Tuesday 14 September 2010

Postcard from Holland


Delicious ice-cold, fruity, blond beer, steaming pots of fresh mussels cooked in white wine with onions and celery, perfectly fried chips dipped in garlicky mayonnaise, and pancakes (pannenkoek) met slagroom (cream) yes, really!

The entire nation on its bicycle; mothers and fathers, boyfriends and girlfriends, grandparents with grandchildren perched in front, clutching tiny pretend handlebars and looking terribly serious. Or walking dogs; big dogs, small dogs, every possible variety of dog.  I think every Dutch family must own at least one - they even take them out on their boats.

A huge bowl of sky in gorgeous shades of palest duck egg blue and grey.  And water.  Water everywhere. Canals leading off inland seas, taking us right into the heart of lovely ancient towns where we could step off the boat straight into the nearest cafe or bar, wander through the streets, shopping for fresh bread, coffee, cheese and fruit, or just admiring the pretty Dutch houses and wondering how on earth they get their windows so very clean, before heading back to the boat to sit in the cockpit watching the world go by with a glass of wine and a bowl of pasta, cooked on the little swinging stove.


From Goes we sailed across the Oosterschelde to Zierikzee for the Mussel Festival, joined friends from England, stayed a day longer than planned because of severe weather then, setting off for Willemstad, were forced back to Goes, probably my favourite place in Holland, by an unpredicted Force 7 in the Oosterschelde, which is like standing fully dressed in the wind and rain, with someone chucking buckets of freezing water over you every few seconds. Not my idea of fun at all! Lovely fish soup and a glass of warming Calvados helped to ease my recovery from the difficult conditions at sea that day.



A long day's sail up the Volkerak finally brought us to Willemstad, another pretty Dutch town, to stay for a couple of days before taking the boat up the Haringvliet to Middel Harnis for pannenkoek, then on to Hellevoetsluis where we fell in with a crowd of Dutch boaties who all have the same make of boat we have - an instant connection there. We spent a couple of days with them and joined them in a race (my first) where we were totally outclassed, but great fun anyway, then a barbecue in their clubhouse in the evening, watching the sun go down over the water and chatting with the English speakers, swapping sailing stories and practising Dutch pronunciation to their great amusement.

                         
Time now to retrace our steps, back to Willemstad, then back across the Oosterschelde again, this time into the Veerse Meer and the pretty town of Veere for the night, then on to Middelburg in the pouring rain, then the train and the ferry home across the wide, cold Noordzee. Now where did I leave my waistline?

27 comments:

  1. After the first 3 lines, my waistline visibly grew in size while my mouth watered!

    This sounds like a fantastic trip, I have never been to Holland. There is just so much of Europe to see. When Nigel retires I hope we will be able to afford trips to neighbouring countries. Diane

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  2. Oh, god, the waistline! Still it was worth it. There is so much to see Diane, so much to do. Hope we both manage to do some of it.

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  3. Oh my.. that would totally do me in weight-wise. But is sure sounds like a wonderful time and your photos are beautiful.

    Thanks for your visit to my blog today.. very much appreciated.

    Oh and I love the Leonard Cohen (from my native Montreal) quote at the top of your blog. So Long, Marianne is one of my all time favourite songs.

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  4. I like that...... the entire nation out on bicycles. I have heard about those Dutch windows too.Not like our mucky windows!
    Maggie X

    Nuts in May

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  5. Hang the waistline - the pictures were worth expansion! LOL :)

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  6. Lovely blog Marianne. I love the Netherlands too. Would like to be a sailor but I'm no good with small boats - or even large boats! Beautiful pictures and I'm sure you were burning calories double quick in all that freezing water!

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  7. I have never been to Netherlands, but have heard that Amsterdam is lovely in spring, when the tulips bloom.;)
    So nice to see a post from you again.;)
    xo

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  8. You write so beautifully. You always did and if anything, with the addition of lovely pictures your blog is even more engaging.

    I am so happy to come back and find you married. How wonderful! And what a beautiful garden, sigh -

    Very best wishes to you :-)

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  9. Hilary, thank you for visiting. I love your blog and will be back.

    It was a great holiday and I miss being there.

    Leonard Cohen writes such amazing poetry - I play the recording of his recent concert in London all the time and never get tired of it.

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  10. Maggie it was an amazing experience and I loved seeing everyone on bicycles - no lycra, no helmets, just a way of life. So relaxed.

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  11. Jinksy, never mind the pictures, the food certainly did it for me!

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  12. Fennie, funnily enough the scales weren't quite as shocking as I'd thought, so must have been burning it all off - terror probably and all that balancing. It's good to indulge sometimes.

    As for the boat, it's part of the deal - I'm just working out which bits I enjoy and missing the bits I don't (long sea crossings in uncertain conditions).

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  13. Zuzana, thank you. I'm not a regular blogger, but enjoy the bits I do.

    Parts of Holland are lovely, but we didn't make Amsterdam this time - there is a plan to take a long weekend there in the winter months.

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  14. Merry, it is so good to see that you are visiting blogs again and commenting. A step in the right direction.

    Thank you for your kind words - you also have a way with words and I look forward to seeing more of you.

    We aren't married. Where we are at the moment seems enough for now.

    The garden is very pretty but needs a lot of attention. I look away for 2 minutes and everything runs riot or dies off or gets eaten by some unspeakable mollusc x

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  16. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  17. How can there be no response from me on here? I am sure I left you a response! Love the idea of a nation on bikes. Blog soon!

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  18. Lovely to see you Elizabeth. It was an absolutely brilliant holiday, especially as I solved the North Sea crossing bit by taking the ferry this time!

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  19. Fantastic pics of Holland. Am sitting here feeling peckish - but now only a steaming plate of moule will do (goddamit!)

    I have read many of your posts. What an incredible story. What an incredible life. Huge kudos to you for raising 3 sons single-handed. And best of luck with your new adventures in Suffolk. I love that part of the world and can't wait to revisit friends in the area when I return home.

    I look forward to reading more.

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  20. Thank you for visiting Nicola and reading my blog. I shall certainly be keeping an eye on yours and looking forward to hearing more about your move to Britain and your adventures. Just enjoy the journey!

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  21. Fantastic blog, very well written. I have returned to the blogging forum as Tunbridge Wells Dad - used to be Dulwich Dad - hope you enjoy my blog also.

    warm regards
    Tunbridge Wells Dad
    http://dulwichdad.blogspot.com/

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  22. Thanks for visiting and your lovely comment.
    The blog seems to have rather lapsed recently, due to a surfeit of real life, but might be resurrected any time now!

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  23. You are training as a homeopath?
    Hooray for you!

    :-)

    Looking forward to your next post!

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  24. Hi Merry,
    Yes, and loving it. Case studies very welcome! Not sure about posting though, things rather stuck there at the moment.

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  25. I absolutely love the pics and your writing! Amazing!

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  26. I really liked the article, and the very cool blog

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  27. Thanks for sharing this post with us. It's really an amazing post. Keep posting the good work in future too.

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