North Holland in pictures

Hello and welcome to the latest blog from The Olivia Rose Diaries on July 22nd 2023. We have crammed in so much over the past week that I hardly know where to start. In these situations I always think the best thing to do is let the pictures do the talking.

This first picture is a copy of a postcard I bought at a seal sanctuary on the island of Texel. Simply irrestible.

Above is one of the many tiny canals that make up the 1000 floating islands not far from Alkmaar. I think the patchwork of land between the waterways used to be small farms which grew vegetables and brought their produce to a floating auction house. Now it seems to have become an extensive housing estate with beautiful gardens- not quite so romantic but still very easy on the eye.

The above picture, plus the two that follow, were taken in the Grote Kerk in Alkmaar. From our experience most churches in The Netherlands remain locked apart from when services take place, but this one happened to be open on the day we visited, perhaps because it was hosting a surreal sculpture exhibition. Fascinating, but the stuff that nightmares are made of!

You can’t go out for a cycle ride anywhere in this country without finding a stretch of water and a bench on which to sit down and properly appreciate the view.

This pair of photos were taken in the dunes at Schoorl, a wild and pristine landscape covered in roses and heather, with towering dunes and dedicated cycle tracks through pine forests. The beaches here were almost deserted, but only five miles further up the coast they were packed with people.

Close-up of a poppy anemone. We cycled past a whole field of them. Shortly they will be cut down and the bulbs harvested.

Unwanted company sitting on our deck at our mooring in Den Helder. In case you’re wondering why we have a pink flower pot it stops the rain coming down the chimney of our woodburner. Seagulls can be a real pest. As we took the ferry over to Texel a flock of them descended upon passengers, deftly picking the food almost out of their mouths. People think it’s fun, throwing chips into the air and taking photos, but they are encouraging bad behaviour in birds with sharp beaks! It will only end in tears….

And back to the seals….. this was taken at the nature centre at Ecomare on Texel. They rescue injured seals and sea birds, nurse them back to health and then release them back into the wild. Sometimes they are not well enough to fend for themselves and so they become permanent inmates.

And finally, a video to give you an idea of how wonderful the cycling is throughout The Netherlands. This was taken in the Schoorl dunes. I didn’t know Michael was recording this, as will become evident.

And that is all for now. See you next week.

MJ