The only place you'll find the Dutch airing their dirty laundry is at this historic living-history musuem.
I’d stepped into the pages of a charming storybook, where quaint little houses swathed in laundry and history imbued life into the not-so-distant past of the tiny Dutch fishing villages that once dotted the shores of Netherlands’ famed Zuider Zee (Southern Sea).
The story was classic Dutch, one of life in the lowlands of northwest Europe fraught with epic floods and maritime might that tested the mettle of a proud, no-nonsense people (tall people, too) who liked to profess that God may have created the world, but it was up to the Dutch to create Holland.
Like any good story, fact and fiction were inextricably woven into a charming, storybook tale.
The story was classic Dutch, one of life in the lowlands of northwest Europe fraught with epic floods and maritime might that tested the mettle of a proud, no-nonsense people (tall people, too) who liked to profess that God may have created the world, but it was up to the Dutch to create Holland.
Like any good story, fact and fiction were inextricably woven into a charming, storybook tale.
Even the ferry looked appropriatedly storybook.
Our adventure began with a blessedly short ferry ride across the choppy inlet waters of Lake Ijsselmeer from the harbor of Enkhuizen, an important fishing port for centuries until the Zuider Zee was closed off in 1932.
A bird's-eye view of the grounds of the Zuiderzee Museum. in Enkhuizen, Holland.
As the story goes, the now freshwater lake was once completely open to the North Sea, leaving towns and villages along the shallow bay vulnerable to flooding during frequent storm surges. Approximately ten thousand died in 1421 when a seawall on the Zuider Zee dike broke, flooding 72 villages.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
But it was the flood of 1916 that set the Zuiderzee Works in motion, a man-made system of dams and dikes, land reclamation and water drainage that ultimately netted the area 895 square miles of precious land, not to mention peace of mind in the constant battle with the sea.
Did you notice the cute Dutch cap the little lady is wearing in the middle of all the flooding?
Did I mention the population density of the Netherlands (home to 16 million people living in an area just about the size of the state of Maryland in the U.S.) is 958 people per square mile? In comparison, Japan is 830 people per square mile, while the United States is a luxurious 70 people per square mile. But I digress!
A small portion of the 20-mile long Eastern Scheld Surge Barrier, courtesy of Vladimir Siman.
The largest hydraulic engineering project undertaken by the Netherlands during the twentieth century (civil engineer Cornelius Lely’s project began in 1918 and was completed in 1967 at a cost of $710 million) was deemed one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Windmills are a symbol of the constant battle between the Dutch & the North Sea.
Personally, I’m still a big fan of the iconic Dutch windmills that began popping up in the 1400s to help with the flooding. The outdoor portion of the Zuiderzee Museum wouldn’t have been complete without a windmill, and of course, a sprinkling of tulips for some added color.
It was indeed a colorful picture despite the chilly, gray spring day. The mostly authentic homes and shops (close to 130 in all) brought in from harbor towns up and down the coast of Zuider Zee offered a charming slice of Dutch life at the turn of the 20th century.
It was indeed a colorful picture despite the chilly, gray spring day. The mostly authentic homes and shops (close to 130 in all) brought in from harbor towns up and down the coast of Zuider Zee offered a charming slice of Dutch life at the turn of the 20th century.
Volunteers in period costume completed the picture-perfect time-capsule reminiscent of Virginia’s Colonial Williamsburg, only the venue was smaller; and uniquely Dutch, of course.
As with any good story, I lamented the conclusion of all the amazing Dutch history, culture, and crafts. But alas, Mother Nature had some parting words that left us little option but to make a hasty retreat back to modern day and the comforts of home, our Vantage ship.
Cold, wet words from Mother Nature pounded home her point - the end of a charming story.
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