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Wednesday 26 August 2015

I love Ouddorp - wonderful summer holidays in the Netherlands


We are back home - home after three wonderful weeks of holidays at the Sea. It's been a peaceful and relaxing family time. We all enjoyed it very, very much.
 My parents have a holiday house in the Netherlands, so it is quite comfortable and inexpensive for us to spend time there. The house is in Ouddorp, a small village next to the North Sea, approximately 50 km south of Rotterdam. It is quiet a trip from us to get there (about 600 km) but I just love being there.

My earliest childhood holiday memories are connected with the Netherlands. We often drove there just for the weekend. Bathing, walking at the coastline, building sandcastles, eating Kibbelinge (small pieces of fried fish), Poffertjes (tiny pancakes) or Stroopwafels (syrup waffles), all this was and still is heaven for me. Almost 17 years ago when my parents decided to buy a holiday home in Ouddorp I had been more than happy, hoping that this could become a second home of mine. And that's what it is today - my safe haven. A place where I am able to breathe again when life is trying to overrun me.

When you are spending your holiday in a place you know so well there is just no obligation to do any sightseeing because you have already seen everything. But there are things we all want to do or see every time we go there. A bicycle ride to Goedereede, the neighbour village with the best bakery by far,  But our most favourite place is the beach, of course. 

This wide and sandy beach with endless skies where you can leave all your cares behind... 



 

We always love to find a sheltered place to stay near the dunes.

The blue of the sky is just gorgeous.

There is no good walk at the beach without finding wonderful shells or crabs.

 And I love the seagulls so much! Their cries just make a day at the beach perfect.
 
  
And our quite old dog Pepples turns young again when we reach the beach. She even loves to swim with us.
 
Flying kites is very popular there and that's what we did as well, of course.

 Sometimes the weather was not that fine but nevertheless we went to the beach. There was almost nobody.
 

   My family heading towards a nice coup of drink...

... at 'Paal 10', one of the wonderful beach restaurants with a grand sun terrace where you can sit and have a nice cup of tea or coffee when it's cold or a delicious glass of wine while watching the sunset (the left house in the picture is the 'Reddingsbrigade', the lifeguard station).

 One of our favourite towns nearby is Zierikzee. A going there is a must-do for us. We love to stroll around the old narrow streets, visiting our favourite shops.

 
 

And this house was new to us, what a great painting!



 And in the evenings we were lucky to enjoy gorgeous shining skies and sunsets.



 Three beautiful weeks are over now, next week the new school term will start again, J is already back to work, I will start on Friday. There is a lot to do in the house and in the garden but I told myself to stay relaxed at least for a little while longer. Life can be so abundantly beautiful, I am so grateful for all the good things in life. 

I will soon come back to show you my summer crochet makes, nothing big, just something light but beautiful. 

I hope you had a wonderful summer time, as well.

Viola


9 comments:

  1. Sounds like an amazing holiday. I had a holiday to the Netherlands earlier in the year with my daughter and her family we loved it there.

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  2. Thank you so much for sharing your photos. I miss Europe so much and hope to go back there someday. I lived In Europe for 10 years and wish I had never left! Hope the rest of your summer goes well and school goes well for your children.

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  3. Beautiful pictures, thank you so much for sharing them :) It is one of my greatest wishes to holiday in the Netherlands - I am going to pin some of your wonderful pictures to help keep my dream alive. Looking forward to seeing your crochet.

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  4. What a wonderful land !
    Hugs,
    Franca

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  5. What a wonderful place, Viola.....and such a lovely blog post about it. Your seaside photos are just gorgeous!
    Happy weekend.
    Helen xox

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  6. You are really lucky that your parents have a holiday house in such wonderful place! It looks like the perfect holiday! :)

    Take care
    Anne
    Crochet Between Worlds

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  7. I love the big blue sky and expanses of water that one sees in the Netherlands. Often it is a big overcast sky but I have happy memories of a childhood summer in the Netherlands. Your photos are a lovely reminder.

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  8. Dear Viola,
    I would like to nominate you for a Liebster Award to recognise your beautiful blog and you as a beautiful blogger.
    I was actually nominated by a Dutch blogger so it is nice to see your Dutch holiday photos as I visit to nominate you! :-)
    More details about the Liebster award can be found on my blog: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2015/09/liebster-antwoorden-in-het-nederlands.html
    or on Anne Vandekerckhove's blog (the Dutch blogger): http://annescrochetpalace.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/genomineerd-voor-de-liebser-award.html
    I hope more blogreaders can come to your blog and enjoy the beauty in it that I do. xxx

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  9. Your holiday home is beautiful! What a wonderful place to spend three weeks. It would be so hard to leave. Every view of the beach is better than the next. I love the sunsets, shells, birds, and ocean waves. The sun terrace looked like a great place to eat and take a stroll after dinner. Thanks for sharing your pictures.

    Crystal Carson @ Tacky Jacks

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