Frisia Coast Trail.com

Recently, regional newspaper Leeuwarder Courant published an article about how the town of Stavoren  was tampering with the stones of the grave of King Aldgillis (Walinga 2024), a king of Frisia in the seventh century. This grave used to be the spot where the members of the Frisian student association D.S.S.F.S. Aldgillis of Delft would gather to drink and share some jenever together. Hopefully with some jenever as libation for the dead spirits too. A yearly tradition that st

May 8, 2021. Visual artist, photographer Arie Bruinsma approached one of the Frisian bastards . Arie explained to him that his wife...

You might say: “Sure, the study of history is evidence-based and free of politics. For this reason, it is called a science, isn’t it? It...

In the Middle Age lived a once promiscuous girl named Elisabeth. She had come to repentance, found honourable employ as a maid, and had...

Who does not know the epic movie Ben-Hur , released on the big screen in 1959? A movie in which Hollywood actor and civil rights activist...

Being out on the grasslands may bring you face to face with farmers, fellow wanderers, or—of course—'birdwatchers'; see the note at the end of this blog post. Encounters with these countryside folk unfold in slow motion, and follow a sequence of clearly defined phases. Out here, less is more—just like the empty landscape itself. If you have any intention of mingling with the locals of the griene woastyn  (‘green desert’), or hope to receive assistance should you be badly inju

Over the past few years, we have written about the tall, strange-looking people who live in that twilight zone  between sea and land—the coastal strip along the southern shores of the North Sea. Lately, however, the repetitive long-calls alerted us to a blind spot: we forgot all about the iconic animal of that same zone—the seagull. The co-existence of humans and gulls is anything but simple. Opinions diverge wildly, from unalloyed admiration to utter disgust. In this blog po

Rex illiteratus est quasi asinus coronatus, ‘a king who cannot read is like a crowned donkey’. Or, if you prefer the literal translation,...

At the intersection of land and sea—where it is hard to tell where one ends and the other begins—life is harsh. The corrosive salt of the...

It was a Yankee by the name of Mary Mapes Dodge who wrote ‘Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates: A Story of Life in Holland’. The book was published in New York in 1865. It is about poor, 15-year-old Hans and his sister, Gretel. Gretel wins the Silver Skates, the prize for winning an ice skating race. After that, everything turns out for the best, and the Brinkers are one big happy family. The book also contains the story of the Hero of Haarlem. It is the world-famous story of

We retrace our steps to the sixteenth century, a time when the potato was still an exotic newcomer. Today, children grow up on pasta,...

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...

This is the story of the land reclaimed from the former Middelzee—a shallow inland sea that once split the present-day province of Friesland in two, separating the ancient pagus Westrachia  (modern district Westergo) from pagus Austrachia (modern district Oostergo). The name Middelzee  literally means 'middle sea.' Closing this watery rift took centuries. Through a succession of smaller and larger embankments—continuing into the early seventeenth century—new land was steadil

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. It is officially called Noctiluca scintillans . Yeah, like you care. It is actually not specific to the North Sea coast. It is widely distributed throughout the world alo

The Hague, 29 June 2013. On this day, Zwaantje Vink-Brouwer, widow of Piet Vink, together with a delegation of local government...

Why in heaven’s name should a terp be constructed in the Andes? To be more precise, the location for this terp is at the remote, archaeological Inca site Choquequirao in Peru. The answer to the question is not too difficult. The idea was inspired by the monument at the Tsjitsma terp near the village of Wijnaldum in the province of Friesland, designed by architect Nynke-Rixt Jukema. Preparations for the construction of a terp at the Inca site Choquequirao have started already.

In both Germany and the Netherlands, many Frisians have watched with unease as waves of referenda and separatist movements have swept...

It is a well-known fact that the Frisians fought in foreign armies. Whether as foreign fighters  in the Mediterranean and the Levant, or...

“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…...

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 have its toll when walkin' the trail. In this blog post we discuss what kind of footwear is (not) suitable. It is important to realize that the only ascents and descents of more than two meters that you are going to encounter during the 1,000 miles of the Frisia Coast Trail are manmade. It might