
Wut? Did you just call yourselves bastards? Yes, we did. Because that is the best summary for this hike, the Frisia Coast Trail.
This hike covers four countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark.
This stretch of Europe always has been a rough and dangerous place to live. Land and sea have been rolling dice for ages...
Lakes emerged, rivers changed course, islands walk in the sea, dunes vanish to emerge somewhere else, man-made villages washed away overnight, and dikes broke through.
Living at sea level isn't easy. Certainly not when sea levels have a tendency to drop and rise over time. The sea is such a diva.
This hike will bring 2,000 years of coastal history in 1,000 miles. Trust us, not one century this landscape has been the same.
In that period many people settled in this rough coastal area. Others were just passing by, e.g. the Romans, the Suevi's, the Cannifates, the Bataves, the Marcii, the Angles, the Saxons, the Jutes, the Geats, the Danes, the Vikings, the Franks, the French, the Spanish, etc.
Oh yes, and the Frisians. Some Frisians moved on to England. Other Frisians stayed in this stretch of coastline and mingled with the ones passing by.
Since the two of us are part of the stayers, we are genuine bastards, having drops of blood from all of the peoples named above.
NOTE:
If you feel our blog posts about the history of Frisia are biased, we plead guilty. Having said that, we still try to find a history book without any bias. The question, therefore, is not whether it is biased, but whether it is honest about its bias. And, the question isn't either, is it true? No, the question is, how wrong? Take this into account and we wish you happy time travels!
