Day Trip to Zeeland, Holland

Rita and I just returned from a very nice day out.  Actually, Friday night we had planned to get up Saturday, pack a bag and make a two day trip to Zeeland, Holland, overnighting somewhere along the way - totally unplanned.  We woke up Saturday morning to a storm blowing with heavy winds and rain.  As the day progressed, the weather did get better but the sun didn't come out until about 4:00 pm.  Too late to get started.  So we said we would see what the weather would be like Sunday and maybe make a day trip.

Sunday (today) we woke to clear skies, bright sunshine, almost no wind and moderate temperatures.  Not a typical January day in Belgium.  So we ate a quick breakfast, packed cameras,  maps, water, coats, gloves, etc. and were out the door shortly before 10:00 am.

We headed north on motorway E-19 towards Antwerp where we took the ring road around the center of Antwerp.  One of the nice features of Michelin maps is that scenic roads are marked in green.  We decided to take highway N-11 which is indicated as a scenic road.  It was a very nice suburban village road with large houses, many of which had thatched roofs, a surprise to us.  The thatching was just like the ones in England.  As we crossed the border into Holland, in the little village of Putte, the highway changed to N-289.  Why, I don't know. 

But the land was alternating farms and woods.  And one can definitely tell when they enter Holland.  Holland is neat!  In the sense of manicured, tidy, orderly.  I think the Dutch taught the Germans how to organize!  And every road has a bicycle path alongside.  Sometimes the bicycle path is just as wide as the road, which isn't very wide.  And the Dutch do love their bicycles.  One sees not only children and teenagers on bicycles but middle aged and elderly people, too.  And on a pretty day like today the bicycle paths were crowded.

Eventually we came to another motorway, E-312, which is also A58.  The A-58 is the number Holland gives to the road within its borders while E-312 indicates that the road eventually crosses an international border and continues on with that number all across Europe.  Confusing to the navigator sometimes.  We headed west on E-312 actually entering the area known as Zeeland once we crossed over the Schelde River.  In 1810, Napoleon declared that Zeeland was little more than "the silt thrown up by French rivers".  But the Dutch have built a network of dykes, canals and dams to keep the North Sea back and provide fertile farm land.  We saw many orchards of fruit trees but we didn't know what kind of fruit.

Zeeland is where the Roosevelt family migrated from to the Americas.  My experience with Dutch people is that they are friendly but dead set in their ways, and determined to tell you how you should live your life - whether you ask or not.  Sounds like FDR in many ways.  Zeeland has flooded many times in the past.  In 1421 the North Sea almost covered Zeeland.  A hurricane in 1953 sent sea water as far as Rotterdam drowning more than 1,800 people.  And in 1944 the Allies bombed areas to let flood waters flush out the Nazi troops entrenched in bunkers along the coast.  We saw many remnants of bunkers in the area off the roadside.

We followed the motorway to the end at Vlissingen, a port on the North Sea.  We parked the car and walked into town which seemed pretty deserted at 11:30 am.  Incidently, Vlissingen translates to Flushing, the New York City suburb that once was close to New Amsterdam.  We walked down to the seafront promenade, a nice walk with views of the North Sea and lined with old cannons and windmills.  We stopped for a coffee and tea, more to use their restroom than interest in a drink.  After a nice walk we headed back to the car.  I should mention that we didn't bother to change any money into Dutch guilders - this was unplanned, remember.  We had about $10 worth of Dutch coins so we had to be careful that we didn't overspend or else use a credit card wherever possible. 

We headed on backroads to Koudekerke and Zoutelande to Westkapelle at the far western end of Zeeland.  This area is known as the Zeeland Riviera, a string of pretty small seaside villages with long, sandy beaches.  The people were out in force walking or bicycling along the paths at the top of the sand dunes.  We parked the car and walked up one set of sand dunes to view the ocean and army tank I saw from the road.  It turned out to be a Sherman tank, part of a memorial to British special forces who invaded the beach area in 1944.  We drove along through Domburg and turned inward to Middelburg, a pretty medieval town that began as a 9th century fortress against the Normans.  The fort expanded into a real settlement in 1150 when an abbey was built.  We parked the car and walked quiet back alleys to the abbey then to the main market square with a beautiful town hall.  Again, the town was almost deserted.  We couldn't find any restaurant open that we liked so we headed back to the car and further north.

We took N-57 across a long causeway that crosses a small island called Neeltje Jans.  There is something here called Water Land or Delta Expo which we didn't have time to visit.  I'm not even sure it was open in January.  But it is a series of dykes, sluice gates and storm-surge barriers that offer tours to visitors.  We plan to return.

Our next stop was the village of Zierikzee which one of our guide books called the best preserved town in Holland.  It is an 11th century town with canals surrounding the village and remnants of town walls and entry gates still standing.  The streets are cobblestone and narrow - many are closed to auto traffic.  We walked around the beautiful town for a while then decided we were quite hungry.  We found a restaurant that looked promising and were their first customers after they opened their doors at 4:00 pm.  We enjoyed an excellent meal.  Rita started with tomato soup while I had onion soup.  Both were good and took the chill off.  Next Rita had fresh trout in almonds and white wine sauce while I had a plate with three different fresh fish.  Our waitress's English wasn't excellent and she wasn't sure what all the names of my fish were in English.  I know I had salmon and sole, and I think cod fillets in dill sauce.  The meal came with plenty of winter vegetables, potatoes and a salad.  It was a hearty, good meal which we washed down with a half carafe of Chenin Blanc dry, white wine.  For dessert we split a crepe (they called it a pannkake) filled with ice cream and drizzled in chocolate sauce, almonds and cream.  Coffee and tea finished out the great meal.  And they took credit cards!

After that big meal we had to walk some more just as sun had set and the town lights were coming on.  We saw the heart of Zierikzee, a large square surrounded by old, delightful houses, some leaning to one side or the other or forward towards the street.  Some had dates in the early 1600s and a few had dates in the mid 1500s.  A small canal came into one end of the square with old boats that were part of a Maritime Museum.  The town was nearly deserted but the Dutch don't put curtains on their houses and we could look into their living rooms and see their fireplaces, dogs, families, etc.  The town reminded me of Annapolis but without tourists.  It definitely requires a re-visit.

We returned to the car and headed back home, crossing the Oosterschelde on the N-256 over a long bridge.  Once we arrived at E-312 we retraced our route with the exception of taking A-4 (in Holland but A-12 once we crossed into Belgium) back into Antwerp.  It was dark and the lights of Antwerp's harbors and refineries reminded us of Houston.  Antwerp is Belgium's second largest city and biggest port.  We arrived home about 8:30 and realized we can get to Zeeland in about 1 1/2 hours from our house.  It's not all that far.