Road Trip to Friesland

It was a dreary day. The sky was dark and cloudy, the wind was blowing hard, and it rained from time to time. Staying in was a more logical choice, but not for U and I, we decided to explore the countryside, Frisian countryside to be precise, about 200 km north of our city.

After crossing the 31 km long Afsluitdijk, the dam that separate the IJsselmeer from the North Sea and the Waddenzee, we reached the Province of Friesland, in the northern part of the Netherlands. Our first destination was the tiny town of Bolsward or Boalsert in Frisian language. It is famous for its Martini Church which was first built in 1446. Their splendid Renaissance City Hall was dated back to the 17th century. As we parked our car in front of the Broerekerk, Broere Church, We went to see what left of the 13th century church.

Next, come Sneek, about 10 km east of Bolsward. The 700-plus-years-old of town was known for its Waterpoort, a gate, built in 1613. There was Saturday market not far from the Gate, where you can find flowers, cheese, fruits and vegetables vendors. After strolling down the market, we lunched at 't Vaticaan, the Vatican at Grootzand.

As the name goes, 't Vaticaan's theme was religion. One can see a lot of statuettes of Maria, Jesus, and Monks (Father Pio came to mind), and not to forget: cherubs, all over the place. The cheerful waitress asked what language did U use, as he was talking on the phone with his aunt. U had a plate of beef with some fries, while I had Italian bread with smoked chicken. The portions was big and (at least mine, I didn't taste his) was quite tasty, the bread was crunchy on the outside, and soft in the inside, the salad dressing was superb. After the lunch, the sky cleared up, so we made another stroll around the town and dropped by a reformed church, the Martini kerk to take a look inside. The church was first built in the 11th century, and was renovated for the last time about ten years ago. In the inside, you can find an impressive church organ made by Schnitger from 1710.

The last place we visited was about 30 km north of Sneek. Dokkum is known as the place where St. Boniface was killed by pagans in 754 while he was reading the bible to the Christian neophytes. Just as Bolsward and Sneek, Dokkum is also on the route of Elfstedentocht, a 200 km ice skating marathon across 11 towns in Friesland that only happens when the ice on the route at least 15 cm thick. We saw the two windmills built in the 19th century on top of fortifications, and we saw a guy walking and (before that) driving in clogs!! I've seen Dutch (farmers) wearing clogs before, but not driving while wearing ones. They said clogs are comfortable to wear, and during the winter, they are warm. Seeing how fast that guy walked, I take their words for it. We then stopped by at this cafe called De Koffiepot, , where they display hundreds of coffee pot on their walls and ceiling, and had some ice creams there.

Before we knew it, it was already 6 o'clock in the afternoon, and we decided to head home. So there we were driving along those fields where cows and sheep’s were still grassing under the grey sky.


In retrospect, life in those Frisian towns seems much more relax than in the Randstad where we live. However, I don’t think I can picture myself living in the country. Sure, it is much lower in crime; there is no traffic jam, and so on. But, there’s not much you can do, there are less choices, and if you are someone who is dependent on public transport like me, the only public transport you can use was the bus and maybe train (depending on where you live).

And oh, I noticed I was practically the only Asian walking in those three towns on that day. I mean, we passed by a couple of Chinese Restaurant, an Indonesian restaurant and shop, but somehow, I saw no Asian on the street. Go figure...