The performance I mentioned in my last blog took place on 8 August in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, within the framework of the European ‘Performing Gender’ project. Various groups from participating countries presented or performed: Sweden, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands with two groups, during a 3-day ‘festival’. It was very inspiring to be part of this very inclusive project and see the great performances of the others. Ours ('Residu(e), what we leave behind') also went really well and was well received. In short it is a ‘poetic dream about a shared and multicolored future. The colorful collection of stories is interwoven with scenes of small triumphant actions. A mix of movement, spoken word and multimedia’.
Immediately after this festival I took my campervan and myself to the province of Noord-Holland. I camped at four different locations and explored various villages and cities, and their surroundings. The first campsite was in Zuidoostbeemster, in an orchard. Some French people had set up camp there in the most creative way I have ever seen. I loved Broek in Waterland, my first destination on my bike, a beautiful old village. Old houses often have wooden façades and bell gables, in a way which is typical for the area, and they are very well maintained. Edam was also really nice. The isle of Marken (linked to the mainland with a bridge) was nice but rather ‘touristy’. On another day I visited Monnickendam and De Rijp, very, very (old and) beautiful! The last day, I went to the northern part of Amsterdam, separated from central Amsterdam (the part that everybody knows) by a lot of water. I cycled along the dikes, catching all the wind, but enjoying seeing the former villages which are now mostly part of Amsterdam.
From there I moved up to a campsite in Oostwoud. I cycled to Medemblik, on the IJsselmeer. The IJsselmeer (a big freshwater lake) used to be sea, the Zuiderzee (a saltwater inlet of the North Sea) but was closed off from the sea by a very long ‘closure dike’ (the Afsluitdijk), a dam. Its initial construction was completed in 1932, and its purpose is flood protection and land reclamation. On my way back to the campsite I enjoyed sightseeing old villages such as Opperdoes and Twisk. On another day I visited Enkhuizen, okay but not very special, just like Medemblik, and Hoorn, which I thought was very nice as well. When I came back to the campsite late afternoon, a woman had set up a small tent next to me and was playing the violin in front of her tent. Magical!
From there I drove to Schagerbrug, to a lovely mini campsite with a boarding house for horses very near the North Sea coast. I cycled a lot along the many fields (with flowers and vegetables, or cattle) between tiny villages, trying to avoid the wind, which was not possible. I cycled along the sea, where I was not the only one because it was on a sunny Sunday…. I crossed an area with dunes and forests, and the village of Bergen, very popular in the Netherlands, so again I was not the only one. I went back home on 21 August, because I had a lot of things to do at home that week. One of these things was …… to go to a campsite in Elst, the province of Gelderland, with a dear friend and her two daughters, to be able, early next morning, to go and support and cheer Pim, the boyfriend of one of the daughters who was participating in his first (and last) triathlon. Such an impossible challenge but he made it, in quite a decent time. He started at 07.00 hours with swimming 3800 meters, then he cycled 180 kilometers, then he ran 42 kilometers. A hero!!!!
I left again on a trip a week later, on 28 August, this time to explore the province of Friesland, one of the two most northern provinces, at the other side of the Afsluitdijk I mentioned above. I first parked the van on a small camper site, which I normally do not do, I prefer general campsites. This one was next to a marina, and you could sort of walk straight into the village of Woudsend, which was nice. A charming village in a region which was interesting to explore, the region with many lakes and canals, where sailing is the summer sport and ice skating the winter sport. Unfortunately, climate change has resulted in winters without frost so there has been no skating on natural ice for many years now. I visited beautiful old villages, crossing endless fields with cattle and horses, past traditional farmhouses with adjacent stables for the cows in wintertime. From wherever you look you always see sails somewhere at the horizon. A few remaining summer flowers were brave enough to show me their beauty. I visited various villages but LOVED the villages of Hindeloopen, Workum and Sloten.
On the day I cycled to Workum it was raining cats and dogs and there was a fierce wind. When I arrived at the small ferry that was supposed to take me across the canal, the skipper was nowhere to be seen, despite my ringing the bell (a few times) to alarm him that a customer was waiting. Just when I was about to reluctantly accept my very bad luck of having made the tough bike ride for nothing, he arrived on his bike, and was very kind, and I was instantly happy again!
In Workum, a beautiful village, I visited the museum of Jopie Huisman, a Dutch painter, who never had any formal education but was a genius, and a very socially engaged person. A pleasant discovery. I also had the best coffee ever in El Cafetin, a very chill café run by a friendly guy from Argentina. That day I hit the 72.52 km and had dinner in a very good restaurant with very kind owners. A top day, despite the heavy rain in the morning.
From Woudsend I moved to Reahus and a very nice campsite with very kind owners. From there I visited Bolsward. What I liked very much in that city was the old Broerekerk which was damaged by a big fire in the eighties but restored with a glass roof, what a creative idea!
I visited IJlst and Sneek but was mostly impressed by nature on my way back (on my bike) to the campsite. On that campsite I met a lovely family, a man and a women living and touring in their camper with two young children.
From Reahus I moved to Earnewald, in the National Park De Alde Feanen. Some of the water there is the result of peat extraction, peat was used as fuel in the old days. These days it is mainly a recreational area, with some reed cutting and fishing taking place at small scale. Again I had found a small and lovely campsite with biking lanes into every direction, and many small ferries to bring you to the other side of the many waterways. I visited the old part of Leeuwarden, the provincial capital, but preferred the bike rides through the wetlands and villages. When I came back on the second day two rather big campers had installed themselves on the site which changed the chill ambiance a bit.
The next morning I moved to a small campsite near Dokkum, a city I wanted to visit, and I was glad I did. The city was preparing for a festival, with music and traditional ships (de Admiraliteitsdagen). It looked interesting, it would be nice to go there next year.
After only one night I moved to Oostmahon, to a mini campersite next to a small marina, almost on the borders of the Lauwersmeer, a National Park. The lake (meer) also used to be sea, but since a dam was constructed in 1969 to protect the area from flooding, the landscape changed, and it became a paradise for (migrating) birds. I read on the site that in spring and autumn you can see 30000 barnacle geese flying above your head. I would love to see that, but I do not think these geese will let me know when exactly they are going to be there. The fauna in the park includes foxes, Scottish Highland cattle and Konik horses. I went there since I wanted to cycle around the park, which I did and enjoyedI
After this I drove home, to pick up some activities at home, and will leave again, for a short, probably last camper trip of this season, at the end of September.
