South West Netherlands: Zeeland

Saturday, May 13 - The best part about visiting a new country where you know people that live there is to see the places through their eyes. Not the touristy gimmicks (which can be fine once in a while, but they get frustrating) but the actual life of locals. I'm still in awe by how lucky I am.

Today we visited the in-laws, who moved to a very picturesque section of the Netherlands. The region of Zeeland is famous for the Delta works, the massive dikes that keep the seas at bay. There were two major catastrophes related to storms and the sea ravaging towns and people... 1/3 of the country is actually below sea level! So the Dutch took it to hearth to dominate the waters, and set to build this huge complex of barriers. On the way we stopped a couple of times, near dikes, to observer their impressiveness.

Once we arrived to Veere, the first order of the day was to shower the baby with presents and attention and all that cute family stuff. The mother-in-law shared an amazing collection of engravings by a renowned local artist. She even had her portrait done by him when she was a little child. Then we set out to walk the town. It's right on the sea, so it has a pier and gorgeous scenery. Since it's a small town, now dependent on tourism, it was easy to take a leisurely walk through the whole place in only about 2 hours. It felt good. It was peaceful, gorgeous, the sun was shining... My soul re-energized today!

We made our way back in the early evening, through the non-scenic route. Still pretty, though. Saw some old-fashioned windmills along the way, and had yet another chance to appreciate Holland's flatness :)

Yey for side trips!