Day 11 - Moving Inland

As we wave goodbye to Hindleloopen we also farewell the IJsellmeer and its vast shining waters. Most of the rest of our trip will now be exploring the inland regions of north, east and south Holland. We meander through some heavily forested areas that remind us of Denmark, thick clumps of towering greenery that provides a welcome relief from the monotony of farmland.

We pull over at an open green area that looks like a nature reserve. It has an intriguing metal sculpture at its entrance. Interpretive signs tell us this is an ancient garden, built in the late 17th century as part of a vast estate. The building no longer exists but the square garden, surrounding a tear-drop shape pond full of rushes and croaking frogs, retains the original design, based on an English garden. A path, straight as a ruler, extends into a medieval looking forest. Indeed, more signs tell us these forests were used for hunting and wandering, and were considered to be populated with spirits that could either help you (if you were a good person) or hurt you (if you were bad). The towering birch trees could well be over 300 hundred years old and indeed look very haunting.

We take a break in Lemmer with its lively town square (and excellent ice cream shop) before heading on to our next destination, Delfstrahuizen, on the south end of the Tjeukameer.

An old cemetery on a mound, along the fietspad.