*glimpses*
by a girl, who was overly protective of her knee today (with good cause)
Burgum, Holland
With over 200km to travel we knew we should get away early.
But there were photos to be taken of street signs – one street, two names. One side of the street is in Germany and the other is in Holland. I fully expected everyone in the area to just be speaking their local dialect, but on each side of the road was a supermarket and we tried them both……in the one everyone was speaking almost Hochdeutsch – the closest I have heard to the schoolgirl German I learnt years ago. Right across the street the ooplendoorens were flowing fast – definitely Dutch! It really did seem quite bizarre. Having learnt our first Dutch words last night (thank you), we were able to try them out this morning – the two items we intended purchasing turned into a right veritable feast!
And there was a church to visit. Holland’s smallest church, to be precise. It really was teeny tiny:
And on our way home we saw a sign indicating there was a dumping station (dumping of toilets is an all-consuming passion these days!) not far away. So we made use of the facilities, topped up fresh water and put air in the tyres while we were at it. Needless to say, we didn’t leave until well after 1pm.
IMPRESSIONS FROM THE ROAD:
- flat flat flat Holland is flat!
- windmills – new ones, old ones, two-three-and-four-pronged ones
- cows, sheep, horses, chickens, ducks
- trucks trucks trucks
- the first thatched roof….and then many more
- canals, aqueducts (we drove UNDER some), a boat sailing through a field
- green green green
- GPS reading we were 15 metres below sea level!
Rob and I had hitch-hiked through Zwolle a couple of decades ago and remembered it as an insignificant crossroads on the autobahn. Either it has grown, or we never got in to the city, but it is now a thriving almost sprawling town. Not that we got in to town this time either – we just snatched a glimpse as we drove by!
Glimpses of gorgy Grou were to follow, as recommended by a dear friend. We almost didn’t bother – she had told us to remember her when we ate double salted licorice, and in honour of being on the road to her town, we cracked open a bag. DISGUSTING! It felt like lightning on your tongue and then left a dreadful taste in your mouth if you hadn’t spit it out quickly enough. I guess you’ve got to grow up with the stuff to truly appreciate it. Would it be the same with Grou? What if we didn’t like that either? Despite the late hour, we zipped off the autobahn to find out.
Oh what a gorgeous little town!!!!!! Immaculate brick houses with the characteristic creative gardens lining not only streets, but also canals. I was all for following the campground signs there and staying the night, allowing time to explore further in the morning and more importantly, to get on with cooking some dinner.
The weightier opinions voted for pushing on and so our glimpse of Grou was over.
We were to glimpse Marssum next. Actually, we were supposed to stay in Marssum at number 39 a-particular-vowel-filled-street-name. With anticipation we drove through the town. Just on the outskirts, sitting beside a bike path was a wonderful old-fashioned windmill, waiting to be explored tomorrow morning. Right in town was a small castle set in beautiful gardens, calling out for the afternoon’s attention. Evening could be devoted to strolling the main steet – coz there’s no way our Womos would fit down there! But number 39 is no longer a parking place. It has a big new green warehouse on it. And so we had to move on. We tried unsuccessfully to find somewhere else to park in town, but ended up dragging out our latest purchase (a directory of thousands of Stellplatz listings) and picked the closest one. Our glimpse of Marssum was over and we were on our way 20km up the road to Burgum. We had not even heard of Burgum before that moment!
We grabbed a glimpse of the boat harbour where we’ll plant ourselves, sat on the grass beside the canal for a quick dinner and snuggled into the vans before the rain set in. Perhaps we’ll get more than a glimpse of our surroundings tomorrow!
Time on the road: 6 hours
Distance covered: 246km
Tags: food, housing, postcard: Holland, toilet, transport
rayres
Tee-hee. I was visiting the lovely Laura last week and told her about the drops incident. And we both had a giggle. You know they are really good for sore throats though eh? I’m glad you enjoyed Friesland. It is a beautiful part of the world. I am very jelly.
Much love
k
xx