tiny little statues right and left of the Monument show lions. In 1927 there were no lion statues yet. On this location there was a kiosk instead, in which my late grandmother sold newspapers at the age of 17. The minimum age to sell newspapers was 18, but somehow my greatgrandfather succeeded in having the kiosk owner employ her already before her 18th birthday. My grandmother has learned to count extremely quick there, I think no pocket calculator (nor I :-) ) could beat her!
Back to the Palace at the Dam square. In 2005 it shows up on a stamp again. On these stamps you can see the a part of this palace. Next to the stamp on bottom you can see a little more.
Finally a castle I didn't know until I saw the stamp. The Keukenhof is a famous bulb flower park. By the stamp, issued in 2012, I learned that the park belongs to the Keukenhof Castle area. A part of this castle you can see here:
The original stamp sheet shows more of this castle, but alas I've sent all stamps out. You can still see the complete set on the internet, for example on the stamps blog of a Dutch woman named Violet, and on the catawiki site.
Find more interesting castles and palaces at and via the Sunday Stamps blog!
