NETHERLANDS CHARM IN EXPECTED AND UNEXPECTED PLACES
We’re on the move and changing our scenery. Feel free to read about our experience in Tholen and Brussels in our previous post.
We’ll explore Rotterdam and The Hague during T’s conference, so we try to avoid them as much as possible during our downtime. Our next stop after Tholen is in accommodation called the “Kieppenhok”, translating to Chicken Koop. When seeing that name, bells had to start ringing, but more about that later.
As mentioned previously, the Netherlands isn’t huge. This meant that moving day would require quite a bit of odd stops, scenic routes, and unexpected photos, views and opportunities.
Windmills of Kinderdjik.
By now, we’ve seen quite a bit of windmills. The photography opportunities weren’t in abundance as I would have hoped. Either it’s in the middle of a little town, making it difficult to get a bigger picture, or next to the road somewhere, where pulling over might be frowned upon.
Capturing all these magical places, we visit is one of my many happy places. However, if I fail to capture that magic for whatever reason, let’s just say I become grumpy. T must have felt the mood shift and started researching the best places to see windmills in the Netherlands and came up with one answer. Kinderdjik.
Kinderdjik is a village and UNESCO World Heritage Site, home to 19 well-preserved windmills. The walking and cycling route offers a serene experience of the countryside. Admiring the birdlife is a cherry on top.
The next ingredient to a decent photo is the light. Most of the time that can’t be managed due to operating hours, but when we have the freedom, we try to use it. This usually means early mornings as late afternoons go along with crowds.
Waking up in the dark on a cold morning is never fun, but we also never regret it. There’s something enchanting about seeing the sun rise over different parts of the world. Kinderdjik was nothing different; in fact, I think a little extra spice might have been added to this mix.
Cheese – Biokaas
Biokaas was an unexpected find on our way to the windmills in Kinderdjik. The company manufactures organic cheese from goat, cow and even sheep milk. The shop itself doesn’t feel like a shop, just a corner in their storage/production building. They were super friendly and offered us to taste. She then started at the mid-level maturity of all their cheeses, as that’s a good starting point for determining the taste you like. From there, we went younger for some and more mature for others. We left with what we thought was a lot of cheese at the time. In hindsight, we could have bought double that and still not have had enough.
This farm felt like the essence of the Netherlands. Cheese farm with Kinderdjik’s windmills as a backdrop.
Kieppenhok
We’ve stayed in some strange and wonderful places. Kieppenhok might just be one of those that fall into the peculiar category. The cottage itself was perfectly normal, cosy even. But outside was where the trouble lay.
The countryside of the Netherlands surprised us with its birdlife. We love birds, watching them, hearing them, photographing them. Kieppenhok also had loads of birds, especially just before sunset when the starlings would come for a sundowner in the tree above our cottage.
But they weren’t the problem. The problem was in the cottage name all along. Kieppen, meaning chicken, brings us to our obstacle. And the early morning crowing was the least of our problems. The hens were cute, clucking away and doing their own thing. The owner even suggested we take some eggs in the morning. What scared us from leaving our cottage were the 2 or 3 hens they had. They would come at us, and initially, I found it quite funny as they usually went for T, but then they came for me as well. One would think that a small”ish” feathery animal can’t be that scary, but we were running and ducking for cover all the time. At one point, my poor innocent tripod had to be used in an act of violence to protect myself.
Ok, so it might not have been that bad, but they did chase, kick, and attack us. Luckily no chicken tripod or person was hurt. l even managed to capture a few decent photos of them during a brave photo excursion into the garden.
Giethoorn
I’m convinced that if you know where, when and how to look, you should be able to find fairies, talking animals, dwarfs or maybe even a leprechaun in Giethoorn.
Its car-free centre, waterways, wooden bridges and thatch-roof houses are the essence of any fairytale setting. No wonder it’s one of the Netherlands’ main tourist attractions. We were there at the end of winter, both good and bad. The good is, we were only a hand full of tourists. With those small walking paths and narrow canals, peak season might become a nightmare with the overflow of people. The negative side is that not all the plants and mostly trees were in their prime yet. I’m sure with full foliage, it looks even more spectacular.
I would have loved to have stayed in one of those houses for a night or two. Maybe then I would have found my magical creatures, and if not, to enjoy dusk and dawn. We went on a guided boat tour telling us a bit more, and although we don’t regret it, a trip in a whisper-boat by ourselves would have been nice.
Royal Light Festival
There are two types of wow when travelling. The obvious ones, such as the Burj Khalifa with Dubai fountains, the Balloons of Cappadocia or the bluebells in the UK, are as amazing if not better than imagined. Then there are the unplanned surprises you stumble upon when visiting a new spot.
Maybe we did take home a leprechaun from Giethoorn, cause as luck would have it, we were close enough to Apeldoorn for their four-day Royal Light Festival. We only learned about it on our last day when visiting the Royal Park in search of my weekly photo. Initially, we didn’t make too much about it; we’re from Dubai, after all. There’s no way smaller towns can do lights better.
That last evening we didn’t have much planned and decided to bundle up for the bite in the night air and take the 20-minute drive.
The festival was located all over town at seven different locations. We started (unknowingly) at the beginning at Royal Park near Het Loo Palace. At first, we only saw a trickle of people, and then as the night descended, the people arrived. Soon it felt like the entire town was out on the street, grannies, dogs, babies, nobody too young or old. Walking, cycling, prams and everything in between.
It was so busy that we saw only four of the installations. What made it unique was that every installation had a deeper meaning to it, thus making it art with light.
From those we saw, our favourite installation was “Free“, with the 300 luminous birds hung between trees and illuminated by black lights.
The night was an unexpected beauty, but the lights were only a side act, and the people of Apeldoorn the main start. The excitement was palpable, and the inclusiveness astonishing.
What’s Next
Suppose we could capture, bottle and sell that pure joy and happiness we experience when travelling and finding magic all over the world; we would be the richest people on earth. “Soppy alert!!!” Then again, I think I already am the wealthiest person for being able to experience it and share so much with T. Travels don’t always go according to plan, and like any day of the week, you have ups and downs, but these few days were incredible!
Next, T buys me his favourite stroop waffle, I explore Rotterdam, and I finally see some tulips.
Wandering off now…
T & Me
