Frisia Coast Trail.com

May 2017. One of the Frisian bastards  set out to hike the Cape Wrath Trail in Scotland—a roughly 300-kilometer trek through the remote upper north-western Highlands. The journey began at the settlement of Inbhir Garadh  (Invergarry) and stretched all the way to the isolated lighthouse on the cliffs of Cape Wrath, and its tiny café, The Ozone. One might call it the End of the Universe. The fourth day of the hike was both hell and heaven: a day of miscalculations, wrong turns,

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

In this blog post, we will argue that the Frisian lands might just as well be called the United Frisian Emirates. Granted, there are a few superficial differences with the modern United Arab Emirates. The Emiratis have camels and goats; the Frisians have cows and sheep. Their climate is hot and dry; the Frisians’ is wet and cold—for now. With global warming, palm trees may soon line the long dykes of the Wadden Sea and turn its barrier islands into Maldivian-style retreats. A

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

Did you know that between 328,770 and 502,190 people lost their lives around the North Sea? On the flip side: millions of possible casualties have been prevented succesfully. For now at least... Half a million casualties is a lot. How could we forget about such a huge number? Did nobody notice? Did nobody mention? It seems it is not even a public secret. Did we forget about it all together? Are we in denial? Living along the North Sea coast is not easy. It is dangerous. The

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