Favourite Fresian town?

Ok what's your favourite Fresian:

• Town
• Village
• Wadden Island

and why?

This is not a competition. It's just about peoples opinions

From my own mini opinion poll I think people like Sneek and Harlingen the most, though I know of some people who love Lemmer and Dokkum as well. Wadden Islands: I've only ever been to Terschelling once, about 15 years ago so I have no valid opinion. I have heard that Ameland and Vlieland are favourites here.

Reactions in english please, if that's difficult just mention the towns, villages and/ or islands that you like and leave it at that, thanks.

The leaning tower?

Yeah they have a leaning tower up here as well. Though it's location is not being very well looked after by the city planners.

The Scheve toren (leaning tower) was built in the early 1530s, but never finished, because it went lobsided very quickly.

I moved up to Leeuwarden this week. First impressions have been very good, nice town and nice people. I am going to continue being a tourist for the next few weeks before settling in. That way I get to know the sights and history fairly quickly. I think most people even in holland haven't a clue what it's like up here, and neither did I until this week.

Black tower

This is the Achmea Tower in Leeuwaarden. I rekon 99.9% of the population hate the thing. I won't be joining the bandwagon though. I have a weakness for modern architecture, even if this is not up there with Bilbaos Guggenheim museum. The building though doesn't have a nickname, and it really does need one even if it were offensive.

Other thoughts about Leeuwaarden (just first impressions). I am amused by how busy the locals think the place is. Compared to North or South Holland it's easy going. I have not though seen the town at night yet which should be interesting.

Raadhuisplein, Leeuwarden

Leeuwarden has alot of 16th and 17th century buildings in good condition still standing in the city center. I also discovered that it has alot of canals. It's abit like a mini Utrecht or Amsterdam. The Friesans have a reputation for being distant. I can only say I have noticed only the opposite. For example, I walked into a major supermarket one morning and everyone said good morning to me and were very friendly.

Waiting for the bus

On monday morning I was waiting for the bus at Goutum on the outskirts of Leeuwarden and this was my view, and it's a completely unfiltered shot. Besides the sheep, you might notice a heron wandering about as well.

Village like

Yesterday I was trying to figure out why IJlst was so small and was still called a city. Seemingly it really has city rights and Sloten which is also a city is even smaller. I've even heard that the city of Bolsward only has a population of about 10,000. Then there is Heereveen, which should be a city but is a village! Has time stood still here in Friesland?

Fryslân - The finest country on earth

Hey!!! thats more like it. Some english language stuff, including an 11 city tour on this website: Fryslân - The finest country on earth

Map: 11 cities.

No offence here intended, but I have a feeling these may not all be cities. I saw IJlst on the map yesterday and it was positively "village-like". I'm sure though that that is not the point. Anyway here is the new map. My next one will include the local rail network... and maybe even a photo or two. That will all happen next week.

Restart

Today is Monday. I'm moving up to Friesland on Sunday, but I've just realized that I may have to redraw my map of Friesland and my travel plans. The 11 cities are the cause of this change of tactic. Considering that they must be central to Friesian culture . I have found out at this site that the eleven cities are Leeuwarden, Dokkum, Bolsward, Hindeloopen, Staveren, Franeker, Harlingen, Sneek, Workum, Sloten and IJlst. At least five are not on my map, so it's back to the drawing board. I have also heard that Drachten is not so interesting and I'm still hearing nothing about Lemmer. When i arrive up there I'll check out what the locals think of those places. I'm also thinking of conducting a small opinion poll amoung the locals, asking them to name their two favourite Fresian cities and villages. That way I might hear some interesting things, assuming they are proud of their province. More soon.

Map: Roads and cities

This map shows the main roads, cities and towns of Friesland. I can tell you nothing really about any of them. But that will change as I am planning on doing a write up and a visit about Leeuwarden, Sneek, Heereveen, Drachten, Dokkum, Franeker and Harlingen.

For the moment I only know this much.

1. Leeuwarden is the provincial capital of Friesland.
2. Friesland has one premier football team which is quite good called Heereveen and another team Cambuur Leeuwarden, which is mostly found in the first division, but sometimes makes an appearance in the premier league
3. Ice speed skating is the national sport up here and they have a fabulous hall in Heereveen for speed skating. I myself wouldn't be caught dead on skates, I'm more one for 30 degrees Celsius. But I'll certainly try to get tickets for a speed skating event.
4. I could be generalizing here, they like their brass bands in Friesland. Usually not my cup of tea, in the context of Friesland and a good excuse to celebrate, they seem to turn it into something special.

I didn't mention Lemmer even though it is on the map. I promise nothing, so I might do a write up of Lemmer yet. But really I know nothing about the place, except that I suspect that one or two Friesian skating legends may have come from there.

Sleeping rough

I'm still looking for accommodation up in Leeuwarden. Even a nearby town (Franekar, Heereveen) would be ok. But it seems to be quite difficult to find somewhere cheap to stay as I should be there for only four nights a week at the start. I'm really only looking for a small room, shared bathroom, toilet, kitchen AND Internet.

At the moment I'm quipping that I may have to sleep in Stadspark Leeuwarden (the municipal park) on a bench :-). If anyone has any tips I'd be very grateful. You can email me at dccrowleyATgmail.com.

Moving to Friesland

In two weeks time, I'll be moving to Friesland, which is a province in the Netherlands. They speak their own language up their as well as dutch (which I can speak myself). I'll be doing two things with this blog.

1. Telling how I get on, getting used to the place, accents.
2. Why you might want to visit Friesland

I have found very little about the place on Internet, but some people get very excited when I say I'm moving there, while others think I must be mad. I'm going to assume that the first lot know something the rest of us don't know and thats what I want to publish here. Like why would you want to move up here or even holiday here?

The reason I am moving is because of a new job. Friesland is a bit of the beaten track, but I'm actually really looking forward to this job. It's for a company I've been watching for about three years. I can't wait to roll up my sleeves and get stuck in.