When you grow up in a city, everything is ‘normal’ to you when you live there. You tend to take the place for granted. That’s how it was for us - riding our bikes to school, exploring every street and alley, going to the shops, the weekly market. And later exploring beyond our own neighborhood, joining youth groups, taking the train. And, of course, meeting each other in that city!
The Netherlands is a little over 41 thousand square kilometres (or 16 thousands miles), roughly the size of Vancouver Island.
A few hundred years ago the country was even smaller. It lies at the western edge of Europe, where large rivers flow into the North Sea. Much of the country is very low land and often flooded. In fact, most of the country is below sea level. At its lowest point, The Netherlands - which means ‘Low Lands’ - is an amazing 7 meters (20’) below sea level.
The Elfstedentocht (Eleven cities tour) is a historic long-distance tour skating event, almost 200 kilometres (120 mi) long, which is held both as a speed skating competition and a leisure tour in the province of Friesland in the north of the Netherlands. As a child, I remember that skating tour being legendary, almost mystical. Now, you can also hike that legendary route through a typical Dutch landscape.
This time a different story… Not our physical travels to a special place on earth, but a story of tradition and customs as it traveled around the world and through time. Because the weekend of this blog post is St. Nicolaas Day, I’d like to share with you the story of how St. Nicolaas became Santa Claus, the origins of a celebration that traveled from Turkey to Spain throughout Europe and to the new world…
The Netherlands is likely one of the best countries in the world to visit with children. I mean, where else do you get raisin buns for breakfast and bread with chocolate sprinkles for lunch? And pannekoeken (crepes with syrup) are often considered dinner… There are so many special facilities and attractions for kids, that it is hard to select just a few.
Much of The Netherlands is flat as a table top. And so it is a popular destination for cyclists. Riding a bike in Holland is as common as eating rice in China. But we often choose the country as a hiking destination. Hiking on flat terrain is nice, too, and the system of trails and accommodations across The Netherlands is second to, almost, none. This time, we’re tackling the Drenthe Pad.
There might not be a better herald of Spring than tulips. Once tulips raise their pointy green hats from the still frozen ground, we know there is hope.
Tulips originally came from Turkey and Persia in the late 1500’s to the Netherlands. When we were in Turkey we visited the palace of the very Sultan who gifted the first tulips ever to arrive in the Netherlands. What started with one bulb is now a major export industry. And the most famous garden to see Dutch tulips in all their glory is called The Keukenhof (the kitchen garden).
As a child, I often visited family in Rotterdam. My parents were born in that city. I grew up a mere 25 km or so away from it. Of course I was familiar with the horrid stories of how Rotterdam had suffered in WWII. It’s heart had been bombed heavily – entire parts of the city had burned and been destroyed. Yet, having lived most of my life away from The Netherlands, I didn’t really know Rotterdam (named for the ‘dam’ in the river Rotte) at all.
Spain has its Camino de Santiago. Canada has the Trans-Canada Trail. Peru boasts the Inca Trail. The Netherlands has the Pieterpad.
Many of our trips focus on hiking. Kees is the true long-distance hiker in this family, thriving on long days on a trail and a pack on his back. He walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain twice. In this post we’ll share with you one of his favourite long distance trails: the path of St. Peter, or ‘Pieterspad’ in Dutch.
