The mudflats of the Wadden Sea seem endless. But what do you do with them? How do you give meaning to mud? Sure, one cubic meter of mudflat holds millions of diatoms, thousands of small crabs, mussels, snails, and worms. For birds, all this frutti di mare is like ordering à la carte. Birds areContinue reading “Racing on the Wadden Sea with a Silt Sled”
Category Archives: contemporary
Did You Dance With the Blue Light, Yet?
Want some magic while walking the Frisia Coast Trail? If you happen to walk the beach at night, expect the unexpected. Sure, you might see some elves and trolls, but we talk about a mesmerizing blue light in sea… following your footsteps. Spooky? No, it is magical! And, great fun! It is called Sea Sparkle.Continue reading “Did You Dance With the Blue Light, Yet?”
Women of Frisia: Free and Unbound?
Below the green and black image of Saskia Holleman, the reincarnation of Mata Hari, her fellow citizen. Saskia was born in 1945 in the town of Leeuwarden in the province of Friesland, standing stark naked in the milky grasslands with a Friesian Holland cow. It is a pamphlet from the former Pacifist Socialist Party (PSP)Continue reading “Women of Frisia: Free and Unbound?”
Escher’s Home, Land of Confusion
“Dude, take a deep breath and really look at the landscape below. Don’t panic — you’re not alone, and the world isn’t empty. Exhale slowly… let the smoke drift.” “Take another sigh and now look at the landscape of the piece below. Feeling better already? You see what I mean, brother? And hey — niceContinue reading “Escher’s Home, Land of Confusion”
The One Terp That Should Have Been Named a Wierde?
The Hague, 29 June 2013. On this day, Zwaantje Vink-Brouwer, widow of Piet Vink, together with a delegation of local government officials, re-opened the monument ‘The Terp’ in honour of her late husband. Yet calling this monument a ‘terp’ was a blunder. It outraged the people of the province of Groningen and nearly provoked aContinue reading “The One Terp That Should Have Been Named a Wierde?”
Bill Clinton: “I Did Not Have Financial Relations With That Village”
On May 28, 2011 Bill Clinton held a speech in Achlum, province Friesland. The village has some 600 inhabitants. Looks like a small audience to me. What was he up to? We searched online for the keywords “Clinton” and “Achlum” and found many articles mentioning large sums of money… Indeed Achlum should be famous forContinue reading “Bill Clinton: “I Did Not Have Financial Relations With That Village””
Boots Made for Walkin’
Besides Nancy Sinatra’s 1966 recommendation in her song; what kind of boots would we recommend to hike the Frisia Coast Trail? The combination of a flat and often hard surface will take its toll when walking the trail. In this blog post, we discuss what kind of footwear is (not) suitable. It is important toContinue reading “Boots Made for Walkin’”
Leeuwarden, European Capital of Exiled Governments
In both Germany and the Netherlands, many Frisians have watched with unease as waves of referenda and separatist movements have swept across Europe and beyond in recent years — Quebec, Scotland, Kurdistan, Catalonia, Padania, and Ambazonia, to name only a few. At the same time, entire peoples such as the Yazidis and the Rohingya haveContinue reading “Leeuwarden, European Capital of Exiled Governments”
What’s Hip and Happening on the Grasslands?
How do Frisians spend their time off? Frisians in the Netherlands must have plenty of it, as job prospects are among the lowest in the country. In addition, those who do have a job do not lose precious hours to traffic jams every day, unlike people in the cities further south. Inhabitants of the provinceContinue reading “What’s Hip and Happening on the Grasslands?”
How to Recognize the Frisians by Name?
This is one of the simplest things there is, once you’ve got the hang of it. ‘A child can do the laundry,’ they literally say in the Dutch language. This has nothing to do with a history of child labour, by the way. Understanding the logic of Frisian personal names is essential if you wantContinue reading “How to Recognize the Frisians by Name?”
Frisia Coast Trail 