We have been in the Netherlands almost 5 years and of all of the trips we have taken, very few have actually been in the Netherlands. The Netherlands is made up of 12 provinces (we live in Noord Holland) and so far we had only been to 6. We had a four day weekend and visited Zeeland in the southeast. Now we just the ones in the East left to explore. As you can see, Zeeland is comprised of a number of long peninsulas and islands and borders Belgium. New Zealand was named after Zeeland by the Dutch explorer, Abel Tasman (fun fact, I have kayaked in Abel Tasman national park in New Zealand, so coming full circle!). Most of Zeeland is below sea level and in 1953, the North Sea Flood killed 1,800 people, leading the country to create the protective Delta Works. The Dutch do not mess around with water control. Their lives literally depend on it! Another (not so) fun fact- you cannot get flood insurance for your house here.
This trip was extra exciting because Brad, Audra and Joey were coming with us! We had so much fun exploring first
Texel and then
Mostar with the Welters that we knew this trip was going to be great.
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| www.netherlands-tourism.com |
There was so much to do in the region and so many great things for kids. We started out at a small amusement park, Mini Mundi, which had an indoor play area, some rides and miniatures of all of the towns of Zeeland, much like
Maduradam. There are sweet places like this all over the Netherlands and with admission prices around 10 euros, it makes for an affordable day out.
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| Carousel riding |
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| Jude's first roller coaster ride (actually his first go he went by himself and then he went 2 more times after that!). |
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| Jude in mini Domburg, which we visited later in the weekend |
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| The kids impressed us with their climbing skills, but Audra stole the show with her failed attempts to make it up! |
We stayed at a vacation rental home that was an old converted barn of some sort. Apart from pretty nauseating sulfur smells from the bathrooms and a broken dishwasher, it was a good base for the trip with most areas of interest within a 15 minute drive. Zeeland is very rural with lots of farmland and then all around the peninsulas are wide sandy beaches.
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| Pete serenaded our neighbors, the sheep. |
Our first full day we visited a cheese farm and stopped in Middleburg for lunch and to explore the beautiful old town. We played a lot of games back at the house and stopped by a local county fair.
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| We found Joey's boat! |
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| Long John Abbey Tower, which bore the brunt of many weekend jokes. |
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| The lunch trio- delicious fish soup (similar to a lobster bisque), smoked salmon and a fish kroket. |
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| Long John Abbey has cloisters, which is unusual in the Netherlands. |
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| My favorite Dutch stained glass windows |
The town oozed charm.
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| Zeeland's coat of arms-a lion half-emerged from water, and the text luctor et emergo (I struggle and emerge) |
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| Former Dutch trading building from 1582! |
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| How great is that swan bench! |
The kids were put to bed and the real Kubb tournament began. We played in teams of every configuration and I'll just say that three of us won 2 games each and one of us won none. I will not name the weakest link :)
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| Premature victory dance before mine and Brad's comeback |
