Friesland & Naarden

Anywhere BUT Amsterdam!


While we love our apartment in the city, it is the most dense area in Europe. Like New Yorkers, Amsterdammers have a less than friendly reputation (totally warranted). Brent and I have been trying to make sure that we get out of the city and explore the Dutch countryside. This past summer we took two trips to completely unique parts of the Netherlands.


We borrowed a friend's car and went to Naarden on a quiet Saturday in between running errands. It's just 10 miles outside of Amsterdam, but not on the tourist circuit. It strategiclly situated between hills and marshlands it was the site of many battles between Hollanders and people from the east. Naarden has been a lookout post and fortification since 1350. It is still intact today and the walls date back from 1685. It is a lovely town with many historical buildings including its own town hall from 1601, a magnificent late-Gothic church started in 1380 and impressive ramparts. Naarden is an example of a Spanish 'star fort' complete with fortified walls and a moat.

The next notable event in the town’s history was undoubtedly the 80-year Spanish Civil War (beginning 1350). Spain was one of the most powerful countries in Europe at this time with a fleet of ships (the Spanish Armada) and ammunition to aid them in their quest to conquer other European countries. Despite fighting bravely many Dutch nationals died at the hands of the Spanish and their city was burned to the ground. It was rebuilt in 1400, 20 kilometers further north and the emphasis was on defense. Naarden was subsequently captured twice, by the French and by the Prussians, during the Napoleonic Wars.

Today, Naarden is one of the remaining bastions in the Netherlands and is the only fortification in Europe that has unique double walls and moats. Built in a 5-star shape (which can be best observed from the air) it ceased to be used as a fort in 1926.

Narden's Town Hall or Oude Stadhuis has retained its Dutch Renaissance charm. We even saw a huge wedding during the day, causing quite a traffic jam at what seemed to be the narrowest part of the road. Oh, and did we mention there was a classic car show going through the town at the same moment? It was priceless to just pull up a chair at the cafe and watch it all unfold before us!

Friesland - Northern Netherlands

Another weekend last summer, we rented a car with our friends Jennifer and Jonathon and made our way to the North of Holland. Friesland is a province of the Netherlands and actually has its own flag, language (Frisian), many of its own local customs, and a simple way of life that has lasted through the centuries.

Our first stop was the famous Afsluitdijk or the Enclosure dike, which is one of the most important dikes in the Netherlands to keeping the lowlands from being overtaken by the Sea. The Afsluitdijk in the north of Holland has actually created a huge lake of fresh water where there used to be sea, unbelievable even in person!



We stopped for lunch in Makkum, another idyllic little town with a quiet square and casual cafe. From there we wound our way through a historic driving tour which covered several tiny towns which are on the "Elfstedentocht" or the eleven cities tour. It's a skating race that occurs only when the countries' network of rivers are completely frozen (so in other words, not that often anymore).

We visited several small museums covering the regions' historic tile and brick-making, various exhibits of farm-life (Friesland is known for its livestock), and even tried our hand at rowing up the canal. Note: its harder than it looks and the wind is NOT helpful.

We visited several other towns along the winding highway and spent the night in Harlingen. It is a port town which also offers connections to the Northern islands of the Netherlands by ferry. It wasn't as sleepy as the rest of the towns we'd seen, being more of a industrial city for the region.

Our favorite place was probably Elberg, pictured to the right. The city is situated around a quaint marina and just seemed to resonate with us for some reason. We stopped for lunch and a coffee before heading south back towards Amsterdam.

On our way home, we drove around the south-east side of the IJsselmeer lake and visited the Appledorn region. There is a huge public park known as 'de Hoge Veluwe' which is over 250 hectares of open space park and wildlife preserve. The picture below shows us on the "white bikes" which are available throughout the park to just grab and go. The long tall grass looks more like we're on the Serengeti then in central Europe, the landscape was so diverse (I guess the bikes are the giveaway). Inside is a great museum which we definitely have plans to go back to check out!

We'll be updating our trips from the fall and winter very shortly! Take care and talk to you soon!