Tag: North Sea

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OOSTENDE, BELGIUM COAST

Oostende, Belgium

Oostende (the Flemish spelling) is a resort and fishing town on the Belgium Coast overlooking the English Channel in the North Sea. It has been pummeled through history with wars and flooding but remains a popular tourist spot.

World War 2 history being our draw-point, we visited the town to see the German bunkers, observation, and gun sites from both WW1 and WW2 on the Oostende cliffs, overlooking the North Sea and the Channel across to the white cliffs of Dover. The town was a major German submarine base in WW1 and a German coastal fortress in WW2 until liberated by the Canadians in 1944.

Oostende, Belgium
German Bunkers looking over the North Sea towards England from the Belgium coast.

Oostende, we found was Interesting for history enthusiasts. The beach, on the other hand, was much more popular with the dogs! Got to love the liberal European beach policies regarding dogs. And restaurants, hotels and other attractions for that matter.

Oostende, Belgium
Swimming in the English Channel off the beach at Oostende, Belgium.

Thoughts and Things

For history buffs, The World War 2 Trivia Book: Interesting Stories and Random Facts from the Second World War – is an entertaining conversation starter!

Belgium is extremely dog-friendly – check out this blog, Welcome To Dog-Friendly Belgium – for a lot more information and inspiration.

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WINTER BEACHES

We had never experienced a place that got so cold the sea edges froze, but that’s the North Sea for you!

The beach closest to our base in Hillegom, the Netherlands was called Langevelderslag : long, wide, windswept, frigid in the winter, and the first time we ever saw frozen sea – the dogs loved it!

Langevelderslag was one of our local beaches in the Netherlands.

Driving further towards the southwest of the Netherlands is Hoek van Holland (picture).  This was a strategic hold for Germany in WW2 because of the harbor.  It is in the southwestern corner of the country at the mouth of the Nieuwe Waterweg (ship canal) into the North Sea.  There is a wide, sandy beach on the other side of the river, part of which is designated for ‘naturalists’ – but obviously deserted this time of the year!

Hoek van Holland, strategic harbor.