By Peter Wilson
ZEELAND, Holland — “Bike or hike?’’
That was the cheerful challenge offered by the hotel desk clerk on a bright, sunny morning as I checked options for a pre-breakfast tour of this seaside getaway spot.
I was spending a few days in Zeeland, one of the larger Dutch provinces just a couple of hours drive or so from Amsterdam, but about as different as chalk and cheese from the hustle and bustle of the nation’s cultural capital.
Vacationing in this region, you have to forget about the magnetic lure of Amsterdam and all its vibrant cafes and bars. In Zeeland you cross over to the other side of Holland’s vacation equation, to golden beaches and pastoral villages, to a place where the Dutch themselves come to mellow out.
I was staying at the Hotel Kamperduinen (www.dekamperduinen.nl) in the vacation community of Kamperland at the far end of Northern-Beveland, one of the many island territories that make up a sizable chunk of Zeeland’s geography.
The hotel faced the rolling dunes that led to a beach left shimmering by the receding tide and which stretched for a couple of kilometres in both directions.
Several minutes after the desk clerk’s question, I was still pondering whether to take advantage of one of the hotel’s free bikes, or to check out the beach trails on foot. I considered the miles of pristine sand dunes and beaches, and then thought about the vast network of biking trails along this stretch of coastline in southwest Holland. What to do?
Choices, choices, choices. I was feeling like Robert Frost as he contemplated his “road not taken.”
A similar lack of decisiveness had surfaced at dinner the previous evening.
After much deliberation, I’d finally selected mussels from the crowded menu.
After all, these plump beauties were harvested just down the coast at Yerseke — the harbour town known as the mussel capital of Holland.
They’ve been raising mussels around these parts since the 15th century, and mussel farming is still big business in the region. The centre of the action is Yerseke, which holds the only mussel auction in the world. The annual Yerseke Mussel Festival in August draws about 40,000 people to the town’s market and harbour.
Oysters, eels and lobster add to the harvest the industrious Zeelanders take from the wide river estuaries that stretch between the fingers of land into the North Sea.
But tourism is the big money-earner these days. Thanks to a reputation for being the sunniest spot in the Netherlands and its lengthy tracts of beach front, Zeeland has become the country’s quintessential seaside escape hatch.
Not surprisingly, rental homes, holiday trailers and motels have sprung up to provide a wide range of accommodation choices all along the coastline.
You can even rent upscale beach cabins that are comfortably equipped with gas, water and electricity.
Even the cities and towns of Zeeland have a gentle feel to them, no doubt influenced by their colourful history and their peaceful rural settings.
During the Second World War, Canadian forces fought to liberate strategic centres such as Middelburg, Zeeland’s largest city, and the much smaller community of Veere, located on the Veerse Meer (lake) on the island of Walcheren.
More than 7,000 Canadians lost their lives in the 1944 battles to clear German forces from both banks of the Scheldt estuary.
These days, the cities in Zeeland, along with smaller towns and villages, like the picture postcard community of Zierikzee, provide delightful urban options if you ever tire of beach life.
Middelburg, Zeeland’s capital, dates back to the ninth century. Heavily bombed during the war, much of the old city centre has been rebuilt, with an emphasis on preserving original architectural styles.
A must-see in any Middelburg itinerary is the Zeeuws Museum, a storehouse of more than 30,000 art treasures. Curiously, especially for Canadian visitors, the museum also has a large collection of objects made by the Blackfoot Indians. This collection was assembled by the Zeelander Meinard Sprenger (1860-1951), who travelled to Canada at the end of the 19th century.
But whatever exploration paths you travel, the delightful changing moods of the seascapes that inspired painters like Toorop and Mondrian will capture your imagination. There are endless opportunities to sail, kayak or wind surf.
However, Mother Nature’s gift of water here has been a bit of a double-edged sword. Not surprisingly, Zeeland’s coat-of-arms shows a lion half-submerged in water, with the text “luctor et emergo” (I struggle and I emerge).
In 1953, the mother of all floods struck the Netherlands, and Zeeland bore the brunt of the disaster. The night of Jan. 31 to Feb. 1, almost 2,000 people died and more than 150,000 hectares of land were flooded.
The catastrophe led to the construction of the most complex and sophisticated flood-control system in the world. What became known as the Delta Works, a vast network of dams, dikes and locks that protect the region from the storm surges of the North Sea, was finally completed in 1986. The visitor centre of Neeltje Jans at the Oosterschelde Barrier tells the story of the monumental construction project.
If you spend time in Zeeland, sooner or later you will come across the province’s signature dessert, a sweet baked pastry called Zeeuwse Bolus.
You’ll find no better place to sample this delicious calorie-filled delight than the dining spot called In den Wijngaard (www.indenwijngaard.eu) in Aardenburg, a few kilometres from the Belgian border. Ask owner, Monique Wijnmaalen, to serve you her version of this yummy sweet bread, which is covered with caramelized sugar and ground sweet spices.
If you’re looking for something more formal, take lunch at Restaurant de Kromme Watergang (www.krommewatergang.nl) in the small village of Hoofdplaat, where Edwin and Blanche Vinke’s fabulous Michelin star restaurant will put a song in your heart. Award-winning chef Edwin uses locally grown produce and the freshest of seafood to create his culinary magic. When he’s not cooking, this remarkable chef can be found at local village markets or maybe in nearby fields hunting down wild herbs to add that special touch to his dishes.
If You Go
By car, the province is about a two-hour drive from Amsterdam, depending on traffic.
By train (there are direct trains and trains with one change) 2.5 hours from Amsterdam Central Station to Middelburg.
(http://www.ns.nl/reisplanner-v2/index.shtml)
Train fares
One-way, first-class Euro 41.50
Second-class Euro 24.40
For more information on Zeeland and other regions of the Netherlands, visit www.holland.com.
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
