Bolsward In The Netherlands

A couple of years ago we had the great pleasure of traveling down the Danube River on a Viking River Cruise.  We boarded the boat in the beautiful city of Budapest, Hungry.  We traveled down the Danube River through the country of Hungry, then Austria and on into Germany.  The Danube River turned into the Rhine River as we drifted through Germany, and on into The Netherlands, and on into the city of Amsterdam,  where we ended our cruise.

Therefore, it was very interesting when I received a recent email from Michiel and his wife Dirkje from The Netherlands.  They had somehow seen a Sweet Southern Days blog-post. The post he happened to see was "Cotton Pickin' Time in South Georgia."    They had recently been visiting friends in Atlanta, Georgia and thought they would like to see more of the area.  Michiel and Dirkje would like to come back to our country sometime and he was asking some questions about the location of some of the cotton fields featured on that particular post.

The Netherlands is divided into 12 Provinces.  

Michiel and Dirkje live in the Dutch Province of Friesland in the city of Bolsward.

Having been to The Netherlands I asked questions about his home as well.  He was so nice to send photos of his beautiful city and of his lovely home.  I thought it was so interesting to see his city in The Netherlands and asked if I could feature his home and city on this blog-post.

Below we will see photos of Michiel and Dirkje's home.

How nice to have such a big library in their home.

Michiel tells us, in the photo below,  this room is toward the back of their home
where they can sit near the garden.

This photo below shows part of the kitchen area.

Michiel tells us the below photo is at the front of their home.  This is where they sit in the evening reading, watching television, having dinner,  or sometimes visiting with friends.

The Netherlands
Photo from the Internet

Amsterdam is the Capital of The Netherlands.  You can see in the below photo the route from Amsterdam on up the highway and on into the Province of Friesland.  The town of Sneek is very close to the town of Bolsward which is not shown on the map.

Photo from MapQuest

This is a map of the world showing The Netherlands in dark green.

The below map came from the Wikipedia website.

Below is a photo of Market Street which is the center of Bolsward 

with shops and the beautiful 17th century town or city hall.

In the below photo is the view opposite Michiel and Dirkje's home.

A close-up of the 17th century town/city hall.

Below is a photo of the oldest building in the city of Bolsward.  It dates back to the 13th century and was owned by a monastic order of Friars.   Unfortunately, in 1980 the building burned down.  There is a happy ending though ... The church was restored and equipped with a glass roof and the building is back as a restored and renewed monument.

 Old Dutch Monastery Church

 

Below is a photo of the Martini Church in Bolsward dating back to 1445.

The Martini Church

Below is another view of the same church.

Michiel and Dirkje home is on the left side of the water.

Below is a photo of the Mennonite Church in Bolsward .  The founder of the Mennonites came from a small village 3 kilometers from Bolsward.

 Mennonite Church

Another photo close to Michiel and Dirkje's home.

   In the below photo, Michiel tells us this is an old city farm, considered a normal house,  

just outside of the ring canal.

Below is a photo of the Roman Catholic Franciscus Church in Bolsward dating back to 1890.

 Below is a photo of ice skating at one of the canals around the city.

I wish I had asked Michiel how cold it gets there in Bolsward.  

It must get really cold for the canals to freeze enough for folks to go ice skating.

Summertime activities in Bolsward include cycling through the city.

 And, boating on the city ring canal.

Plus a sailing regatta.

 I love this photo of one of the many lakes in Friesland.

Michiel calls the below windmill "my windmill." He says the windmill is turning with two sails half unfolded.  The photo also shows what he calls the Frisian Flag.

I don't understand windmill talk, but I'm impressed he has his own windmill.

 Michiel's windmill in the Winter.

And, he says:  "My windmill in the evening."  

What a beautiful picture of the windmill silhouetted against the beautiful sunset.

It was so nice to see these lovely photos all the way from Bolsward in The Netherlands.  

Michiel said he uses a simple Panasonic Lumix TZ7 camera and his wife uses a Panasonic Lumix TZ35 with Leica lenses.

A very special "thank-you" to Michiel and Dirkje for sharing photos from their homeland in The Netherlands.  I am again reminded of the amazing beauty all around us that the Good Lord has provided for all of us to enjoy.

Thank you too for coming along with us on our photo visit to the beautiful city of Bolsward.  Wishing you many blessings wherever you may be.