Giethorn 04/25/2025

Amanda and Harry at Giethorn

 Giethoorn village was our destination today.  We had heard a lot about it and wanted to see it for ourselves.  We were not disapointed.  The tiny little village is located 5 km southwest of Steenwijk.  It is easy to find if you have a GPS. It is located in a quiet and tranquil farming community.  The only way to get to the city center is by using the waterways or bike path.  There are no roads or cars. It is pedestrian only.  The tranquility of Giethoorn vanished when a famous comedy, "Fanfare",  was filmed there in 1958. Thanks to Rick Steves and social media, Giethoorn is over run with a continuous stream of tourists' boats.  The boats are lined up, big and small, each boat with anywhere from 3 to 20 tourists waiting to take the canal ride through the city.  We were part of the group.  I suspect that many of the original residents have long since departed for a more tranquil life.

About one million visitors come here every year to visit the famous "car-free village"'  It is off the beaten path located 120 km northeast of Amsterdam.

Minus the tourists' boats, Giethoorn is a beautiful village.  The village legend traces its name back to the 13th century when a large number of wild goat horns were found near here. It has been Giethoorn ever since.  Our drive through the Netherlands gave us the opportunity to view the Dutch countryside.  We saw many tulip fields. They were everywhere. We enjoyed our visit there. It is worth the visit.

Look at the image in the water




Giethorn Tulip Fields


Giethorn Tulip Fields


Giethorn
Giethorn Bridge



Giethorn



Giethorn Boats





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brugge 04/30/2025

Image
 We have stayed busy exploring Brugge.  We took a two hour walking tour, visited the Lace Museum, and visited two churches.  We visited both, The  Basilica of the Holy Blood and Church of Our Lady. The Basilica of the Holy Blood is a Roman Catholic Basilica, built between 1134 and 1157, as the chapel of Count of Flanders.  The church houses a relic of the Holy Blood collected by Joseph of Arimathea (a Biblical figure who assumed responsibility for the burial of Jesus after his crucifixion.) The blood was brought from the Holy Land by Thierry of Alcace, Count of Flanders, after the 2nd Crusade in the 12th century.  The relic of the Holy Blood was given to Thierry by Baldwin III of Jerusalem for his great service. The Basilica is best known as the repository of a venerated vial said to contain a cloth with the blood of Jesus Christ.  Ever since, the vial has played a big part in the religious life of the city. Brugge has an annual Procession of the Holy ...
Read more

Oostende 05/01/2025

Image
 When we were making our plans for this trip, we decided to base in Brugge for the second week.  Among those plans we would train out from to Brugge to other villages in the area.  Our first train excursion was to Oostende.  We wanted to visit a quaint village on the North Sea.  Oostende was anything, but that. It was located on the North Sea, but it was not a cute village.  It is a large seaport town.  It has a population of 73,000.  It is a thriving community and has shown a population increase for the last 5 years.  It has a large beach on the North Sea shore.  Not to be confused with our beaches in Alabama, but well attended by beach goers.  Trains pass through Brugge every 15 minutes on the way to Oostende, and it is standing room only for the passengers.  When the passengers disembark they head straight for the beach.   There is a lot of modern and contemporary structures in Oostende. It was bombed heavily by th...
Read more

Brugge 04/29/2025

Image
 The weather is gorgeous, and the temperature is 75.  You could not ask for a nicer day.  If you travel to Europe, it does not take long to realize every city or village is very old.  Most of them trace their heritage bad to the pre-historic era.  Others see their first recorded history starting about the year 1000.  Brugge was a dominent economic force in the Middle Ages.  It was located at the crossing point for European trade and the Mediterranean trades.  This was considered the "Golden Age" for Brugge. Brugge was a port city and in the 15th century, the pathway to the ocean started to silt up, and Brugge went into economic decline.  In the 1600's Brugge faded in importance and for almost 300 years Brugge went into hibernation.  This city started a reawakening in the early 1900's.  This Midevial city seem to have been a time warp.  Tourism increased and today the city is overrun by tourists.  It is a beautiful city and...
Read more