Friday, October 28, 2005
More photos…
I have some photos of Grou and Hindeloopen in Friesland on Flickr for those interested. We had a great time there, but there was a lack of sun and lots of rain… though we did not get wet :)
A book recommendation
out of 5 stars
419x Friesland is an amazing book
Reviewer: Don - October 28, 2005I came across an amazing book in Dutch "419x Friesland" by Peter Karstkarel (ISBN 90 330 1191 3 Fries Pers Boekerij, Leeuwarden). It's in Dutch but it has photos of nearly every city, town and village in Friesland. It is stacked with history and some photos of each place. If you like this kind of thing this book should earn near pride of place in your book collection. It is a great way to see the place without actually going anywhere. Well it will help you see some places that you will really want to visit.
I've been reading up on Harlingen, Franekar, Dokkum, Lemmer and a town I have not previously mentioned Joure. They look very interesting.
Then there is Mantgum a large village on the Leeuwarden to Sneek railway line. We have been looking at houses via Internet and came across this area but not this village. But from the book this looks like a possible good place to live. I'll check it out.
This book though is full of gems like Molkwerum (which is a rural maze, but looked fantastic when we drove through). There is a village called It Heidensekip (would mean Pagan Chicken? in Dutch, but in Friesian?) and then there are the standard jokes about Sexbierum.
Highly recommended. I can hardly put this book down.
Date bought: 22 October 2005
Book Title: 419x Friesland
Book Author: Peter Karstkarel
ISBN: 90 330 1191 3
Published by: Fries Pers Boekerij, Leeuwarden, NL.
A weekend in Friesland
The sun goes down here between 7 and 7.30pm here at the moment. With my day job I don't have much time to see the place. I'm also never in Friesland at the weekend, until this weekend that is. I'm here with my wife and kids. It's the children's first time here and they like it.
We are staying at a very nice campsite with a near unpronounceable name, ynelijte in Grou, which is a very nice village. Friesland is big into water sports and Grou is one of the best places here to have a boat and holiday home. From what I have heard Grou formed in the Middle Ages but much of the center of the village is beautiful 18th century architecture.
Leaning Towers
We had a very nice drive around Friesland today. We took a very touristy route. We drove from Grou to Sneek (pronounced as snake, called Snit in Friesian!) and then to Hindeloopen. We drove along Schuinegoutum, which has some very impressive houses, and then through Dearsum, which along with Hindeloopen also has a very leaning church tower. That said Dearsum looked very friendly.
We also had a quick stop in Sneek, but as it was Sunday all the shops were closed. It seems to be a very nice place to live, lots of good shops etc. It is a nice town, it looks like a town with a swagger in its stride but I'd like to see it swaggering sometime.
Another amazing village (we did not stop, we just drove through it) was Molkwerum, which is actually just behind the old sea dyk on the Ijselmeer (former Zuiderzee). It used to be called the maze of Friesland. The houses are tossed around the place in no apparent order; it has lots of trees and space between the houses. The view of the Ijselmeer from the dyk is really something as well. It is though too far from Leeuwarden for me to live in.
We then went to Hindeloopen which I have heard from a local who lives near there has the strangest of all the Fresian dialects. It is seemingly very Scandinavian. Let's put it like this, the rest of Friesland does seems to have trouble understanding it. It looks very nice. It's very touristy without being annoying. But I don't know if I would like to live there. Even though it looks amazing, the houses are built very close together and they don't seem to have much space at the back of the houses. It's quite a bit away from Leeuwarden but it is on a direct train line. I wonder how long the journey takes?
We are staying at a very nice campsite with a near unpronounceable name, ynelijte in Grou, which is a very nice village. Friesland is big into water sports and Grou is one of the best places here to have a boat and holiday home. From what I have heard Grou formed in the Middle Ages but much of the center of the village is beautiful 18th century architecture.
Leaning Towers
We had a very nice drive around Friesland today. We took a very touristy route. We drove from Grou to Sneek (pronounced as snake, called Snit in Friesian!) and then to Hindeloopen. We drove along Schuinegoutum, which has some very impressive houses, and then through Dearsum, which along with Hindeloopen also has a very leaning church tower. That said Dearsum looked very friendly.
We also had a quick stop in Sneek, but as it was Sunday all the shops were closed. It seems to be a very nice place to live, lots of good shops etc. It is a nice town, it looks like a town with a swagger in its stride but I'd like to see it swaggering sometime.
Another amazing village (we did not stop, we just drove through it) was Molkwerum, which is actually just behind the old sea dyk on the Ijselmeer (former Zuiderzee). It used to be called the maze of Friesland. The houses are tossed around the place in no apparent order; it has lots of trees and space between the houses. The view of the Ijselmeer from the dyk is really something as well. It is though too far from Leeuwarden for me to live in.
We then went to Hindeloopen which I have heard from a local who lives near there has the strangest of all the Fresian dialects. It is seemingly very Scandinavian. Let's put it like this, the rest of Friesland does seems to have trouble understanding it. It looks very nice. It's very touristy without being annoying. But I don't know if I would like to live there. Even though it looks amazing, the houses are built very close together and they don't seem to have much space at the back of the houses. It's quite a bit away from Leeuwarden but it is on a direct train line. I wonder how long the journey takes?
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