A different kind of winter experience in Urk
February 26, 2012 97 Comments
The picturesque village of Urk
Our Valentine’s day out which was a few days late last Sunday was one that was very Dutch for we went on a date to the lovely fishing village of Urk without spending a single cent. Not that I am complaining. We were at my in-laws’ place to bring our little girl who would stay with them for a few days given the one week school holiday which the Dutch calls “crocus vakantie”. I suggested that we take a little sightseeing in the nearby Medieval city of Elburg. My husband insisted that we go to Urk instead which was also a mere 15 minutes drive from my in-laws.
Urk is a lovely fishing village which used to be an island in what was then called the Zuiderzee (South Sea) till the Dutch reclaimed lands that resulted to the creation of the Noordoost Polder and the Flevo Polder which now comprised the province of Flevoland. Noordoost Polder which was created before WWII attached Urk which since then ceased to be an island. The Zuiderzee after the construction of the Afsluitdijk, a 32-km causeway running from Den Oever in North Holland to the village of Zurich in Friesland became the Ijselmeer as it is no longer part of the sea but is now a freshwater lake.
Urk remains to be a very traditional, ultra-conservative and very religious village with the locals still going to the church several times on Sunday and business establishments are completely closed. Women still wear long skirts if not the traditional clothing. The village is picturesque that is why it attracts quite a good number of visitors. And it is also a protected area under the UNESCO World Heritage Site List.
We went to Urk because of one very amazing spectacle — the melting of the ice sheets in the Ijselmeer from the last 2 weeks of deep freeze here in the Netherlands which are then pushed onto the shores. I was so amazed seeing this sight of huge chunks of ice washed ashore. I enjoyed taking pictures because it was like being in the Arctic or the South Pole with icebergs.
On the drive back to Dronten, we took a detour via the Ketelbrug, went under the bridge to view Urk from the other side of the Ijselmeer. It was amazing to see Urk from the distance across chunks of ice sheets in the water. It was a great day out so who needs a very expensive and fancy lunch or dinner date.
By the time we were back at the in-laws in Dronten, Mam Sil has already my favorite Dutch dinner ready — the Dutch beef stew called “Draadjesvlees” which she served with boiled potatoes and beans. I brought the dessert which is a Philippine favorite called “leche flan”.
Ice sheets in the harbor
Huge chunks of ice that washed ashore
Feeling like he's in the Arctic
The lighthouse of Urk
Fun on ice
A memorial to those who lost their lives at sea
Urk in the distance
ice sheets
Ice sheets on the Ijselmeer
Modern windmills along the Ijselmeer
About Malou
Love your photos! Gorgeous! The ice is incredible. I love the colors of the buildings. The sunlight on the water…oh my I could go on forever! Great post Malou!
I was going to write something here too, but I think Judy says it all. Absolutely spectacular!
Thanks a lot, Judy and Michael!
Great photos and appreciate the explanation of how the land was reclaimed from the sea. What an amazing history the Dutch have!
Glad to know that you like this post. The Dutch are pioneers in land reclamation and of course, with water management. As a matter of fact, the Dutch map has changed dramatically in the 20th century from all these reclamation projects.
Beautiful post, the ice sheets are just beautiful
Thanks a lot, Dena.
So many beautiful photos! What a colourful and interesting village to explore!
Thanks a lot, Elaine.
Malou, your blog post is absolutely fascinating. The melting of the ice and washing onto the shore is a sight you will not see everywhere, Your pictures are vivid and beautiful as always and make me feel as if I am there with you. Thank you for sharing this very unusual experience. Dor
Thanks a lot, Dor. We were lucky with the weather too. The days before, it was cloudy and extremely cold. I love the blue skies as the pictures will always come out with very vivid colors.
Beautiful scenery, spending time with your love, and interesting history – sounds like a wonderful Valentine’s day outing
All lovely photos, but the one with the bicycles is my favorite.
Thanks a lot! The picture with the bicycles is showing what a typical Dutch day out is on a Sunday.
Reblogged this on Dutch Heritage Club.
Thank you for sharing such beauty.
Glad to know that you like this post, Rafa.
Love your photos! Your blog always makes me want to visit where you have traveled.
Thanks a lot, Sherry. This is just one of the local places here which is off the beaten tourist path.
Off the beaten tourist path is one of my favorite ways to travel.
Can’t wait to see what you’re up to next!
Great beauty! You photography skills are so great….I’m so glad we found each other!
Love the wind farm, we have those here in Oklahoma as well only there are acres and acres of them!
Thanks a lot, Kelli. Yes, I heard of those wind farms out there in the US. We have them here in limited area because of concerns for the birds and other migratory animals which seem to be affected by these modern windmills. So going green with energy on one hand, also have its disadvantage somewhere.
I like your pictures of the shops and houses, makes me want to visit. Thanks for the post.
Glad to know that you like this post, Nate.
Okay, I’m adding Urk to my bucket list. These shots are beautiful.
It is an interesting place to visit with lots of history as well. Can be a source of inspiration for your books.
Gorgeous – the ice and blue skies look incredible. Thanks for a beautiful photo tour!
Glad to know that you like this post.
very interesting. great pics too.
Thanks a lot, Kirk.
Thank you for sharing the beauty of this corner of the world! You are right, you didn’t need a fancy dinner when the feast you enjoyed for was for the eyes and had such a wonderful warmth waiting for you at Mam Sil’s. I’m glad you had such a lovely day.
Imperio
myhappyhearts.wordpress.com
True, this experience was a feast for the senses so we didn’t need the fancy dinner when we can have the tried and tested comfort food of Mam Sil.
Wow. What a beautiful scenic.
I should plan one day go there as well. Lovely~~
Thanks a lot. Yes, if you find yourself in Holland, I would suggest that you spare some time to see this lovely place.
I like your hat! Lovely house colors, pretty village. I didn’t even attempt to try to pronounce the names of the towns!
Thanks a lot, Joy. It was still so cold so a hat was a must. Dutch names can be pretty intimidating but once you know how to pronounce the letters in the alphabet the Dutch way, then reading Dutch words become easy.
Hello Malou. URL looks like a quaint town somewhere in Maine or the Atlantic provinces in Canada. Very picturesque too. It looks like a place where artists could settle for a but and paint.
I would love to taste your mother-in-law’s stew. Must be delish! Did they like your leche flan?
True because in that part of the US, there’s always the harsh winter.
The fishing villages here in Holland are indeed very picturesque. There are a couple which we also love to visit for that reason.
One day, I will post the recipe of the stew. It is very simple and just requires patience (slow cooking of 2-3 hours). And yes, they love the leche flan.
It does fell like Arctic…:-)
That’s true, Vic.
Lovely photos!
Thanks a lot, Razel.
the first word that came to my mind is – lovely. Very nice shots and experiences. Especially, the last two shots are my favourites.
Thanks a lot, Kam.
What a beautiful place, and very interesting to know of its transformation from an island. Great ice photos.
The Dutch are pretty good with re-creating the map. Glad to know that you like this post.
Lovely photos again – can’t believe that you have so much ice down there .. and we have nothing up here. Hardly no winter at all. Snow for a day, that’s it. I love the photo where you all wrapped up. And the windmills always do well on photo.Thanks for – A great winter memory
Thanks a lot, Viveka. These pictures were from the other weekend and I guess they are mostly gone now. I’m looking so much forward to spring. It’s time for the flowers to be on my posts.
Beautiful beautiful place
Thanks for the lovely post..
Thanks a lot. I hope you can visit this place one day.
Typical Dutch….lovely!!!! And sunny
!!
Hartstikke bedankt, Letizia.
What a wonderful place! And thanks to you, we now know the right time to visit
This spectacle does not happen every winter, only when we really have that sustained long freeze. Still even without this ice, Urk is always a pleasant place to visit.
Love your photos! Especially the colourful buildings against the sea!
Thanks a lot, Mathangi.
The scenery isso incredible! I can’t imagine how cold it was, but the ice looks insane!!!
It did not felt so cold because the sun was shining. A few days prior to our visit, my in-laws went there when it was windy and cloudy and they said it felt so cold.
wow, a few days can make a difference in those glacial temps! As I write this it’s sunny, humid and about 26C perfect end of summer days!!!
My favorite part was the blue sky. I don’t see enough of it in Shanghai, so I love to live vicariously through photos. Hope you kept warm!
Thanks a lot! And I will satiate my longings of Asia through yours.
What a pretty town! I love the ice too. Believe it or not but it looks more wintery there than here in Minnesota! We have no snow and well above average weather . My kids are sad because they can’t build snow forts or sled . Thanks for sharing!
The world’s climate is really going crazy. Our winter also started warm and humid till the deep freeze that hit Europe early in the month. The temperature now has inched above freezing so we’re already in spring mode here.
Hi Malou!
Thanks for following me. Its a great encouragement for me =)
Stunning photographs – makes us feel cold looking at them
I know Urk, a beautiful, remote and traditional fishing village, an hour’s drive from Amsterdam’s marijuana and prostitution -while Urk is one of most god-fearing places. Urk is part of a different Netherlands…
Wonderful pictures and post…
Aptly said, Dugutigui. Most people only think of Holland as Amsterdam and is today’s modern Sodom and Gomorrah which is completely incorrect. Strangely enough, there are places here in Holland which are still ultra conservative, traditional and very religious.
… and based more on co-existence than on a desire for social integration…
God save Amsterdam!
That looks cold! Stunning photographs.
Your photos were simply spectacular. Thank you for sharing the experiences from your corner of the world. What a great escape from the suburbs of Chicago! Malou, I also wanted to let you know that you can follow my blog from from my own domain at http://www.mylifewhileshopping.com. I don’t think the old site redirects. Thanks for inviting me into your blog. I love it! Where are we off to next???
Thanks a lot for sending your new link, Renita. I don’t like it that suddenly when you get your own domain, the old site does not redirect.
Where to next? Oh, got plenty of places still cover. Still Holland I guess though I want to move on to places like Salzburg, Tuscany, Normandy or the South of France.
Wow, that is so cool! Look at all that ice. In some of your pictures, it almost looks like the ice chunks are foam floating in the ocean. Great photos and it looks like you had a lot of fun!
The floating ice chunks was a spectacle that I really enjoyed seeing for the first time.
What a beautiful village and your pictures are, again, stunning. The brilliant sky and colors, the ice….just gorgeous.
I really enjoyed this post. The pictures reminded me so much of when I was growing up near Lake Michigan, 60 miles north of Chicago. In the winter I would walk down to the lake and see the huge ice burgs and chunks of ice floating at the water’s edge which were really quite beautiful.
This looks like a great day. Very telling photographs
What a beautiful place! I love the small fishing villages and northern seas. The photos remind me of the most northeastern coast of Maine by Canada where you could hear the sea ice cracking in the night. The big ice chunks on the water look like a giant slushy icy drink
The blue skies, grey-blue sea and reds of the village look amazing together.
I love your photos, especially the ice… looks like giant crystals!
Love the Photos, particularly the on of the bicycles between ice and grass. Good stuff.
Great history lesson. The photos are wonderful and you and your husband look so cute all bundled up. I love the lighthouse photo the best
It looks like a lot of fun to go out and play in the ice. I hope this means that the weather is getting warmer 
Ashley
Glad to know that you like this post and the bit of history lesson, Ashley. Weather is indeed getting warmer and I can hardly wait for spring.
This is such a gorgeous set of pictures. And very interesting reading about the place. Thank you for sharung.
Great photos! I particularily liked the one with two people on bicycle and the sea on the background..the nature is amazing! What camera do you use?
Thanks a lot, Benanti. I have an old Nikon D60. I guess you can’t get them now as there are newer models in the market.
It is still a great camera. Good luck with your projects and to many more amazing photos!
I have the same question as @benanti! Your photos are stunning. Can you share what camera you use if you recommend it?
It’s a Nikon D60, Erin.
Who knew ice could be so beautiful? Lovely post.
That ice is crazy! It must have seemed almost like another planet. In any case, it looks like you had a wonderful time together. Just goes to show that the best things in life don’t cost anything!
Lovely! What a picturesque town and information about it!
Great shot of the ice. I really like lighthouses and the photo with the bicycles. The ocean photo just before the memorial wall is beautiful.
oh my, it looks so cold! XD Awesome pictures though!
Looks beautiful. Great shot of the ice chunks!
Hi Malou
Again Beautiful Pic’s, the ice look like a real crystals chunks!!!!!!!!!!
thank you for sharing amazing shots.
Thanks for sharing this! I’ll be putting Urk on my list of places to visit when I am in NL later this year.
These photographs remind me of Lake Superior on the Minnesota shore when it breaks up in the spring. The booms of the ice echo off the rock cliffs and through the forests, and then the ice comes in, piling up in great mountains of ice. I was surprised to find that the Netherlands has a common event in Ursk. This is a great post.
You are so talented Malou. Thanks for sharing those beautiful photos! Very nice!
Great photos…a picture really is worth a thousand words! Spectacular!