In the long, narrow studio of Hans Dolieslager in Goedereede (Good Harbor), a few visitors stood quietly before large pastels and paintings of storm clouds, moors, dunes, rutted fields and rows of tousled trees, seemingly caught in a spell. The impressionistic landscapes, almost abstractions of hazy color, expressed the look and feel of Zeeland, a delta of low, connected islands washed by the North Sea in Holland’s southwest corner.
One woman looked up and told Dolieslager that she was so taken by the region’s immense skies, she was surprised that he painted mostly the land. Dolieslager replied, “This place is all land and water, and the people are tied to the land and its hard history. These things together give the place its special atmosphere.”
My wife and I were introduced to this beautiful, undiscovered corner of Holland by Dutch friends who were determined to show us the Holland neither of us had seen. Few Americans tour this area, preferring the beaten path–Amsterdam, Delft, perhaps Rotterdam and The Hague. Because of its location, Zeeland draws most of its visitors from Belgium and Germany.
Zeeland’s compelling atmosphere comes largely from the area’s pristine rural beauty and the constant presence of the gray North Sea. There are no junked up landscapes here. Instead one’s eyes are filled with huge, changing skyscapes anchored by a low line of flat green fields, old villages and the beautiful rows of trees that line the narrow roads. Red-beaked oyster catchers, lapwings and gulls fly in and out of marshes. Horses graze on the wind dikes that protect the low-lying fields. The area has a timeless feel.
We anchored near Ouddorp, where our friends, Jops (a language teacher) and her husband Dis (he works for an electronics company), have a tiny, red and green-shuttered cottage that’s been in Dis’ family for several generations. Ouddorp is a utilitarian town situated at the western end of Goeree-Overflakkee, an island immediately north of Zeeland and so similar it should be part of that region.
Small towns and villages are a far cry from the bustle of Amsterdam (always charming) and Rotterdam (a hodgepodge of modern architecture). Consider, for example, small and picturesque Goedereede, where we found artist Hans Dolieslager. Goedereede seemed lost in time–a dead-end canal ringed on three sides by tall, gabled brick houses and buildings with slender sparkling windows and gleaming painted wood trim. A warren of narrow streets branched off the harbor area, dominated by the white facade and red-tiled roof of the 500-year-old Golden Lion Hotel, where we paused for coffee and tea in its wood-beamed cafe. Nearby stood St. Catherine’s Church, which dates to 1453. Its adjoining tower, built in 1467, has the characteristic flat roof of coastal churches. Villagers build fires atop these towers at night, making the line of coastal churches a series of lighthouses.
Back on the narrow cobblestone streets, we found Bakery de Vries doing a thriving business. A long line of shoppers packed the little storefront with its trays of fresh muffins, cookies, chocolates and some 20 kinds of breads and rolls. We loaded up on cookies and sugar bread for breakfast. A few doors away we found Dolieslager’s intimate studio.
The tranquil air of Ouddorp, Goedereede, Stellendam and towns in Zeeland belies the story of the area’s natural history. In 1421 a storm swept the Delta, killing 10,000 people and destroying everything in its path. The Dutch set out to build dikes and reclaim their land from the tempestuous North Sea. But on Feb. 1, 1953, a rampaging sea breached the dikes again, devastating towns and killing some 2,000 people. Vowing “never again,” the Dutch launched the Delta Work, a remarkable system of dikes, locks and four dams designed to keep surging seas from ever reclaiming the lowlands. Today, more than half the Netherlands lies below sea level, but seemingly safe.
On the road again, we crossed Bouwersdam, a nearly 100-yard-wide barrier that protects Grevelingen, an inlet, from the open sea. Vacationers used the top of the massive dam as a staging area for launching windsurf boards into the cold North Sea. Midway across the dam we paused at Grand Dorado, a hotel/condo/boating complex used mainly by German travelers, but also Dutch and Belgians as well.
Bouwersdam links the isle of Goeree-Overflakkee to Schouwen-Duiveland, northernmost island of Zeeland. Here Zierikzee, a town of more than 10,000 dating to the 10th Century, proved to fit like an old shoe. We admired the old town hall with its high, gilded clock tower, the rows of gabled brick townhouses, the intimate shopping street and the crowded cafes. Along a busy sailboat-filled harbor we relaxed and listened to the gulls, church bells and ropes slapping melodically on steel masts.
Zierikzee, first settled by farmers and fishermen, grew as a port along a once-busy shipping route linking Flanders, Holland and Zeeland. Through the years Zierikzee’s business expanded into cloth manufacturing and salt-trading. Three impressive gates remain from the Middle Ages along with a collection of other historic buildings that place Zierikzee 10th on the Dutch list of monument towns.
We easily could have relaxed in Zierikzee for a couple of days just to absorb the atmosphere and quiet pace. We basked at a cafe and marveled at what remained here from the Middle Ages.
Then we set off to cross nearby Zeelandbrug (bridge) to the island of Noord Beveland. We traveled west across the island’s northern tip toward a James Bond movie setting, jarring after Zierikzee’s medieval charm–a forest of modern white steel windmills with three-bladed propellers planted on a stark arm of the dam that protects Zeeland’s farms and villages. From there we turned north on N57 to cross the major Delta Work project, a series of massive locks and dams that protect the inland waters from major North Sea surges that could flood the lowlands. On a tiny island midway across the Oosterscheide inlet, sits Delta-Expo, an attraction that explains the world’s largest flood barrier.
From Holland’s timeless lowland scenery and medieval towns to high-tech flood barriers, our Dutch friends taught us a thing or two about exploring some of the country’s hidden treasures.
