Our Zeeland Province Vacation

 

Exactly a month ago it was Springtime in Woudrichem (my last post)...and now it's Summer!  Just days before Spring was gone, the entire Netherlands went through a heatwave, while we we on our Monday-Friday vacation in Zeeland Province, NL.  More on that later but it was our first vacation since October 2019.

We needed this!

First, let's get oriented: 

Here's the Netherlands, situated at the North Sea, with Germany to the east and Belgium to the south.

The 2 red pentagons are Gorinchem (right) and Burgh-Haamstede (left), our destination.

See all those fingers/islands?  That's Zeeland Province, a huge tourist hotspot.

Our destination was a total of 117 km (73 mi.) without stopping.

But stop we did, in Brielle (near Spijkenisse), just 65 km from home.

Day 1(a), Monday, June 14:  Brielle, NL (South Holland Province)

We were there to finally meet up with Marjolein, a friendly photo blogger who follows us both.

Finally we saw her face to face and ended up liking her even more than expected.

Don't you love when that happens!

Before eating lunch with her, we visited Brielle's St. Catherine's Church.

[Astrid's collage]

Day 1(b), Monday, June 14:  Burgh-Haamstede, NL (Zeeland Province), our hotel base

That Monday, June 14, was the day after my 76th birthday, where we celebrated the occasion

out on the terrace of our Fletcher Hotel, with a wee visitor joining us.

It was just what the doctor ordered.

And without wasting any time after dinner, we walked from 8:30-9:30 through the dunes

to the North Sea, straight from the hotel, approximately 1 km each way.

We didn't want to wait!

Remember that we were near the longest day of the year, so we had time before the sun was gone.

No sunset, sadly, because of the cloud cover, but it was exactly what we wanted to see.

[Astrid's collage, manipulating the top-left image to make it look darker]

Day 2, Tuesday, June 15:  Zierikzee, Zeeland Province (Schouwen-Duiveland island)

Our destination was the charming little city of Zierikzee, first visited with brother Nelson in 2018.

We had a leisurely day driving a 79-km loop from Burgh-Haamstede south across the Oosterscheldekering storm locks at the Neeltje Jans Delta Works, then across the north shore of the small Noord-Beveland island below us, east to the Zeeland bridge (the longest bridge in the Netherlands at 3.123 miles), whose drawbridge was up!  That took us north to our island, where we walked around Zierikzee and ate lunch before heading back west to our hotel.

[Astrid's collage includes the photo of us that Marjolein took on Monday!]

Before heading back to the hotel, we stopped to get close-up pics of Burgh-Haamstede's lighthouse.

The one bottom-right was what we had seen from the dunes the night before.

Day 3, Wednesday, June 16:  Renesse to Bruinisse, Zeeland Province (Schouwen-Duiveland island)

 

As we left for the day, we stopped for these beauties just outside of Burgh-Haamstede.

Because of the heatwave, we weren't surprised they were gone when we returned later.

Our goal for the day was to drive from west to east across the island and back again,

stopping wherever we wanted along the way.

Renesse was the first stop and gave us the unexpected surprise of a gay-welcoming church midweek. When they found out my dad was a pastor and my mom an organist, their 82-year old organist climbed up to the organ and played for us, bringing tears to my eyes.  The Protestant Jacobuskerk is is from 1506.

Astrid took this video, unbeknownst to me at the time.  I'm so glad she did!  

He's playing Psalm 84 from their hymnal.

We ate lunch in Brouwershaven, near it's lovely town hall (top-right),

before ending up in Bruinisse, known for its mussel farms and giant mussel statue.

Astrid is always a good sport.  My Partner in Crime!

[Astrid's collage]

Day 4, Thursday, June 17:  The Beach and Burgh-Haamstede

Our last full day was spent near our home base, with 2+ hours on the beach.

We aren't sun-worshipers, especially since I have skin cancer and need to take care.

But it was important to BE there and experience the sea again.

In the distance you can see the Oosterscheldekering storm locks, which keep the North Sea from reclaiming the Netherlands.  The poles in the water do the same thing, keeping the sand in place against the currents.  

Leave it to the Dutch, who often say that God created the world but they created the Netherlands!

After eating lunch near the beach, we drove into town to check it out.

Its 13th century castle wasn't open but it was good to at least see it...and the church, from 1506.

[Astrid's collage]

Day 5, Friday, June 18:  Willemstad, North Brabant Province

Long before we started our vacation, Astrid already knew we would go home another way

in order to stop and visit Willemstad, once getting off the Zeeland islands.

It has a citadel walk that was perfect for the end of our trip, with a good place for lunch.

Like Gorinchem where we live, it's canons remind you of why they have citadels.

[Astrid's collage]

We arrived home that day at 4:35, in time for our community's patat-truck supper.  HA!

We do know how to make time for what's important!

It's been a while since I've collected weathervanes but after finding the elephant, a first,

I couldn't resist these others from the trip.  I remember it took forever to find cats before.

Then suddenly I find two within a week...and a good fish.  I was a happy camper.

And while out-n-about, in the heat of the day, there were the flowers!

On last Saturday, the day after we returned home, our temps fell back to "normal," 

hovering around 60° F on our balcony ever since.

It's now SUMMER, the way I like it!  (Did I mention I don't do heat well?)