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Published: November 28th 2015
Sept 4 – Sept 9, 2014
We finally made it to the last country we will be visiting this season before putting the boat on the hard in Lelystad. We had been to the Netherlands twice before, but not in the northern section. The best way to enter when coming from Germany is through the city of Delfzijl. We had a lovely passage here, but were happy to now start our exploration of the northern canals of Holland. We found a very nice marina which was located a short walk from the center of the village. Surprisingly we pulled in right next to another US flagged vessel – this was the first time we have seen one within the canal system. It was nice meeting some fellow Americans who had already been here and were able to give us some pointers such as where the grocery stores and other necessities were located. A neighboring Dutch boat was very helpful to us as well in giving us pointers of places to stop and visit along the way – another confirmation of the friendliness of the Dutch!
As luck would have it we were told there was a Harbor Festival going
on. For any of you that have followed our blog you know we always enjoy a festival so went to the Harbor to check it out. There were numerous boats of all types and sizes on display. We got a chance to see dredgers close up, Dutch barges which families live on as they ply the waters with their cargo, large ships carrying windmill blades. They had new and old alike on display. In town there were numerous singing groups and a clown entertaining with lots of bubbles and balloons. As always it is always fun to take in the local events when travelling.
We decided to take a day bike trip over to a neighboring village as we were told it was quite a nice ride. We hadn’t been on our bikes for a few days so it was nice to be back on them. The bike paths in Netherlands are fabulous - they are a road system unto themselves! We enjoyed the scenery on the trip over to this quaint village. We spotted a sign for a visitor center so made our way there to obtain a map as well as find out about any points of
Blades for a Wind Turbine
loaded on a ship to deliver to a wind farminterest. They have numerous churches in the area with a very long history, unfortunately as we have found elsewhere in the Netherlands none of them were open to see the interior. We did find a memorial to the Jews that were killed in the concentration camps of Germany during WWII in front of the first synagogue we have seen here. While walking around the village we spotted a hardware store so of course had to check it out. It turned out to be more like an Agway with various farming supplies. The one thing we learned is that the wooden shoes are commonly used here with a variety of tradesmen wearing them. We learned that the European version of OSHA accepts wooden shoes as safety shoes (and were told they really are very comfortable too!)
After staying here for a total of 5 nights we decided it was time to start our travels through the canals as we now have added a few other villages/towns to our list of places to visit on the way to Lelystad based on recommendations we have received. Delfzijl was a nice beginning to our journey in the Netherlands this season.
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