A few weeks ago we traded the Gouda ‘city life’ (and I use the term loosely) for a midweek of quiet relaxation on one of our Dutch islands, Texel. This was, like, our very first time there. We were total Texel virgins. Little did we know. Now you have to understand that my country is to tiny you could fit it into the state of Texas about 22 times. So for Dutch standards this was a trip equivalent to fleeing the country.

Of course, something had to happen during our first trip out there, it’s a universal law. And so it did. We were hit by a storm that lasted a week—a major storm in OUR vacation week and I still had to cross that darn sea with a ferry. Stop grinning! The words Storm and Sea? Never again in the same sentence, please, or really bad things will happen. So much for our vacation week… and the weather Gods smiled a cruel smile of triumph.

Anyway, we ended up going home a day early because of the bad weather. But even though it was rainy, stormy and nasty during big part of our stay, we did notice the incredible beauty of Texel. We’ll definitely visit again, someday, when we’ve dealt with our traumas and conquered our fears. We did, however, notice a rather strange thing while vacationing there…

 

 

Things were looking ominous the morning we loaded 16.172 bags into our tiny vehicle and drove up to the coast. The country was covered in a grey blanket, it started raining and it didn’t take long to downpour. It didn’t stop raining for a full week. Luckily the sky was slowly getting blue when we arrived at Den Helder.

 

Kiddo was excited about going on the big boat, as he calls the ferry. I was less excited. I don’t have a thing for ferries, so I was no happy camper ‘til the moment we reached the shore. I kinda like to keep my feet firmly planted on solid ground, no cruise ship kinda girl here.

 

If only I had known this was the last glimpse of blue sky I’d get to see for a while, I would have enjoyed it more! It was pretty there, though. So much open space and fresh air.

 

I could get used to seeing this outside my living room window, that’s for sure. Miles of nothing but wide open space, churning grey seas and stretched-out skies in every direction.

 

With a few occasional sheep and horses just minding their own business. Really zen.

 

The sky started to look inauspicious again. Okay, so I’ve edited the heck out of this, but it really did get overcast! 

 

And that’s when we saw the first one. What the heck is this? It’s like they stopped building as soon as the barn was halfway done. We laughed it off, thinking it was just a farmer who got creative the moment he ran out of money.

 

But then we saw another one.

 

And another one. They popped up like Walmarts. Admit it does look kinda weird!

 

You cannot visit Texel and not take a trip to the Lighthouse. Is that a cute little village at the bottom of the lighthouse, or what?

 

The weather really messed things up for me. The original plan was to go here at night and shoot the lighthouse using a really slow shutter speed.

 

Lucky for me there were lots of beautiful things to see and photograph. And lots of windy beach walks with hot cocoa afterwards.

 

We were surprised to find that not only were we close to the beach but there was a big forest right next to our cottage as well.

 

There were plenty impressive landscapes scenes.

 

And God rays shining down on small villages bathing them in mysterious silver light.

 

So much beauty. But still, there’s one thing I’m really eager to know.

What’s with all the half barns, Texel?