Dutch beaches are fun for people and dogs. They are wide, flat, bikini-top optional ….. Of course, the weather is not always co-operative.
We always joked that there really are only about 3 weeks of summer each year! That does not, however, deter the Dutch. They are a hardy and optimistic people.
One of our favorite aspects of the Holland beaches is the Strandpaviljoens – trailer type, temporary restaurants that spring up on the sand serving all manner of Dutch delicacies – pannenkoeken, kroket, frites, and frit sous. A particular sight that we laugh about to this day is that of a rather large Pointer type dog sitting on his owner’s lap in a Strandpaviljoen – while the owner leans awkwardly around him cutting up pieces of pannenkoek for both him and the dog, all the while chatting amicably to his family around the table. The Dutch and their dogs ….. love it !!!
Our (and Spike’s) favorite beaches were Noordwijk, Katwijk, Zandvoort and Scheveningen. The latter is the most popular beach in Holland, with the added attraction of the pier jutting out 984 feet into the sea.
A note of caution – on an ambitious jog along the beach one day past Langevelderslag we stumbled on a nude / naturist beach. Things that make you go hmmmm ……… They are actually rather popular in Holland and there a quite a lot of them about!
The beaches are a hive of activity and can sometimes be quite stressful. Horses !!!! We would constantly scan the horizon for them and at first sight harness Spike up, praying that we would spy them before Spike did. If he caught as much as a whiff of them he was gone – under their hooves in seconds. We were on the receiving end of some choice Dutch admonitions on more than a few occasions.
And then there was the time Spike decided to join a pack of sled dogs practicing pulling a sand sled. They had to re-harness all the dogs after Spike got himself tangled. Ugh !! Never a dull moment !!!! But we will always look back on these days as some of the very best!!
Thoughts and Things
Decades after living in the Netherlands we still talk about our years there. Some of our happiest years. The Strandpavillons always feature in our reminiscences along with the famous Dutch pannenkoeken. Don’t miss an opportunity to eat an ‘echte pannenkoek‘ if you get it!