Off to the Netherlands–

On By CandeeIn Europe, Netherlands

Driving over the Afsluitdijk has been one of my bucket list items for awhile now, so we took a little detour on the way to Gerrie and Hilma’s house. It only added about an hour to the trip…and it was worth it!

The Netherlands has been fighting off the sea for centuries. About 1/3 of the country is actually below sea level. The land is kept dry through an elaborate system of dikes, sand dunes, and pumping stations along the coast. Part of this system is the Afsluitdijk, which is a 20-mile sea barrier that was designed to protect the inland against flooding.

The green arrow shows the location of the Afsluitdijk , which stretches from coast to coast, thus protecting the land behind it.
Looking across to our van…
The dedication to this statue was written in Dutch (of course), so we couldn’t understand it. We think this statue is in honor of all the workers who have toiled to keep their country from being reclaimed by the sea.
This picture was taken from the car as we were driving. It captures the essence of the Netherlands perfectly–flat land, canals, and now, wind turbines instead of windmills.

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