Dunn Talking About It: Friesland

Sneek

Well here we are in The Netherlands, where most people would go to Amsterdam or Rotterdam we chose Friesland, a providence in the northwest of The Netherlands with a total population of about 646,000 people. Maybe you have heard of their horses and cows or ice skating? Friesland has been a total 180 from our month in Paris, not in bad way though. There was a part of me that was disappointed to leave Paris as I loved all the food and culture that Paris offered and there was a part of me that was looking to slow down a bit and just sort of sit with it all. Well life has s-l-o-w-e-d down, we went from monuments, museums, crazy drivers and sensory overload to farmland, canals, wooden shoes and a head spinning language. We are staying at a camp ground but there is no "roughing it" here. (OR/WA peeps envision Campers Hideaway) We are in an adorable 2 bedroom A-framed house, w/d, full kitchen, flat screen TV and a backyard. The closest town is about 3 miles away and we do not have a car or a bicycle so we are the strange Americans walking on the bike path. We actually have been enjoying all the walking and our bodies are starting to show it, but 3 miles in Paris consisted of shops, cafes and people whereas in Sint Nicolaasga its cows, slugs and bicycles. 3 miles feels a lot longer here than in Paris.
We have explored a few towns/villages, Joure, Sint Nicolaasga, Sneek, Heerenven and Langweer. They are all very charming but sadly all look alike, lots of shopping (the Dutch love to shop) bakeries, cafes and did I mention shopping. The villages all have that coastal boardwalk kind of feel and look, everyone is on a bike, tan and smiling. Everything for the most part is very affordable if you don't do the Euro to Dollar conversion, plus they have some great affordable shops, HEMA is the Dutch IKEA.
Not sure I am a fan of the Dutch cuisine as we haven't tried very much. There is a lot of fried food that all has the same red breadcrumb coating, pickled foods and fries with mayo (okay they were tasty). The kaas (cheese) and rye breads are amazing!! Decided we needed to try a local libation so we bought a bottle of Beerenburg, a liquor made of 71 herbs and gin...sort of a tamed version of Jaegermeister and mixed it with coke it wasn't to bad. Before we leave we promised each other that we would try the raw herring (served with raw chopped onions). We were told to think of it as sushi...gulp.
We have two weeks left so working on our trips to Amsterdam and the capital of Friesland, Leeuwarden - can't say I am not looking forward to a museum, a coffee shop and a few more people.