Trip to Ameland [1/2]
Yesterday I came home from a lovely four day trip to one of the Wadden Islands up in the North of the Netherlands: Ameland. It's an hour by train and half an hour by bus plus another 50 minutes by ferry, so just enough travel to make if feel like a true vacation:-) I had booked a fancy suite in a 'boutique' hotel with 2 (two!) rain showers and a free-standing bath tub. I had brought a whole bunch of books to read and hadn't really planned to be very active. Beforehand I had checked if I could hire a regular bicycle, but found they only had bikes with gears or e-bikes available and neither suits me. But upon arrival at the hotel I discovered there was a rental bikeshop just around the corner so I decided to ask in person and they had a perfect bike available after all. I love cycling lots and it's so much easier to move around than walking and I couldn't resist exploring the island beyond the tiny village I stayed in. Want to come along? Here's a picspam of my first two days...
Wednesday July 6 - Day 1: Travel to Nes
View from the train to Leeuwarden and its pretty station. From there I got on a bus to Holwerd.
The bus takes you right to the ferry that crosses the Wadden Sea.
I so love being on a boat (ship? ferry!). This one meanders carefully in between the green and red buoys all the way to Ameland (the Wadden Sea is a rather shallow body of water with tidal flats).
How cute are these toilet signs on the ferry? On arrival at Ameland, there are two connecting busses to the four villages on the island. (Technically I could have walked to Nes, but I chose to sit down for the touristic route;)
Slogan on the bus: "Mei elkenien. Foar elkenien" (In Frisian, one of the official languages in the province of Friesland:) - With everyone. For everyone (In Dutch: Met iedereen. Voor iedereen.)
Information sign in the hotel: "you are here". Only downside of my suite: the steep stairs...
...but well worth the climb!
I sort out my bags and then I cycle to the tourist information to arrange an excursion for Friday and to get a map of the island.
Cute statue in front of the police station:-) (Jongen met politiepet by David van Kampen - 1978)
My bicycle got a little wet in the rain, but it was dry when I cycled back to Nes.
No cars! Only a limited amount of cars is allowed on the island and the centre of Nes is carfree, so nice and quiet.
Back in my suite I finished my first book (was already halfway on the train:) Bloodchild - Octavia E. Butler and then I went to dinner at the restaurant across the street: a schnitzel with ham, egg and ragout, served with cabbage and baked potatoes.
For dessert I had crème brûlée.
I end the day in the bathtub with bubbles and a book:)
Thursday July 7 - Day 2: Cycling to 't Oerd
Good morning! A lush breakfast with blueberry pancakes, a danish, scrambled eggs and sugar bread (a Frisian sweet bread with... sugarlumps:), also: greek yoghurt with granola, a strawberry smoothy, orange juice, milk and a boiled egg.
It's raining outside, so after breakfast I return to my room for...
... another bubblebath and my book. I spend a couple of hours soaking. (I finish my second book: Het Gedoe Dat Liefde Heet - Michèlle Schimscheimer.
A little before two o'clock (13:52) I get on my bicycle to explore Nes and beyond.
I have a map with a bicycle route, but I give it my own twist (and not just because I get confused by maps;). It's windy and cloudy, but dry and perfect cycling weather to be honest. Nature, yay!
First stop: view from the dyke over the Wadden Sea and the cultivated part of the island. The route says to follow the dyke along the sea, but I opt to go inland to the small village of Buren.
The flag of Ameland is yellow and blue. The statue is Rixt, a woman who's said to be haunting the nature reserve I'm cycling to. (Ritskemooi by Annet Haring - 1980)
Another symbol of the Wadden area: there are lots of seals, I only saw them as a statue though (Zeehond met jong by Frans Ram - 1990:)
These roadsigns are called 'mushrooms'; I have another 5 kilometers to go.
The views are amazing.
Entrance of nature reserve 't Oerd. High up in the information cabin I discover a nest with three hungry birds!
't Oerd is an old dune landscape with valleys formed by the sea water.
I climb the highest dune (24m, which is high for a flatland girl, okay) where I sit down with my lunch, which I did not share with the nosey seagully, sorry buddy!
Jacobskruid (Jacobaea) is poisonous, but not for the tiger caterpillar, who protect themselves by eating it (their yellow stripes warn hungry birds that they are poisonous!). These caterpillars transform into Jacobsvlinders (In English cinnabar moth, but you can see the connection to the flower in their Latin name: Tyria jacobaeae)
Another pretty view of the Wadden Sea.
On my way back, I make a stop to climb over the dunes at the North side of the Island.
Beautiful pattern in the wet dunes and... tadaah: the North Sea!
Cycling through the dunes back to Nes took longer than I had anticipated (in total I cycled about 25kms!) especially since I didn't have any gears, but I did not regret getting a familiar regular bike, because I'm used to braking with my legs and I wouldn't have felt as safe on a bicycle with gears and handbrakes :-p
The Nature Centre has a big blue whale in front of it (that tower is visible from my hotelwindow).
I can't get over all the colours in the grass.
Yes, back in Nes again, pffff. (It's a little over six o'clock (18:09).
The yellow brick clocktower of Nes was built in 1664 by order of Valerius (Watse) Frans van Cammingha and Rixt van Donia, Lord and Lady of Ameland. In 1732 the tower was raised by order of Prince Willem IV to serve as a beacon for ships. The original towertop was replaced with the current gable roof.
After freshening up in the hotel, I walk to another nearby restaurant for dinner: I'm very hungry so I order bread as a starter, omnomnom.
For the maincourse I have a mixed grill (beef, tenderloin, chickenbreast and ribs) served with cauliflower, rhubarb/cranberry sauce and baked potatoes.
For dessert I order Eton Mess; merengue with whipped cream and forrest fruit.
I end the day in the bathtub, a little sunburned, a lot tired, but very happy:)
Size facts about Ameland: the island is 25km long and varies in width from 4km in the West to only 2km in the East. There live about 3700 people permanently and all year round there are about 40,000 visitors (25,000 from Germany)!
To be continued!
J.
X-posted from https://beelikej.dreamwidth.org/575787.html [
comments] Lurk or comment wherever you like:)
Wednesday July 6 - Day 1: Travel to Nes
View from the train to Leeuwarden and its pretty station. From there I got on a bus to Holwerd.
The bus takes you right to the ferry that crosses the Wadden Sea.
I so love being on a boat (ship? ferry!). This one meanders carefully in between the green and red buoys all the way to Ameland (the Wadden Sea is a rather shallow body of water with tidal flats).
How cute are these toilet signs on the ferry? On arrival at Ameland, there are two connecting busses to the four villages on the island. (Technically I could have walked to Nes, but I chose to sit down for the touristic route;)
Slogan on the bus: "Mei elkenien. Foar elkenien" (In Frisian, one of the official languages in the province of Friesland:) - With everyone. For everyone (In Dutch: Met iedereen. Voor iedereen.)
Information sign in the hotel: "you are here". Only downside of my suite: the steep stairs...
...but well worth the climb!
I sort out my bags and then I cycle to the tourist information to arrange an excursion for Friday and to get a map of the island.
Cute statue in front of the police station:-) (Jongen met politiepet by David van Kampen - 1978)
My bicycle got a little wet in the rain, but it was dry when I cycled back to Nes.
No cars! Only a limited amount of cars is allowed on the island and the centre of Nes is carfree, so nice and quiet.
Back in my suite I finished my first book (was already halfway on the train:) Bloodchild - Octavia E. Butler and then I went to dinner at the restaurant across the street: a schnitzel with ham, egg and ragout, served with cabbage and baked potatoes.
For dessert I had crème brûlée.
I end the day in the bathtub with bubbles and a book:)
Thursday July 7 - Day 2: Cycling to 't Oerd
Good morning! A lush breakfast with blueberry pancakes, a danish, scrambled eggs and sugar bread (a Frisian sweet bread with... sugarlumps:), also: greek yoghurt with granola, a strawberry smoothy, orange juice, milk and a boiled egg.
It's raining outside, so after breakfast I return to my room for...
... another bubblebath and my book. I spend a couple of hours soaking. (I finish my second book: Het Gedoe Dat Liefde Heet - Michèlle Schimscheimer.
A little before two o'clock (13:52) I get on my bicycle to explore Nes and beyond.
I have a map with a bicycle route, but I give it my own twist (and not just because I get confused by maps;). It's windy and cloudy, but dry and perfect cycling weather to be honest. Nature, yay!
First stop: view from the dyke over the Wadden Sea and the cultivated part of the island. The route says to follow the dyke along the sea, but I opt to go inland to the small village of Buren.
The flag of Ameland is yellow and blue. The statue is Rixt, a woman who's said to be haunting the nature reserve I'm cycling to. (Ritskemooi by Annet Haring - 1980)
Another symbol of the Wadden area: there are lots of seals, I only saw them as a statue though (Zeehond met jong by Frans Ram - 1990:)
These roadsigns are called 'mushrooms'; I have another 5 kilometers to go.
The views are amazing.
Entrance of nature reserve 't Oerd. High up in the information cabin I discover a nest with three hungry birds!
't Oerd is an old dune landscape with valleys formed by the sea water.
I climb the highest dune (24m, which is high for a flatland girl, okay) where I sit down with my lunch, which I did not share with the nosey seagully, sorry buddy!
Jacobskruid (Jacobaea) is poisonous, but not for the tiger caterpillar, who protect themselves by eating it (their yellow stripes warn hungry birds that they are poisonous!). These caterpillars transform into Jacobsvlinders (In English cinnabar moth, but you can see the connection to the flower in their Latin name: Tyria jacobaeae)
Another pretty view of the Wadden Sea.
On my way back, I make a stop to climb over the dunes at the North side of the Island.
Beautiful pattern in the wet dunes and... tadaah: the North Sea!
Cycling through the dunes back to Nes took longer than I had anticipated (in total I cycled about 25kms!) especially since I didn't have any gears, but I did not regret getting a familiar regular bike, because I'm used to braking with my legs and I wouldn't have felt as safe on a bicycle with gears and handbrakes :-p
The Nature Centre has a big blue whale in front of it (that tower is visible from my hotelwindow).
I can't get over all the colours in the grass.
Yes, back in Nes again, pffff. (It's a little over six o'clock (18:09).
The yellow brick clocktower of Nes was built in 1664 by order of Valerius (Watse) Frans van Cammingha and Rixt van Donia, Lord and Lady of Ameland. In 1732 the tower was raised by order of Prince Willem IV to serve as a beacon for ships. The original towertop was replaced with the current gable roof.
After freshening up in the hotel, I walk to another nearby restaurant for dinner: I'm very hungry so I order bread as a starter, omnomnom.
For the maincourse I have a mixed grill (beef, tenderloin, chickenbreast and ribs) served with cauliflower, rhubarb/cranberry sauce and baked potatoes.
For dessert I order Eton Mess; merengue with whipped cream and forrest fruit.
I end the day in the bathtub, a little sunburned, a lot tired, but very happy:)
Size facts about Ameland: the island is 25km long and varies in width from 4km in the West to only 2km in the East. There live about 3700 people permanently and all year round there are about 40,000 visitors (25,000 from Germany)!
To be continued!
J.
X-posted from https://beelikej.dreamwidth.org/575787.html [
comments] Lurk or comment wherever you like:)