A SHORT VACATION IN THE NETHERLANDS

Recently we had a short vacation in the Netherlands. We live at the border with the Netherlands but in Belgium. We went to the very north to a province called ; Friesland, surrounded by the sea, although The Netherlands are surrounded by the sea for the whole of the West and North part and they also have several small islands you can visit by boat, some of the islands do not allow cars,

What is typical about the Netherlands, it is very green and they have a lot of water, sea water but also streams and ponds and lakes, water everywhere you can see. Almost every family there owns a boat, or 2 or more.

The green plants you see behind the water is reed, they have lots of it and they often cover the roofs of their homes with dried reed,

This is a farm house with a roof of reed.

They have lots of horses and cows

As they had numerous huge floods in the past with many people death, they made dikes, lots of dikes, all arround the sea, they are quite high and covered in grass, and on the dikes are sheep who keep the grass short.

An old sailing boat, still in use.

More old sailing boats,

An old mill build in 1861, still in use,

The old house above was build in 1835, at first 2 families lived in this house, nowadays just one family, most of the inside still looks like in 1835.

Almost everyone in The Netherlands moves around on a bike. They have broad cycle paths away from the roads.

Evening sun.

We were lucky with the weather but there was a lot of wind, wind is normal near the sea but it was more than normal.

I hope you enjoyed this little trip to the Netherlands, a country with a King and a Queen.

BRUGES BELGIUM (2)

Today I want to show you more pretty sights from Bruges, world famous for it’s handmade lace and visited by people from all over the world. When you walk arround in Bruges you hear so many different languages.

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THEY HAVE LOTS OF TRUNCATED TREE’S

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A PLATAN WITH NEW LEAFS AND OLD FRUITS, IT’S FRUITS ALWAYS REMIND ME OF LITTLE MEAT BALLS

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THE BOAT TRIPS ARROUND THE CITY CENTER ARE ALWAYS VERY POPULAR AS YOU GET TO SEE BRUGES FROM ANOTHER SIDE, BECAUSE OF THIS BRUGES IS ALSO CALLED “VENICE OF THE NORTH”

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HANDMADE LACE, FOR CENTURIES MADE IN BRUGES BY WOMEN, YOU CAN STILL LEARN HOW YOU CAN DO THIS BUT IT IS COMPLICATED !!

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AND OFCOURSE FOOD AND DRINKS ARE VERY POPULAR IN BELGIUM, WAFFLES, CHOCOLATE AND BEER

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AND OFCOURSE BELGIAN BEERIMG_4331 (2)

There is a shop in my village that sells over 1500 different sorts of beer, not only Belgian beer, but 1500 different beers; I think that is a LOT !! Mind you I don’t drink beer, I don’t like the taste of it.

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WE ALSO VISITED THE BEGUINALE HOUSE IN BRUGES

There are no beguines anymore, their houses are rented out now.

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BEGUINALE HOUSES, THEY ALL HAD A SMALL ROOM AND ALL THEY DID WAS PRAY, WORK, SLEEP….

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WHEN THERE IS WATER YOU HAVE BIRDS.

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AND IN SPRING YOU HAVE CHICKS

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AND IN BEAUTIFUL PLACES YOU HAVE PAINTERS

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AND ART EVERYWHERE , NEW

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AND OLD

Have a great weekend all !! And thanks for visiting.

 

A DAY ON A LAKE.

This one is not about flowers but about vacation. We spend a day on a boat in a natural park in Holland, called THE BIESBOSCH with lots of creeks and sweet water, not salt water.

There is so much water all over Holland (the netherlands) that almost every family here has one or more boats.

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A FAMILY OUTING

ALL SORTS OF BOATS AS YOU CAN SEE

Alas it was too hot for most animals and all we could see were some gull’s and ducks and a few swann’s.

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We enjoyed the cooler wind on the water and watching all the other boats.

Have a great week all and thanks for visiting !

 

Mitch Teemley

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