Dear friends, family and other Travelharts-fans,
Sometimes it’s good to take a break and get some well deserved rest. When you look back and think things over it gives you new insights, new ideas and also new energy. What is going well? What do we want to change? Travelharts is now 9 months old. A lot has happened during this time. To the site, but also to our personal lives. So this month we mainly stuck to the Netherlands to charge up our batteries. Enjoy!
Three cities
Three of the photo albums we posted this month were about cities in the Netherlands: Culemborg, Edam and Zutphen. All three of them were fortified cities and have city gates. Zutphen was the first to obtain city rights, as early as 1190. Culemborg followed in 1318 and Edam received them in 1357.
Zutphen
Marnix went to Zutphen on his own during one of his photo explorations. He walked into a church, the Broederenkerk, and discovered that this was the location of the public library. The church was built around 1306. It was originally a convent building for the Dominicans. However, it has been both a Catholic church and a Protestant one. When it became empty, the library moved into the building. At the back of the building one can find a time capsule called the ‘Zutbook’. It was given to the library when it celebrated its 100-year existence. It can be opened in 2109, when the library is 200-years old.
Culemborg
When we visited Culemborg this year it was really cold. Unfortunately it was a rainy day as well, which gave us a challenge when it came to taking photos. But Culemborg has a lot to photograph and we did not let the weather stop us. Halfway we sheltered in Brownies & DownieS. This is a chain of great restaurants, in which they look at people’s talents rather than their disabilities. For children they have a play corner. It’s good food combined with an enjoyable time for kids. In Culemborg they are right in the center. After a great lunch we walked around a bit more until we called it a day. We then walked back to the train station, which is a 15 minutes walk from the center.
Edam
All 3 Travelharts visited this small city, known for its cheese. It was a sunny day and the people were very friendly. Of course it helped that one of us grew up in Hoorn, which is also in Noord-Holland. Edam is a pleasant city with lots of water. We had lunch at a Bakery Mastenbroek. It’s a pleasant place with lots of beautiful cakes. We had a delicious lunch. After a stroll through this picturesque city we headed home, but not before we had bought a cheese that was made in this region.
One Province: Zeeland
This month we also posted a story about one of the 12 Provinces in the Netherlands, Zeeland. This Province is mainly known for the floodings in 1953 and the Delta Works that were built to prevent another disaster to happen in the future. Of course the 1953 floodings were not the only floodings in the history of Zeeland. There were many others before. But the story on our blog is about the Delta Works, more specifically the Delta Park, which you can visit when you’re there.
More Netherlands
On both our photo site and our blog we have many more photos and stories about the Netherlands. If you’re interested and like to see more albums about the Netherlands, click here.
For more stories about the Netherlands, click here.
Once again, thank you all for your support and enthusiasm. It was only 9 months ago that we started with our blog and in the meantime our stories and photo albums have passed the amount of 100 posts already. We will continue writing stories and taking photos of our travels and we hope that people from all over the world keep on enjoying them. We know we love making & taking them!
Roosje, Marnix and Eryn
PS: You can also find us on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter
This month’s theme: The Netherlands
King, Count, Culemborg – the Netherlands
Culemborg.
After a short walk from the train station you get to the old city center of Culemborg. This city was originally a trade town. After the construction of a castle Culemborg became a ‘Vrijstad’ (free city) with its own justice system. It received city rights in 1318 and in the 14th century its city walls were built. Culemborg became a county in 1555. After being taken over by the Germans and the French the county was back in the hands of the Dutch. To this day King Willem-Alexander still is the Count of Culemborg.
Although there was much to see, we left early. If we would have stayed until 9.55 p.m., we would have heard the sound of a clock. This clock originally warned people that the gates would almost close and that it was time to go to bed. It was given the name the ‘papklok’ (‘porridge clock’), because that is what farmers used to eat. At carnaval Culemborg is called ‘Papklokkendam’.
Tiny in size, big in cheese – the Netherlands
Edam.
If you visit the word famous Edam and you expect a big city, you’re in for a shock. It’s a tiny city but it’s a lovely one. The main points of interest are the cheese market and the many canals and bridges you’ll find in the city center.
Library in a church – the Netherlands
Zutphen.
In Western Europe there is a decline of faith. Many churches are not able to collect enough money to maintain the building. In some places the community does not want to demolish the building and finds a new destination for it. In Zutphen they have transformed an old church into a public library.
The Battle against water – the Netherlands
Teenager.
I vividly remember the first time I was visiting the Dutch province Zeeland. I was a teenager, going on a holiday with my two best friends. This special ticket was called ‘Tienertoer’ and promoted by the railways as a ‘first holiday without parents’. These days it is called ‘Jongerentoer’. From 14 April till 1 September 2019 you can visit an exhibition in the Railway Museum in Utrecht about 50 years ‘Tienertoer’.
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Return to Zeeland.
When I was looking for a nice place to spend my Birthday, I found a great apartment in the countryside. It seemed to have everything we were looking for: isolation, a friendly hostess, things for our daughter to play with. Although we were in the middle of farmlands, there were several cities nearby. A bonus was that it was in Zeeland. My husband had never been to this province and was also quite interested to see the Delta Works. I soon found out that one of the places where we could actually see and visit the Delta Works was nearby. I was convinced: it was time to return to Zeeland.
Wedding anniversary
Five years ago in April we got married. We went on our honeymoon to the USA. To mark this special occasion we posted a photo album as well as a story about this extra special journey. The photo on top of this Newsletter was taken during ur honeymoon. It is part of the photo album ‘Horseshoe Bend‘. We visited this unique place on our journey through the National Parks. One of the stays on this trip was at B&B Sheridan House Inn. We had a great time there! For the story, click here.
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