Netherlands: Bed #18

After landing in Paris and a quick overnight stay there (bed #17), we drove up to Zwolle, Netherlands where we stayed with a Mennonite Your Way couple for 4 nights. We spent the first days wide-eyed at all the lush greenery and at all the blond hair. The contrast from Morocco was such a jolt to our senses that we couldn’t help repeating, “It’s so green here. It's so very green here. And everyone looks like the people back home!”

Vimy Ridge

A quick stop at Vimy Ridge en route to the Netherlands. Sheep grazing in the craters from the shelling in WWI. There are signs warning not to enter because of undetonated explosives. Yikes! I guess they didn't tell the sheep.

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It's a little bigger in person than it looks on the news.

A trench tour with a Canadian tour guide.

Tunnel tour: so very cold and damp, it must have been awful to stay down there.

Fitting In
I’m not sure if it was the effect of staying with Mennonites, or the fact that way back in our ancestry we likely have some Dutch roots, but we all felt that this part of the world was the most like home that we’ve experienced on our all our travels. There was something about the people and the landscape that was so familiar. In the shops we even got mistaken for Dutch people and not tourists, but when they realized that we only spoke English, they immediately switched to perfect English as easily as changing your hat. We all envy the ability to speak another language so much and we admired their ability to do so. We also noticed how friendly the people were. It seemed that everyone was willing to chat and were curious about where we were from and why we were in the Netherlands. 

Hoefitzer, Zwolle
Karin, our host, works at an equestrian centre that exists to provide disabled people with therapeutic horse riding opportunities. We were blown away by that. It's a beautiful facility with horses that are treated like gold. It has been said that you can judge a society by how it treats its most needy members and we gave this community an A+ for providing a facility like this for the disabled. It was a joy to see and we were lucky enough to spend some time with these beautiful creatures.

Our henna tatoos looked a little out of place in the Netherlands. This is Dippy (short for Diplomat) and he loved a good scratch. Again it was such a contrast from seeing how hard horses and donkeys work in the Moroccan heat to these horses that 'had it made in the shade' so to speak.

So incredibly green!

Beautiful big riding arena

Cycling Culture
You can’t help but notice how biking is a way of life in the Netherlands. The cities and towns are designed with bikes in mind and it is a serious form of transportation. They are very innovative and creative with how to transport children and baggage and it was not uncommon to see 2 children and a load of groceries on one bike. Underpasses are constructed just for bikes so they can avoid busy intersections. Young and old, dressed for work or dressed for leisure: everyone was on a bike! It seemed that biking is simply a way of life and it was wonderful to see. We could learn from that.

2 kids and your groceries, and cute too!

Amsterdam
We spent one day in Amsterdam which has won the award for our favourite city so far. We took a canal cruise and visited Anne Frank’s house along with general wandering and ducking into shops. Again we enjoyed observing the biking culture and the lack of cars made the city feel relaxed and quiet. Anne Frank’s house was a solemn and sobering look at WWII and the terrible things people had to endure. We all agreed that it was quite something to walk on the same-well worn floor boards where her and her family spent 2 years in hiding.

Anne Frank's house, educational and an escape from the rain.

We also spent a day traveling north to the towns where Menno Simons was born and where he worked as a priest, Pingjum and Witmarsum respectively. A kind gentleman served as our tour guide and we were able to see one of the first Mennonite churches, the church where he served as a priest, and also the monument that symbolized the hidden and universal church around the world.

One of the very first Mennonite churches in Pingjum, Netherlands

The church where Menno Simons was a Catholic priest for 4 years. Apparently he walked into the front door and straight out the back door on the day he decided to leave the priesthood, leaving everyone stunned.

Menno rockin' a Duck Dynasty look

Menno Simons Monument to represent the "hidden church" around the world. Balmy weather. The umbrella didn't survive.

After the Menno Simons tour, we traveled over a huge dyke called the Afsluitdijk (that is not a typo, it was designed by a Mennonite and built in the 1930’s). It separates the Ijsselmeer from the ocean, keeping much of the Netherlands dry even though below sea level, which is especially important in high tides or storm surges. We drove down to Harlaam to visit the Corrie Ten Boom museum which was another look at the atrocities of WWII, but a much more grass-roots and intimate experience compared to the Anne Frank museum. 

The "Hiding Place" in Corrie Ten Boom's house, Harlaam, Netherlands

 Sadly, with nearly constant rain, often high winds, and cold temperatures, we did not get out to see Keukenhof (flower gardens and fields of bulb flowers) which I had been looking forward to. Apparently there may not have been much to see anyway as spring came early and the tulips were already finished.  I consoled myself by saying that now we have a reason to come back again one day.

Rainy and cold Netherlands, seen largely from the car.

Our time in the Netherlands was short and wet, but so enjoyable nonetheless. We would love to come back again and explore more of this lush green country and it’s friendly inhabitants.