Zierikzee in Zeeland Holland: Photos & Memories
The small city of Zierikzee is pretty fascinating with a history rich in trading and wealth. It’s a great spot to snap a real ‘Dutch’ photo and with its lovely port and the church, old gates and mills that surround the city.
It’s also the place of the mildly famous (but not Kanye West famous) “Battle of Zierikzee”, where Flemish invaders were held off by a joint fleet of Franco-Holland ships in 1304.
Recently we popped on over for a spontaneous trip to Zierikzee. A CouchSurfer we were hosting (Alex) rented a car for a day, and asked us if we were interested in visiting Zeeland.
We chose Zierikzee as it looked like a fun city to visit. It’s located in one of the many ‘islands’ that are scattered throughout Zeeland in the South of Holland.
Driving To Zierikzee - The Map
The whole area is amazing as the Dutch are actually making their own land by walling off sections of the ocean and then dredging out the water using special boats (called dredges).
I finished work and we drove straight there, it took around an hour from Rotterdam (Holland is all very close together if you have access to a car).
From within the CouchSurfer mobile…
Windmills on the way, as the sun sets.
As we drove in I realised that I’ve been here before! On my first backpacking trip I spent a bit of time in Holland and as it turns out, in Zierikzee! I had just forgotten what the place was called but still have some great memories of being there. A friend of mine and I were staying with an older lady who was a friend of his family, so we spent a bit of time exploring the nooks and crannies of Zierikzee.
I remembered that I had climbed one of the old stone defence watch towers, I had fished in the canal (and we had caught a slimy fish – it went straight back into the canal), and visited the nearby beaches. We had rode a tandem bike with two seats around during a month in summer. The weather was definitely a bit better last time I was there though.
As we parked the car though, we couldn’t help but notice how beautiful the city was. Dusk was fast approaching, which is always my favourite time of the day. The city is so Dutch. So European. We couldn’t resist snapping photos as soon as we got out and started exploring.
My girlfriend Trudy is the expert photographer so she takes most of the great photos, I like to let her change the settings in the camera and then I have a go at just clicking the button.
We headed towards the Port in Zierikzee so we could see some ships!
Vertrouwen means married!
A sailing yacht glides into the port after a day on the water…
Smile!
The sun began to disappear but that just brought with it more chances for beautiful photos across the water.
I feel a headstand coming on!
Someone rides their bicycle through the towering and old Zierikzee gate.
Alex, our CouchSurfer, was enjoying taking lots of photos too.
We joked that his Nikon makes a better click then our Canon.
Zierikzee was a great side trip and we had a boatload of fun (pun, zing!) for what was a quick trip late in the afternoon.
5 Responses to “Zierikzee in Zeeland Holland: Photos & Memories”
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Vertrouwen doesn’t mean married, but trust. I can see how the “trouwen” part tripped you up there. 🙂
Oh really? Ooooops! I’m always getting Dutch words wrong 😀
Awesome photos! Also, doing a headstand on a bridge at night? It sounds like a beginning of a funny story that could go bad! 😀
Thanks Sonia 🙂 Luckily that story didn’t go bad – if I had fallen into the canal it certainly would be a funny story (weeks later, that is). 😀
Loved the writing about Zierizee and especially the photos. I lived on Domesstraat 24 in Zierikzee from June to Dec in 1969, and I’ve been back 3 times. I was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I remember that Tom Jones was singing in a small night club that summer, and remember Mussel Day (Daag) and the parade and the Mussel Queen on the float. I was there when the US first landed on the moon. It was great times. I love that town.