Pictures of the Netherlands

[The Lawspeaker]

Noord-Holland

Along the River Ee. Still in Broek in Waterland.



A panorama of the (extremely) scenic village.


The Kathammer. A windmill at Katwoude.


The village of Durgerdam.


In the local village church.


The landscape around Ransdorp.


Lighthouse on the (former) Island of Marken in the Gouwzee. Marken is now connected to the mainland by a dam and has become a serious tourist trap.



The Wittewerf on Marken.

[The Lawspeaker]

Noord-Holland

We are now close to the Northern-most tip of the mainland of Noord-Holland


The little hamlet along the dike called Poolland. It's not much more then a couple of farmsteads.


Another one of those little hamlets called Van Ewijcksluis as seen from the water.


A typical farmstead on the (former) island of Wieringen. Now a polder.


Landscape on the island of Texel.


"Sommeltjes" are a kind of ghosts or spirits on Texel that are said to help the locals with chores. Belief in similar beings also was part of the folklore of Wieringen. The belief clearly has pre-Christian origins and is related to the Witte Wieven as they too are reported to dance on tumuli.


A view of the dike... Texel's only protection against the Wadden Sea.


Texel and sheep. It's miracle they don't rhyme as Texel and sheep belong together as.. Texel and sheep.


Sea buckthorn in the dunes near Ecomare at De Koog.


De Slufter and the dunes.. on the other side of the island.

[The Lawspeaker]

Noord-Holland

Now we are travelling West across the Afsluitdijk between Friesland and North Holland in order to check out the Bollenstreek-region (where flowers and tulips are grown for the export) and the Keukenhof.

The Afsluitdijk is a staggering 20 miles (32 kilometres) long dike that seperated the IJsselmeer (formerly known as the Zuyderzee) and the Wadden Sea from each other and it has a width of 90 metres, and that at an initial height of 7.25 m above sea-level. It was completed in 1932 under the overall design of the civil engineer and statesman Cornelis Lely.

A windmill in Hippolytushoef

In 1995 this Viking treasure was found at Westerklief- since then it has been brought over to the National Museum for Antiquities (Rijksmuseum voor Oudheden) in Leiden (South Holland)

The amazing splendour of the Bollenstreek during the spring.

Keukenhof Castle. Surrounding by one of the most famous flower gardens in the world (and it's biggest) the Keukenhof

[The Lawspeaker]

Noord-Holland


Before we get into Limburg - three more of Holland:


Storybook Holland: windmills at the Zaanse Schans.



The Zaanse Schans.



A lighthouse at the (former) island of Marken.






The little village of Ilpendam.



An old wooden house in Broek in Waterland.


The village of Spaarndam (alongside the Spaarne).





Zuid-Holland


Even in the madhouse of the Randstad Holland, the big semi-metropolis that is covering half the country (which includes f.i Amsterdam and The Hague) there are still a few quiet places - now heavily under threat:


Stompwijk - a small farmstead along the Vliet.



De Salamander. A windmill that is now standing in the bustling suburb of Leidschendam (just outside The Hague). Leidschendam is a relatively new municipality that was formed during the 1930s: uniting the small villages and hamlets of Veur, Stompwijk and Wilsveen).



The Schiedamse Schie at Overschie.

[The Lawspeaker]

Zuid-Holland.




The little hamlet of Zweth during night. Zweth is a small hamlet between Delft and Rotterdam - situated along the Delftsche Schie and the Berkelse Zweth. This picture was taken from Kandelaar - which is now in the Rotterdam borough of Overschie.



At Zweth.




Windmills at Kinderdijk. A familiar sight for every tourist.

Gouda City Hall during Christmas season.



Cheese market in Gouda.


Around the Prinsenhof in Delft (Holland):









On these steps the man who's statue you've seen before, the Pater PatriaeWilliam the Silent was murdered on the 10th of July 1584.



The Legermuseum (National Army Museum).

[Albion]

Here are a few random places I found on mapcrunch.com, I suppose they offer a rough idea of what the country looks like (beyond cherry picking pictures of the best areas ).
On the whole to me it looks very organised, that is the first thing I notice and very tidy too. I've also noticed the trees along roads - they all seem to be small species or young trees - in England it is usually a mix of old and new trees and hedges. I suppose the smaller trees may be so that they're not as likely to be blown down or send roots into the drainage ditches.








The council houses look about as good as ours, if a little smaller. A nice view from these ones though.






One of the Frisian Islands, that one I can't spell - something like 'Terschelling'.

[The Lawspeaker]

Council housing.. in the Netherlands:

[Albion]

...

We used to have vast areas of tulip fields in Fenland too but they lost out to Dutch competition. People actually went on day trips on buses to see and walk around these places. They're actually making a bit of a comeback now though since people like buying cut flowers and the growers in Fenland have responded to the competition a bit better now.
Fenland is quite a good place for it, it's quite like Holland there and also good for vegetable growing too.

[Hithaeglir]

Random pictures i've taken when i was in Amsterdam.Two of them i think are from Alkmaar (the windmill and the man with the bike).Of course the quality doesn't compare with the professional pictures that someone can find in Google,but i thought it would be nice to share.

[Eventhorizon]

The Netherlands is one of the most beautiful countries in Europe , so enchanting