A Netherlands Travel Diary Not Spent in Amsterdam

Traveling in Turbulent Times

We’re going through a period of fluctuation. One minute, everything seems fine. People are getting vaccinated, mask mandates are getting lifted. Then, there’s a new variant and I don’t even know what I’m allowed to do. I’ve been traveling quite a bit this summer, and because the rules are different district-to-district, state-to-state, and country-to-country. It’s been the most confusing travel season I’ve ever encountered.

The absolute worst case was trying to get to the Netherlands. Two nights before our trip, we got an email from the airline saying there will be a mandatory ten-day quarantine, regardless of vaccine status. We checked the Netherlands government website and it said that the US is a low risk country and there will be no quarantine enforced. So we were confused, but decided to trust the government website over our airline. The next morning, though, the website changed. As of September 4th, the day we were leaving, the US would be categorized as high risk and there would be a mandatory quarantine. But then there were all these exceptions and we didn’t know if we did or didn’t qualify for any of them. After much debate and many phone calls with the airline, hotel, and the people we were visiting, we decided to go anyway. I’d heard all sorts of horror stories: flights getting canceled, people not getting into the country or having to quarantine at government-provided facilities, tracking anklets, you name it. My anxiety was through the roof.

When we landed in the Netherlands, everything was perfectly fine. The flight was a bit empty, for obvious reasons, but we walked right through customs, nobody mentioned a quarantine, and we were on our merry way. Weird, but I’m thankful it worked out.

Day 1

We landed early in the morning. I didn’t sleep on the plane, so you can imagine that I was a complete, groggy mess. We were staying with family in the small town of Lisse, so they came and picked us up. We got a tour of the house and spent the majority of the day catching up. A short walk around the neighborhood showed cute little houses, parks, and canals. The weather was super nice, so a good number of people were hanging out in their boats, floating around without a care in the world. Honestly, I was somewhat jealous. We all started crashing by 3pm (thank you jet lag), took a nap, got up to eat dinner, and then slept again.

Dinner was common drunk Dutch fare, in other words, mostly fried food: egg rolls, croquettes, bitterballen (fried balls of meat and gravy), fries, etc. Definitely not the healthiest of meals, but it was easy considering how tired we were.

Day 2

Lesson of the day: Dahlias are beautiful.

Lisse is a seasonally touristy spot, well known for its colorful tulip fields. It being September, the tulips were not in bloom but the dahlias were. We walked to Keukenhof Castle (which in and of itself is a very pleasant walk) and found the Holland Dahlia Event in full swing. Displays of the flowers were set up all around the castle grounds. I’m sure that the event was set up to bring attention to flowers other than tulips. I didn’t know what dahlia’s looked like before coming to the Netherlands, so I’d say the event was a success for a noob like me. 

Day 3

It was a hot, beautiful day. We were feeling more energetic and decided to take advantage of the weather by going to the beach. Noordwijk was a short drive away. It’s a cute beach town southwest of Amsterdam. The beach was crowded, thanks to the good weather. The water was cold but bearable. Considering it was called the “North Sea,” I was expecting worse. The sand was dappled with seashells and there was a steady stream of sailboats launching off into a calm sea. After spending a few hours in the sun, we sought out shade and food in town. Just across from the beach, there are some wide commercial streets with everything you’d need and more. We sat in a little square and people watched while enjoying our sandwiches. Another relaxed yet eventful day.

Day 4

This was when we really started kicking into the travel gear. We spent the first half of the day in Leiden. It’s a fun university town filled with the traditional Dutch canals (they were wider than in other towns I’d seen in my opinion). We ate lunch next to the water with a great view of the windmill right in the center of town. We walked off our meal towards the Burcht van Leiden. It’s an old fortress-like structure built in the 11th century to protect the townspeople from invaders. There really is something calming and intriguing about these ancient structures. It’s just a circular fort on top of a man-made hill, but I felt at ease when I entered the gate to find a courtyard with an old tree in the middle. 

There’s also supposed to be a very nice botanical garden in Leiden, but we missed it since we had other plans. I’d love to go back and check it out, though.

The second half of the day was spent at a lake in Hoofddorp. We took the dog with us, hung out in the water, and walked the perimeter of the lake. The path was quite scenic, so if you encounter good weather, I highly recommend it.

Day 5

We started with a morning walk around Lisse in an effort to tire out the dog and then loaded up the car to spend the next few days in Hoge Veluwe National Park. It’s a nice breath of nature with the adorable town of Otterloo right at its border. The cabin we were staying in was a part of a complex, a whole community of temporary homes. They were pretty closely packed, but we had a good spot right next to the creek. Our cabin was modern and surprisingly roomy, considering it was housing 5 people plus a dog.

We took a walk around the complex to get our bearings and extended that into a hike into the heather fields. If you don’t know what heather is, it’s a plant with adorable little purple flowers. They were in full bloom when we went, and in the Hoge Veluwe National Park, there are fields and fields of them. 

Day 6

It was a national park exploration day.

We spent the first half of the day hiking and driving around the park. Dogs are allowed but need to stay on the leash. Hoge Veluwe in a sense reminds me of the New Jersey Pine Barrens. The ground was sandy and there were quite a lot of pine trees. I think there was a lot more open space here and even areas of sand dunes, so, of course, not quite the same as New Jersey. We caught sight of a deer and a wild boar, which we collectively found much more exciting than we probably should have. I’m honestly surprised they didn’t go running in the opposite direction in reaction to our excitement. 

There were cute little setups along the shorter, more heavily trafficked trails, such as art installments and wildlife viewing boxes where you could look out into clearings while shielded from sight. A few areas of the park were closed off due to mating season, which I think was kind of nice. Nature needs a break from humans every once in a while. And humans need a break from deer with very large antlers who are aggressively trying to find a mate. 

During the second half of the day, it started raining. We saw the weather report and had already reserved some tickets to the Kröller-Müller Museum, which is right in the middle of the park. It’s a modern art museum that boasts about housing the second largest collection of Van Gogh paintings in the world (the first being the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam). It’s an architecturally neat building design, with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out onto the national park grounds. On top of Van Gogh, there were pieces of work by Seurat, Monet, Picasso, and Mondrian. They had an exhibit on air when we went that I thought was a lot of fun to see. We missed the sculpture garden due to the rain, which only means that I have to go back to check it out another time. 

We took one final drive through the park and stopped to take a look at the hunting lodge, which was quite surprisingly the size of a castle. 

Day 7

This was another two-part day. We began at the Arnhems Oorlogsmuseum 40-45. It’s a World War 2 museum with a TON of stuff to look at. A lot of the artifacts were found right in Arnhem (a neighboring town not too far from the national park), where the Battle of Arnhem (if you can’t tell by the name) was fought. 

A tour guide met us right at the beginning and walked us through the entire museum. He was extremely knowledgeable and answered questions about any of the artifacts we asked about and brought our attention to ones that we might’ve otherwise overlooked. Considering the price of admittance and how much we learned, I thought it was well worth it and believe me when I tell you that their motto “It’s bigger than it looks” holds very true. 

After our museum visit, we regrouped at the cabin and then took off for high tea in Otterloo. If you haven’t had high tea, it is my favorite meal time. You get bottomless tea, a plate of savory food and a plate of sweet food. It’s all about taking your time and enjoying good food and company. The place we went to also offered high wine and high beer, so if tea isn’t your thing, there are other options.

Day 8

We checked out and drove back to Lisse. I was asleep on the drive out, so you can’t imagine how excited I was to see a wildlife bridge on the way back. These bridges are designed for wildlife to be able to cross highways without having to leave their natural habitat and endanger both human and animal lives. It’s definitely something I’d like to see more of someday.

After getting home, we had a down day to rest and recover.

Day 9

We went to Amsterdam and impulsively bought more cheese than we could ever need. Be warned, they seduce you with the free samples.

Day 10

We spent the day in Lisse. Got our covid tests for the flight back and did a little bit of shopping around. I had one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had (it was at a spot called Barista Cafe in case you were wondering).

Day 11

We took a nature walk and had brunch at Venneper Lodge. The restaurant is right at the entrance to the park, so it was very easy to enjoy our walk and grab some food.

With full bellies, we set off to Delft for a little half-day trip. It wasn’t my first time in Delft. I had gone before and described it in this post. We visited the New Church again and were delighted to find that they were doing an archaeological excavation that we were allowed to observe. We explored the city much more than I had before, went into the shops and learned more about the pottery that Delft is so famous for. 

We were a bit bummed that we still missed the Old Church, so in determination to finally see it, we decided to go back the next day.

Day 12

We started our day at the Eastern Gate. It is a gothic structure built around 1400, which is now a private residence. The only thing I could think was how. How do you end up living in a gothic gate house that is hundreds of years old? I guess it’s more baffling to an American than to people from other cultures. There aren’t a lot of structures from antiquity there.

From the Eastern Gate, we made our way to the Old Church (finally). It started as a wooden church in 1050 and took off from there, getting rebuilt and added to over the centuries. My favorite feature is the clock tower, which leans about a meter and a half over the neighboring canal. Apparently when the clock tower was added on, it was built on top of a former canal that had not yet formed into solid ground. It started to lean and then the builders tried to correct it, so there’s a kink in the tower.

Having finally toured the Old Church, we relaxed a little and took to walking the streets and checking out the shops. I got myself a hand-painted coffee mug in the Delft blue with an image of the New Church on it. The antique shops exhibit old tiles from as early as the 1600s (from what I saw), which seemed to be really popular, including with my travel party.

We managed to get on the last canal tour of the day and learned more about the buildings and history of the city. The canals are skinnier (and I believe older) than some of the other towns and cities we visited. Delft has a long history, so it was nice to learn so much on the tour.

Going Home

I woke up at 3:30 am with a feeling of panic. I’m sure it was a bit of travel anxiety, but I really felt like I was missing something. I checked my phone and, lo and behold, I got a text from the airline 2 minutes earlier saying that our flight had been canceled. 

Sorting everything out was quite the headache, especially at so early in the morning. I feel bad for anyone who didn’t see the text before it was too late. Our only other option for getting back that day was earlier in the morning than our original flight, so I’m sure a lot of people had to stay an extra day.

After all of my international travel, I must advise that if possible, book a direct flight into the US. We had a layover in Newark and had to go through customs, to baggage claim, recheck our bags, go through security again, and then go to the gate. It took us about 2 hours to get through everything and it’s not the first situation I’ve been in like that. If you do have a layover, make sure you have plenty of time, especially if it’s in a highly trafficked airport like Newark.

Overall, despite the anxiety around traveling, I had a lovely time in the Netherlands.