Spring holidays in the Netherlands

 At the beginning of our Easter holidays we went to the Netherlands for one week. We are so lucky that my parents have a holiday house there, just a few hundred metres away from the North Sea. I just love it there! The house is situated in Ouddorp, a small village in the Dutch province Zuid-Holland, approximately 40 km south of Rotterdam.

It was just me and the kids, J couldn't get the week off, he had to work. But the children had asked their best friends to accompany us, so it was me and four kids and our dog Pepples, of course. We had never tried this before and I wondered if everything would be fine. But it was not only fine, no, it was a great week. The children were really excited to show their friends around. The weather was wonderful and we were outside almost all the time. 

 The dune landscape is so pretty. There is a long cycleway on top of the dunes, you can walk or cycle for kilometres always overlooking the Sea.

 We went to the beach to fly the kites. Kitebuggies are always there when the wind is blowing.

 The lighthouse "Westhoofd" in Ouddorp. It is still in operation. 

 I started a new granny shawl for my sister. Her birthday has already been in March but I hope that she won't mind to get it a little later. 

  At home Pepples doesn't like to run after the stick anymore but at the beach she felt young again!

 One day was so warm that the children decided to go swimming! The water temperature was just 9 degrees. Crazy kids!

 Log walks at the beach were fun for all!

 The girls were really fast on their inline skates, Pepples and I had difficulties to follow them. We made beautiful tours! 

The boys explored the vicinity with their longboards but they preferred being on their own. 

And at the end of the day, just once or twice, we went to Paal 10 to have a last drink. These beach restaurants are a great place to be, I love to sit on the terrace drinking a hot tea when it's cold or a glass of wine on a wonderful summer evening.

It has been a wonderful week. I read two books (!), crocheted a lot and most of the time I was the first in bed! We will definitely do this again, the kids had so much fun with their friends and I had lots of space for myself.

This post is long enough I think. I hope that I will be able to write about our holiday week in Denmark  tomorrow. 

See you then,

Viola

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