We were so lucky – Wednesday 17th July, our full day on Texel, was going to be spent in a perfect weather: +23C, clear skies, and almost no wind. Vagn and I had rented a car (though we would rather bike), because the island is quite big – 161 km2 of land, and we wanted to explore as much of it as we could.
We began from going north, to the Eierland Lighthouse that is located on northernmost tip of the island:
The lighthouse was lit on 1st November 1864. There are beautiful views from the 20 m high dune it is built on:
We went to the beach where Vagn played with the shells:
I was scratching my head – why don’t I live in a place like that?
We drove on the eastern part of the island, and stopped for sight-seeing.
In one place, there was a nice narrow wooden bridge that was perfect for a photo:
We continued to the picturesque village De Cocksdorp:
Visited a church there:
And only after that – lunch. We had it in a cafe Bij Joost.
The food was really good, and everything made from fresh ingredients. Next stop – Oosterend:
It wasn’t planned to have a stop there, but the town attracted us with its charm:
The main street went around a big church in the centre, and we walked it. There were many cute houses…
A nice restaurant in the corner, called Strends End, had an inviting terrace. We thought it was a suitable place for a coffee break. Vagn got his now favourite Dutch waffles with fresh berries, cream, and ice-cream!
I ordered a pancake with ice-cream and strawberries and expected there would only be one scoop of ice-cream, but it came with three! I was happy there was only one pancake! 🙂
We returned to the road, and went to Oudeschild where we hanged around the harbour:
The day was going to an end, and we also wanted to reach a sunset swim. We stopped in many places on the island, and really enjoyed getting around it. One thing surprised me: I expected to see something like timbered houses with thatched roofs, but I only counted a very few of them. Everything seemed to be new which made it a bit boring, if I may say so. If not the nature, one could see the same modern houses in any other place…
We drove and walked around 70 km that day! Unbelievable… I made a log with my Suunto Traverse watch:
We got back, took our bikinis, and went to the beach west of De Koog. The water was warm, and Vagn went for a swim:
I followed, and it was so pleasant to be in the water after our long day:
When I returned, Vagn was building sand castles:
I walked along the beach… Who knows when an opportunity to have such a marvellous evening will come again…
