Day 11 - The day we saw a swan under a bridge
Today, we left the deep woods of the Dutch province Gelderland and entered the flat polders of the province of Overijssel. This was our second longest day of the trip, about 74 km (45 miles). We stopped at the provincial capital, Zwolle, for some lunch and a break, where we explored St. Michael's church on the town square.
Zwolle was founded by Frisian merchants and the army of Charlemagne. The name means "hill" as in the English "to swell," because the city sits on a hill at the confluence of a few rivers. The residents of the city are called Blauwvingers ("Blue fingers") due to a conflict that occurred with the neighboring town Kampen. You see, Zwolle fell on some hard times financially and St. Michael's tower fell in the 1680's. They sold the bells from their tower to the neighboring town of Kampen, but they may have omitted to mention the fact that the bells took a hundred foot drop first. Also, the city of Zwolle may have jacked up the price a bit, to pad their need for money.
Well, Kampen was not too happy to be in receipt of these VERY expensive broken bells, which they were OBLIGATED to pay for, based on the agreement. So they gave Zwolle the biggest "middle finger" they could. Basically, they did the equivalent of paying Zwolle in pennies. They provided the entire sum completely in copper coins. Because Zwolle distrusted the city of Kampen so, they had to count EVERY SINGLE COIN in order to make sure that full payment was made. Handling and counting all of this copper turned the fingers of the counters blue, and thusly, their nickname was born!
Jessi was ecstatic to find a water fountain, which provided drinkable water. One constant complaint has been the lack of free publicly accessible drinking water. We were warned before we came here, but I don't think that we had anticipated the lack of this particular infrastructure. Good news though, the Dutch have infrastructure for EVERYTHING ELSE! (PS: It's Jessi: I've been calling this water fountain the Dutch Holy Grail. It was truly miraculous!)
We hopped back on the bikes and made our way towards the fairy-tale village of Giethoorn (sounds more like "hhheat-horn" in Dutch). I call it a fairy-tale village, because...that's what it looks like. It looks like someone reached into some ancient idyllic fairy-tale and pulled out this village and made it a reality. The village of Giethoorn is not accessible by car in the strictest sense. It is located on the side of a lake, and the residents' primary transportation are biking and boating along the canals, which separate the houses from one another like streets anywhere else. The entire village is picturesque to say the least. It is also, of course, flooded with tourists. The pamphlet our hotel gave us calls the village the "Venice of the North" and we can see why - with the canals, narrow streets, and walk-able streets.
Jessi and I pulled into our hotel and marveled at the whirl-pool spa tub. This was going to be good! We headed into Giethoorn, a short walk down the road past all the tourist traps and shops. WOW....just WOW! We wandered the southern part of the town and stopped every two steps to take pictures. You can rent boats to navigate the canals, which we are considering for tomorrow. The bridges and the flowers and the canals are breathtaking. Many many thanks to our friend Rachel for pointing this place out to us. It is very truly breathtaking!
We took a walk down a deserted street and saw the lake from afar. We spied a cat rolling on the path in front of one of the amazing houses, and we saw another just sitting outside the fence, watching us with curiosity...possibly watching the hens and roosters next door too. ;-) The canals are picturesque, if you can get a clear shot without loads of tourists filling the frame. It requires a bit of patience! While we were walking I (Jessi) spotted a perfect shot - the empty canal with a swan framed just perfectly under one of the lovely bridges. It is probably the most photographed swan in all of Giethoorn since as soon as I got my shot, several boats rounded the bend and others began taking their photos as well!
We made our way back to the hotel and had an early dinner and turned in. We were beat! Tomorrow, we will finish up in Giethoorn and then we are off to Balk/Sloten. Tomorrow, we will be turning to move around the Ijsselmeer and we will get our first look at this massive man-made lake we will be encircling!
