As the spring is thinking about winding-up here, and the summer is waiting in the wings...it is time to take another trip. We had a hotel on a lake for the ridiculous price of 18 euro's. Two persons with brekkie, one nights' sleeping. We had been waiting for quite a while until the weather forecast looked good. There was a little window of decent weather, so we booked it. The hotel was up in northern Friesland. I really like it up there. The plan was to drive up there and do a city of Sneek (Snits) tour in the afternoon, combined with a bit of windowshopping. We would check into the hotel after supper. We located the inexpensive parking (2 euro's for the whole day), made a waypoint on the GPS and set out for an adventure. We came first by the symbol of the city--the Water Gate (built in 1492. In the centrum of the city, there are canals as there are in most of out cities and towns...and on a bridge over a canal, young sweethearts place locks and throw the key into the water. It symbolizes a lasting togetherness. Further along, we had this little peek-through: An old house with wooden siding and the Martinikerk (St. Maartens' Church (11th Century). St Maarten is the patron saint of the city. Down at the harbour, this attractive wooden bridge crosses a canal. We had a nice meal at a restaurant and drove off to the hotel, which was ~45 minutes away. It was on a lake and built low. That is to say, it had only two floors; however, it was on the water and had a balcony. It was so quiet there...no sounds of man-made things, only the sounds of animals or nothing. Ahhhh...it was wonderful. The next morning after breakfast we took a hike in a nature preserve near the hotel. De Alde Feanen. It is a magnificent area with easy paths to follow that were soppy in some places... and lots of water and reeds. There was/is veen there and the land , well whole area is quite old, hense the modern day name. Here you can see one of the bridges out in the peat area. We walked along canals cut out of the peat and saw a particular type of water lily whose leaves are seen in the Friesian flag to this day. The flag looks like this: Most folks who do not know Friesland think that the red designs are hearts, but that is not true. The plants are called the Pompelblêd (Nuphar lutea and Nymphaea alba). We came by several bird watching blinds. The trail lead us through some romantic areas. This is one: There were modern windmills to move the water from lower areas to higher areas. Here are a couple of pics of one in a beautifully typical Friesian landscape. We walked a little further and took a foto of the windmill from the other side. That thing looked good from whichever angle you looked at it from. There were also loads of birds to see and hear. Here was a Godwit who was very upset with us. My bride snapped this pic from quite a distance. Its not sharp, but it gives a good idea of how the bird looks. We spent the whole morning in the reserve and left in the afternoon., Whilst driving through the little villages, we came across this typical Friesian farm. A sort of head-neck-and body idea. There was a time when they all looked like that, but that was donkey's ears ago. Driving along the narrow country roads, there are many pastoral scenes. Here are some typical Friesian horses: We did a neck-breaking double-take when we passed this: It was not immediately apparent what it was. After getting out of the auto and looking closely, we determined it to be a bee., although a mosquito cannot be completely counted out. Gad!-- If that were a mozzie. I think that he could suck you dry in a heartbeat. Whilst roaming the back roads, we came across this church remnant. There is a poignant story attached to the structure...but I shall tell about that in another couple of days. Hope that you enjoyed the trip. The auto goes into the garage now and we shan't be making any trips for awhile.
It was indeed a very enjoyable trip. :-D What is in the building with the very high orange roof in the "typical Friesian farm" picture?
I could almost feel myself walking along with you two. I so enjoyed all your photographs. I haven't seen a Black tailed Godwit around here for ages so it was great to see that you managed to capture one with your camera.
Very enjoyable and relaxing trip again, thanks for that Sjoerd. I love the Friesland farm, what a green house that barn would make!!! The romantic walking path is beautiful. My favorite spot for a walk with hubby.
KK--That largest building is the barn. Everything was sort of combined. It is sort of a Middle Ages-type of concept, and functioned well. It would have been handy to go from the house to be barn without getting wet in inclimate weather. You are so welcome, DONNA-- I am chuffed that you enjoyed the trip. Ahhh EILEEN-- That is great. I just know that you would have enjoyed this trip very much...especially the sumptuous brekkie. I REALLY liked that! You know, we are seeing less Godwit here in West-Friesland this year than years before, although, I did find an additional nests a couple of days ago. We observed and walked for 6½ hours. My bride was "dune-in". hahaha...but not ole Sjoerdi. She took that foto with her small hand-held camera, and although it is not an excellent pic, I think that the foto was representative enough. I am so delighted that you enjoyed the posting, TONI--It was iundeed very restful and relaxing up there. Just what was needed before the big working part of the year begins. Oh, I can well imagine that you and your man would like strolling down the chipped section of the walk. It lead to the bird blind seen in the foto immediately preceding it.
You got to see all sorts of things.... all are beautiful! And the photos are superb... could be postcards.
Thanks BUNKIE--I'll bet they could too.. They do lots more than stack hay in there though. In fact they keep grass, straw and hay in big piles outside under plastic. Thank you, CHERYL--That was a very enjoyable trip. You are most welcome, WARE--They are very attractive farms up there. Ours are quite different. Every province has it's own style of farm architecture.
