Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for netherlands
Rainbow Houses of Houten
By Linda Tancs
A gem for shutterbugs, the so-called rainbow houses in Houten, Netherlands, are truly a rainbow burst of color off Lake Rietplas. This bicycle-centric community offers a variety of shops and eateries across three centers: Old Village, Het Rond and Castellum. The houses are easily accessible from Castellum station.
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Home of the Dutch Masters
By Linda Tancs
The Rijksmuseum is the national museum of the Netherlands, telling the story of 800 years of Dutch history. It features more than 8,000 works of Dutch art and history, including masterpieces by Vermeer, Rembrandt and Van Gogh. Combining the Gothic and the Renaissance styles, the iconic building beckons visitors to Amsterdam.
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Christmas Underground
By Linda Tancs
You might think that if you’ve seen one Christmas market in Europe, then you’ve seen them all. If so, then you probably haven’t been to Valkenburg in the Netherlands. In addition to its overground festivities, the town offers underground enchantment in its marlstone caves with stalls, lights and almost 100 feet of miniature villages. Wrapped in Christmas spirit from top to bottom (literally), the city styles itself Christmas Town. You can experience the fun from mid-November to early January. If you visit on a weekday, then you’ll experience less crowding.
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Serenity in Schiermonnikoog
By Linda Tancs
Car-free and carefree. Those might be the best attributes to describe Schiermonnikoog, the smallest inhabited island of the Dutch Wadden Sea islands. The entire locale is a national park, a place teeming with beaches, dunes, forests, tidal marshes, lakes and tidal flats along with hundreds of plant and bird species. It boasts the widest sandbar in Europe (the Rif) as well as the oldest house in the North Sea islands and a whale jaw over three feet high. It owes at least part of its tourism to Klozum, a costume festival that takes place on December 5 each year. You get there via ferry from the port of Lauwersoog in the Dutch province of Groningen.
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A Dutch Hansa Town
By Linda Tancs
The Dutch Hanseatic towns are seven towns along the IJssel River, part of the Hanseatic (Hansa) League, a once powerful confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in northwestern and central Europe. One of those towns is Kampen, a charming place boasting its mercantile roots with historic warehouses and a fish market near the old town hall that has been doing business since the 14th century. It even hosts a replica of the medieval merchant ship De Kamper Hanze Kogge. Once the site of a prosperous tobacco industry, De Olifant is the only brand still produced in the factory on Voorstraat. Take the Kamperlijntje train from Zwolle, just nine miles away.
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Peat and Reed in the Netherlands
By Linda Tancs
Thanks to human hands cutting peat and reed, the largest lowland bog in Northwest Europe was formed. That area now comprises Weerribben-Wieden National Park in the Netherlands. It’s a unique landscape brimming with lakes, reedlands, marsh and bogs. Some species are even dependent on the bogs for survival, such as water soldiers, water lilies and round-leaved sundew. The park also houses almost the entire Dutch population of the large copper butterfly and the Norfolk damselfly. The best way to explore the park is by boat. Electric boats, rowboats and canoes can be rented in Giethoorn and other places in the park. Be on the lookout for rare animals that live there, like otters and black terns.
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An Antique Planetarium
By Linda Tancs
Nowadays it’s not unusual to find a model solar system hanging from the walls of a classroom. But it certainly would’ve been a spectacle in the 1700s to build an accurate model right in one’s living room. That’s what amateur astronomer Eise Eisinga did in the northern Netherlands. Built between 1774 and 1781 in a Franeker canal house, the working model represents the oldest operating planetarium in the world. His home, now known as the Eise Eisinga Planetarium, also offers a beautiful collection of astronomical instruments and a contemporary exhibition about our solar system and the universe.
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Holland’s Highest Tower
By Linda Tancs
The Dutch city of Utrecht was built around the Dom Tower, the tallest church tower in Holland at 367 feet. Undoubtedly an iconic symbol for this centuries-old university town, the tower has survived violent storms, occupations by foreign powers and fires. Its 14 bells are still rung by hand in the “ringing attic.” No doubt you’ll hear them along the city’s beautiful canals with wharf cellars housing cafés and terraces by the water.
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The 2018 European Capitals of Culture
By Linda Tancs
Malta and Leeuwarden (Netherlands) share strong agricultural ties in the nature of potatoes. Maltese farmers grow potatoes from Leeuwarden seeds and send those crops to Leeuwarden. How appropriate, then, that Leeuwarden and Valletta (Malta) are the European Union’s 2018 Capitals of Culture. In a unique display of solidarity, the locales have joined in an effort called Poetry in Potato Bags. This initiative involves the sending of local poetry with the exchange of seeds and potatoes, enriching poetic dialogue between the two cultures. Look for many events to be held throughout the year in each city highlighting their social, cultural and economic assets.
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Europe’s Offshore Ferris Wheel
By Linda Tancs
Scheveningen is Holland’s most famous seaside resort. Just 15 minutes away from The Hague city center, it boasts fabulous beaches, dining experiences and yearlong cultural events. Add to that Europe’s first Ferris wheel built over the sea: Skyview de Pier. Over 131 feet high, the wheel has 36 closed gondolas with air conditioning, including one VIP gondola with a glass bottom. Seating up to six people per gondola, the ride lasts 20 minutes and is open daily.
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