Travel Blog

We extended our stay in The Netherlands to experience Kings Day!   The celebration of the current kings birthday.   However we almost missed it.  We were all geared up to go to Arnhem in our “Orange Garb” on the Sunday.   On the Saturday we caught the bus down to the city to visit “The Bridge Museum”  at this point, after googling we realised that the celebrations never take place on a Sunday, they bring it forward.  The museum was closed so we caught the bus back to the site, had a siesta, got our orange apparel on then went back down to join the party.  What a great atmosphere,  a city centre festival with various areas/music/DJ’s etc.  Glad we experienced it!

G did visit the Airborne Museum on the Friday & we walked through the Veluwe to the Oosterbeek War Cemetery on the Sunday.  

Excitement was building for our trip to “Obelink”. A camping shop on three levels selling everything you could possible need! Roughly the size of IKEA.  The carpark looked like a campsite when we arrived about 11’ ish.  We spent a couple of hours there & got away lightly with spending around £80.  We have a smart new whirligig washing line.  So much excitement in one day as it was then onto Rees in Germany.   

After a pleasant overnight stay in Stavoren, we set off first thing to visit the Wouda Pumping Station near Lemmer.   Opened in 1920 it’s the largest steam pumping station every built & still in operation!  We had our own personal guide as we were the only people needing an English speaking tour.  Absolutely amazing engineering combined with the striking “symmetrical architecture” Would 100% not missing this if in the area.  All too soon we were on our way to the long anticipated Giethoorn, unfortunately the weather was against us – it was pouring with rain. We got to our chosen location,  a camperplatts within walking distance of the village.  We held out until 4pm for the rain to stop – it didn’t so we donned our wet weather gear & went for it!   Our original intention was to hire a self drive boat & to explore the canals but it really was dim & dismal weather.  We were able to go in to the church, which was very simply decorated but had a certain something about it.  Wandered around the village & considered returning in the morning to hire a boat, we decided against it as we’d seen it all.  Nice place, very picturesque but time to move on.

When we learned of the “The Elfstedentocht” – “Eleven cities tour” originally completed on ice skates on the canals in Friesland.  Founded in 1909 it has been declared to be in danger of “extinction” due to climate change.  In the past 50 years,  Elfstedentocht has taken place only 3 times, most recently in 1997.  We were pointed in the direction of a “Campervan” route to visit all the places, a challenge was set to get photo’s of the 11 permanent fountains, 1 in each of the 11 cities.  

1 & 2 = Harlingen & Franeker

Harlingen – originally the home of the Fresian Admiralty & back in the 17th century  it was an important port for the whaling industry! Hence the fountain being a sperm whale at the Zuiderpier.

Franeker – what a find! A planetarium built by Eise Eisinga between 1774 and 1781.  It is the oldest working planetarium in the world & is now on the UNESCO world heritage list.  Now on to the fountain – it’s an ode to the world-famous astronomer Jan Hendrik Oort, born in Franeker.

3 & 4 = Dokkum & Leeuwarden

Dokkum – anglo saxon missonary St Boniface born in Crediton, Devon died in Dokkkum, Friesland in 754!  Dokkum has the smallest hospital in the Netherlands.  The fountain – The Ice Fountain, no two days are the same as it depends on the elements. The day we visited it had ice on it! – Created by an artist from the Netherlands – Birth Leemeijer

Leeuwarden –  capital city of Friesland with a tower that is leaning more than the tower of Pisa. The Elfstedentocht starts & finishes in Leeuwarden – The Fountain Love is two 7 metre high white sculptures of a boy & girl.  Created by a Spanish artist – Jaume Plensa

5 & 6 = Bolsward & Workum

Bolsward – wedged in between the cities of Sneek & Franeker.  The town was founded before Christ.  During the middle ages it was a trade centre & port city, via the middle sea.   The fountain – The Bat by Johan Creten from Belgium

Workum – has four  windmills!  For centuries the coat of arms have been supported by two lions.  The fountain – The Rampant Lions of Workum, a rather interesting take by British Artist Cornelia Parker where a “bit of British Humour” has been added.   Ummmm not too sure about that.

7 & 8 = Sneek & IJLst

Sneek – couldn’t wait to get here!  Sneak has the largest sailing event on inland European waterways & it’s called Sneekweek.  The Waterpoort is the symbol of the city & the clock is always 5 minutes fast.  The fountain – Fortuna’s Fountain by Stephan Balkenhol from Germany

IJLst – known as the wood city! It has unique waterside gardens which were originally used for bleaching clothing.   The fountain – By Shinji Ohmaki from Japan is Immortal Flowers

9, 10 & 11 =   Hindeloopen, Sloten & Stavoren

Hindeloopen – has it’s own language mixing west Frisian, English, Danish & Norwegian.  It sits on the IJsselmeer, which is a closed off fresh water lake, covering 420 square miles.  The fountain – Flora & Fauna by Shen Yuan, China

Sloten –  it is the smallest city in Friesland & the most difficult to find!   The original structure of Sloten has been preserved.  The fountain – Peewit by Jorge & Lucy Orta from Argentina & United Kingdom

Last but not least Stavoren! – the oldest city in Friesland & on the coast of the IJsselmeer.  Home to an impressive looking pumping station The JL Hoogland which was put to work in 1967.  It drains the Friesian lakes into the IJsselmeer.  There is a unique hotel here, you can sleep in a Swiss wine barrel.  The fountain – The Fishfountain for Stavoren by US artist Mark Dion.

We were up & on the road fairly early’ish to drive the 20 miles to Den Helder & secure a spot at the Yacht Werf Willemsoord.  We didn’t have a plan B at this point.  However we got a space, we timed it just right as several vehicles had left, by 12 noon the “VOL’ sign (full) was put up.  We opted to spend two nights as we wanted to take the ferry over to Texel.  The first day, G went to the Naval Museum located right next to where we were staying & spent a few hours there. Popped in to the City for a quick look around & it started to rain!  We headed back to the van to escape from it.   

The next day we took the ferry over to Texel!  It is the largest & most populated island of the West Frisian Islands & located in the Wadden Sea.  For the bargain price of £10 we got a return ticket for the two of us with our bikes.  We followed the coast cycle path from T Horntje to Oudeschild then on to Oosterend where we stopped for refreshments at one of the small bars there.  We had stopped earlier on for a small picnic overlooking the Wadden Sea, but it was blowing a hooley & pretty cold.  We then headed to one of the main towns Den Burg, where we had a look around some of the independent shops before setting off back to catch the ferry.   A very enjoyable & tiring day & reckon we clocked up around 19.6 miles on our trusty bikes (only really used the boost to help us on the way back to the ferry as cycling in to the very strong wind). Would love to return to the island with “The Ranch” & spent more time exploring.

Not sure how, but we identified a potential stop over not far from Alkmaar!  Located on a bulb farm wedged between the sand dunes & bulb fields.  It sounded idyllic & had very good reviews.  So the race was on to get a space.   We arrived shortly after 11am & all the spaces on the grass were occupied & a German van had just pulled in ahead of us.  Fortunately the owner was very accommodating & fitted us both in on “the second row”, we still had a fairly nice view.  We walked over to the beach through the sand dunes & it was absolutely stunning, even dipped our toes in the very very cold North Sea.  We then had a cycle down to the local town Callantsoog, browsed in the local independent shops & then decided to have a pizza rather than cook, a night off from cooking.  

When back at “The Ranch” M decided to go for a quick cycle down between the bulb fields again, as she had walked through there earlier & saw the various stages of the ground being prepped for new planting & the bulbs being planted.  It really was a beautiful location. Wished we had found it sooner & been able to stay longer.

Alkmaar was on our original list to visit, however it’s best to visit on a Friday to take in the weekly cheese market, which is held between March & November.  Typical that we were unable to visit on a Friday but decided to have an overnight stop so we could take a quick look to say we’d been there.  We dumped “The Ranch” on the site & took a walk down to the city & wasn’t disappointed, very nice place & imagine it would be lovely in the summer with all the outside seating/bars & restaurants.  The Wag building was pretty impressive too.  We picked up a bottle of the local advocaat to try. But no cheese! 

The Bulbfields, Keukenhof & The Bloemencorso

We booked a camping spot back in November, chosen so we were able to cycle to all three of these on our “To Do” list.   Looking back now we think it was more luck than judgement of our chosen location as it was closer than we thought.  It was perfect & we hadn’t realised that we would be treated to an extra early bird look at the parade on the Friday evening in Noordwijkhout.  It was a day of flowers, Keukenhof to visit the gardens & admire the amazing displays of flowers.  The cycle was pretty good too as we cycled through the bulbfields to & from the gardens.  10/10 for the whole experience. 

The longest we have stayed in one place!  This was to give us 3 full days in Amsterdam.  Location of the site was great, just a 20 minute walk to the free ferry straight over to the city. Day 1 we had tickets to the Anne Frank house.   The museum is simply done, with an accompanying audio tour.  How 8 people were able to hide for 2 years in that annexe is mind-blowing.  Had a very civilised canal side drink stop before going in search of a Stroop Waffle!  We decided to share as it was a decent size & complete sugar overload.  We had the “Smarties” topping.  Day 2 we had a slow morning before heading back over to the city in the afternoon.  We tried to organise a walking tour but were too late, so we arranged for the Wednesday.   We spent time exploring new districts with all the different architecture, bridges & canals. We must have seen ever bridge in Amsterdam!  Headed off to the flower market, which is allegedly the world’s only floating flower market.  Founded in 1862 it made up of houseboat greenhouses.      The reality didn’t actually meet the expectations.  It’s more of a bulb market & reminded us of garden centres at home.  A few had flowers for sale but we were expecting floor to ceiling of flowers.  Lot’s of wooden tulips though, an everlasting gift from Amsterdam.  Day 3 & our tour was booked for 1.30pm & we were to meet in Dam Square, the guide would be carrying a white umbrella.  We had a really good 2 hour tour with Gerben & learnt lots about the history of The Netherlands, Amsterdam & interesting facts about the city.  We were lucky to be shown a small bit of green oasis in the middle of the city!  The houses were originally occupied by nuns but due to the dwindling nun population the houses are rented out to women only, no men allowed.  

No trip to Amsterdam would be complete with a wander through De Wallen,  we found a couple of bars & had a few drinks whilst people watching.   Human curiosity & all that.  Anyway tried some Frites with cheese/topping & have to admit they were better than the Belgian equivalent.   Followed by Churros with cinnamon sugar & chocco sauce.   Back for a few more drinks before catching the late ferry back.  In 3 days we clocked up 72,000 steps – about 36 miles.

These two attractions deserved their own post! 

First up Kinderdjik Windmills, 19 of them built in 1797, to prevent flooding.  The area lies below sea level. It has been a UNESCO world heritage site since 1997.  You can tour the inside of two of the windmills & the other 17 are lived in by tenants!  To apply to live there you must be a qualified miller.

Royal Delft  has been in existence since 1653.  Originally there were over 30 pottery factories in Delft. Porceleyne Fles is now the last remaining one.  The designs were inspired by Chinese pottery.  In 1746 baking clay was invented in England & Royal Delft purchased this from Devon! The clay was superior to what Delft was using & the items didn’t need to be glazed with white opaque.  The craftsmen that decorate the items train for 10 years & can create 50 shades of blue! The decoration is painted in  black cobalt which turns blue during the firing process.