Sneek was a very nice City. We could have spent more time exploring the city, but we only have so much time in each city we stay in. But we do get to see so much of the country when cycling, which is great.
It started to rain in the morning so we stayed and had another coffee before heading out. We first cycled into the city centre to see the famous waterpoort and the fountain.
Iljst is one of the 11 cities of the Elfstedentocht. This was just coming into the City. They had a working windmill that made planks and beams of wood – like a sawmill I guess you can say.
There are so many lift bridges in Friesland. Most we saw are run by one person, sitting in the booth and mechanically putting it up and down as the boats came through. I would imagine that could be a long day all by yourself, but at least you would have a nice view all day. It is Sunday today so there are more boats out I think than normal.
We came through Woudsend Friesland. We stopped here for a break as we saw a nice public bathroom and a bench. We had packed a bun with meat and cheese from our breakfast. And we had some Dutch goodies with us too.
When you are cycling from town to town, you always see the church steeples, and then the route always seems to take us by them. We like checking them out – if they are open we will go in, check out the old tombstones, so you may be seeing lots of pics of churches. Although there are so many that all look the same, so sometimes we just cycle by and wave.
We were riding on the dijk along side the Isjelmeer. The Isjelmeer Lake used to be part of the North Sea, but when they built the longest dijk in the world – the Afsluitdijk – it got separated from the sea and is now a lake. The other side of the Afsluitdijk is called the Wadden Sea, which is the water between Friesland and the Frisian islands. On the other side of the Frisian islands is the North Sea. It was very windy cycling along this stretch. And there were so many sheep and cows.
We stayed in the old bank. De Kluiskaemer in de Olde Banck. Thea our host was great. She gave us a tour. She has so much property in the back (it used to be a farmers field) with many secret gardens. When you stay, you can enjoy it all. A beach eventually at the very back by the canal, and then a boat, a campfire. Our room was very nice with small kitchenette and a very unique shower/stone bath. If you ever want to stay in Stavoren, let me know I and I will give you Thea’s contact info.
We went to the De Visserman restaurant near the marina. Thea our host recommended it. We really enjoyed our meal. The restaurant has been here a very long time, and is in a building that dates back to 1777.
A great day! Once again, we wish we could have stayed longer in Stavoren. We will have to come back!
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