EXPLORING WALCHEREN - AUGUST 17, 2005

As I’ve mentioned our home base was in Vlissingen, which is in Zeeland. Zeeland itself is divided into provinces, one of which is the island of Walcheren. That is, it used to be an island, up to the year 1871 when a dam was built to connect it to South Beveland to the east. However, it still has the feel of an island since it is practically surrounded by water. I like islands because they are fun to explore and the area is so well-defined. I can’t say we became experts on Holland, but we did get to know Walcheren quite well. And it’s just the right size for bike tours.

Biking in Holland is different from biking in Germany. There are thousands of kilometers of bike paths in Germany too but they tend to be alongside roads, whereas in Holland you often have the choice of following the major roads or biking through the countryside. Both are very well posted so that it’s not easy to get lost, although it was a comfort that we had a very good map with us. It’s also one of the conveniences of a small island that you can’t really get lost. At some point you will reach the water and can always follow the shore back to where you started from if necessary.

   
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

                          Thru (bike) traffic

                                                                                                               
Our first excursions were into Vlissingen, but after a few days we became bolder. I particularly wanted to take a closer look at the “wind organ” which is a number of pipes with lots of holes on the edge of Vlissingen. When the wind blows, and it almost always does, there is an eerie sound.

                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Wind organ in Vlissingen

                                                                                                               

It was fairly late in the afternoon and it had rained for most of the day but it had turned nice in time for us to begin exploring. From the organ concert we continued along the coast biking through woods and then along a series of bizarre sand dunes. We went as far as Dishoek and turned inland to the little village of Koudekerke. We were again and again amazed at how lovely these little towns and villages that we had never heard of were. Koudekerke is built almost in a circle around a church and we later saw that this is quite typical of the villages in Walcheren. The brick houses are well cared for with picture book gardens, lots of beautiful hydrangeas which always remind me of my grandparents’ home. As we were biking along a small restaurant in a side street caught our eye and we stopped to have a look. The menu was very enticing so we made reservations for Saturday evening and it turned out to be the culinary highlight of our trip.

                                                                              
                                                                              

La bonne Auberge in Koudekerke

                                                                            

When the time came we chose different menus, both with fish. My first course was a salad with goat’s cheese and a honey vinaigrette that was out of this world. My main course was fish (Wolfsbarsch) with several different vegetables. Very, very good. There was one vegetable that looked like a pile of very slender green beans and it had a very nice taste and texture but I had no idea what it was. We asked the very competent waiter and he explained that it was sea tang, which is only harvested from the ocean in the summer months and is very expensive. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it offered at any markets but maybe I just missed it because I didn’t know what it was. And then, because Frank had ordered a four-course meal and I only had three courses, the waiter brought me a plate of different cheeses with dark bread. I thought it was very nice of him, but there was no way I could eat it and have desert, so Frank helped me out. (He couldn’t finish it either though.) Desert was a crepe, which usually I’m not too fond of, but this was different. It was filled with fresh fruit, covered with an orange sauce and accompanied by a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a scoop of whipped cream. I don’t usually care for whipped cream either, but they added something to it to make it addictive. Altogether a wonderful meal that compensated for all those meals in Belgium with French fries. (Frank really enjoyed his meal too, but I’m not going to describe it because I didn’t taste any of it. It was all I could do to eat mine.) I guess it’s just as well we had no opportunity to return to La bonne Auberge. A few more meals like that and we would have rolled home.

                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
Middelburg - I guess you know you're in Holland if there is a windmill.

                                                                                                                

On another day we biked to Middelburg which aptly enough is pretty much in the middle of Walcheren. Our route took us along the canal – Kanaal door Walcheren - that connects Vlissingen on the Westerschelde with Veere on the Veerse Meer. Middelburg, as I mentioned in an earlier entry, is one of those very European experiences, when you enter a town you have never heard of and it turns out to be a medieval jewel.

                                                                              

                                                                                                               

                                                                                                               
                                                                                                               

           The town hall in Middelburg

                                                                              

                                                                                                                                                                                        

Our longest bike tour took place on a bright sunny day when the weather didn’t wait until the afternoon to clear up. (We never had a full day of bad weather.) We decided to head for Veere, which is on the other side of Walcheren. So this time we biked past Middelburg along the canal and took the scenic route which wound back and forth through the countryside with nary a road in sight. We did see several groups of bikers because after all it was a Saturday, but they were always friendly and non-intrusive. We passed cattle, sheep and horses grazing in the pastures and fields full of flowers. We arrived in Veere, which is a little fishing village, and had a look around.

                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Veere

                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                

Again we were delighted with what we saw. How could such an out of the way place be so lovely? We had a great time exploring and even visited the two museums in town. Actually we would only have visited one but they cleverly sold only tickets that were good for both museums. So after having a look through a less than fascinating house we went to the other exhibit which turned out to be paintings by a local artist whose name I can’t remember and who doesn’t appear on the town’s website. They were fairly good and offered a glimpse of what life was once like in this area before the tourists invaded.

Since we hadn’t packed a picnic lunch we had lunch in Veere and my quiche was very good indeed, and they didn’t serve any French fries with it either.

                                                                              

                                                                              
     "What shall I           have?"

                                                                              

We took the straighter route home along the highway and it was faster but not nearly as picturesque, but there were darkening clouds looming ahead of us which spurned us on. It started raining when we were about two kilometers from our house and we ducked under a porch for a few minutes and it let up. We made it home 90% dry and took it as a sign that the Dutch gods were fairly pleased with us.

On our very last day in Walcheren the weather was bad until the late afternoon and by that time we had cabin fever, so we drove to the other side of the island to have a look at Domburg. It would have been nice to bike there but we would have needed a full day and we only had a few hours left of daylight. Domburg is another very nice town, although the most touristy of all the towns we saw in Walcheren, with many, many nice looking hotels and hundreds of German tourists. There was a street festival going on when we arrived. And of course no street festival in Holland would be complete without a cheese stand.

                                                                              
Unfortunately it was our last evening so we couldn't take advantage of all the different cheeses.

                                                                              

There were several activities for children.

                                                                              
                                                                              
His hat is made of balloons and he is making balloon animals for the children
while walking on stilts. I was impressed.

                                                                              
                                                                              
The children were taught several different dances.

                                                                              

                                                                              

                                                                              
We took a long walk along the beach where there were a lot of families playing, flying kites and enjoying themselves, but we didn’t see anyone in the water. Of course it was quite late by now. Maybe everyone went swimming earlier.

We enjoyed the days we spent exploring Walcheren. It was the perfect contrast to the trips we took to the Flemish cities.