As the nice weather of the summer was coming to close, I had the opportunity to visit new various parts of the Netherlands!
So as many a weekend in the Netherlands goes, the weekend was rainy and cloudy, I did at least take a dip in the water, which was of reasonable temperature and take a long afternoon bike ride along the dunes. Unfortunately, decided to cut the weekend away short as the weather forecast for Sunday looked dismal, therefore headed back to Utrecht to enjoy a lazy (less rainy) Sunday there.
Being quite famished at this point, I stopped at a beachside cafe (they have at least one every 1 or 2 km near an beach entrance) and enjoyed a large pot of fresh mussels and an obligatory hot chocolate to warm up. Afterwards, I walked another 4-5 km through the dunes, a forest and some farmland to the nearest bus stop where I could hop on the next ferry and head back to Utrecht.
In early September, I was invited for a weekend to the house of my Canadian fieldwork partner, Marjolein in one of the southern provinces (south of river). She grew up in a wonderful old farm house (completely renovated by her father) in the middle of the countryside. Their place included large sheds (almost small houses) for cars and a workshop, a large vegetable garden, grapes and a plume tree, dogs, cats, swimming pool in the summer, bar/outside dining area and an old playhouse on a little island in the tiny pond (with a small bridge too!). It goes without saying...that this seemed like an awesome place to grow up!
I had a lovely weekend meeting her siblings and parents, listening to mostly Dutch conversation (which I could sort of follow along, yay!), eating good food and having some lovely conversations. Saturday also went on a 32 km bike ride around the entire area and through a local reserve called Grote Peel (basically marshlands where there is lots of peat). Needless to say, I had a relaxing time and enjoyed spending the weekend at a house where I could feel at home at.
Zeeland
This province is the south just north of Belgium, consisting of slivers of land in the middle of and around a large delta (Schelde), though I went to a portion that is between the river and Belgium's border.
Dutch summers typically involve heading to holiday homes or trailers along the North Sea or heading off to France and Spain in a caravan for a camping holiday. In Zeeland, there were literally fields of just caravans and trailers for the sole purpose of spending a week or weekends for a relaxing (inexpensive) vacation filled with bike rides, sports & recreation, reading, socializing, etc.
So as many a weekend in the Netherlands goes, the weekend was rainy and cloudy, I did at least take a dip in the water, which was of reasonable temperature and take a long afternoon bike ride along the dunes. Unfortunately, decided to cut the weekend away short as the weather forecast for Sunday looked dismal, therefore headed back to Utrecht to enjoy a lazy (less rainy) Sunday there.
Here is an article that better explains the Dutch obsession of camping and caravans (featured in KLM's inflight magazine).
Texel Island, Noord Holland
The following weekend I decided to travel to the northern part of the Dutch coast and spend the day on the island of Texel located in the province of Noord-Holland. This is the largest island with a ferry from the mainland for bikers, walkers and cars. It is best known for bird-watching and vacationers from Germany, England and of coure the Netherlands.
After a 3 hour journey (it went by fast with a good book on hand), I first stopped off in the "shopping" town of Den Burg, where I tried some cookies from the must-go-to bakery and perused the famous Texel sheep wool. Then I headed off to De Koog right next to the western side of the island to walk south along the sea in the Dunes of Texel National Park. Even though the summer was at an end, there were still plenty of
families, older couples and teenagers taking walks or surfing (normal or
wind). Anyways, I ended up walking roughly 5 km on the beach and took a nice swim in the rather warm (think Pacific Ocean warm) water. It was quite windy so not long after I got out, I had to wrap myself up with some clothes.
Being quite famished at this point, I stopped at a beachside cafe (they have at least one every 1 or 2 km near an beach entrance) and enjoyed a large pot of fresh mussels and an obligatory hot chocolate to warm up. Afterwards, I walked another 4-5 km through the dunes, a forest and some farmland to the nearest bus stop where I could hop on the next ferry and head back to Utrecht.
East of Eindhoven, Noord Brabant
In early September, I was invited for a weekend to the house of my Canadian fieldwork partner, Marjolein in one of the southern provinces (south of river). She grew up in a wonderful old farm house (completely renovated by her father) in the middle of the countryside. Their place included large sheds (almost small houses) for cars and a workshop, a large vegetable garden, grapes and a plume tree, dogs, cats, swimming pool in the summer, bar/outside dining area and an old playhouse on a little island in the tiny pond (with a small bridge too!). It goes without saying...that this seemed like an awesome place to grow up!
I had a lovely weekend meeting her siblings and parents, listening to mostly Dutch conversation (which I could sort of follow along, yay!), eating good food and having some lovely conversations. Saturday also went on a 32 km bike ride around the entire area and through a local reserve called Grote Peel (basically marshlands where there is lots of peat). Needless to say, I had a relaxing time and enjoyed spending the weekend at a house where I could feel at home at.
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