Ingenuity in Weesp - An Oasis of Serenity

Taking a trip down my Hive memory lane, I realized I'd not told you about the tranquil town of Weesp, and only shared a fraction of the vibrant city of Utrecht when I had an informal Hive meetup with our talented singer/songwriter @edenmichelle, and her brother @leelektrk at the Oudegracht in Utrecht!
I will share the diverse Utrecht with you in my next post.

Many of my friends and family keep on asking me to tell them more about my Netherlands trip, so I started writing a compilation blog to showcase some of the best of each place we visited, not an easy task!

That is when I saw that those two beautiful places were still idly sitting in two folders on my desktop, waiting to be shared.

We visited Weesp just four days after my arrival, followed by Amsterdam and its coffeeshops with those overwhelming heady scents that put me on a high, wink wink wink.
Blame those aromas of Amsterdam that Weesp ended up being one of my last memories of a blissful escape from real life.

What struck me wherever we traveled by train, was the small patches of lush farmland and rural areas between towns and cities.
Each train station in the Netherlands has its own charm, and Weesp did not disappoint with its pretty murals, the kiddos were very patient with Mom trailing behind, always stopping to take pics while running to the next stop on their carefully planned itinerary.

The ancient town of Weesp is a mere 15km from Amsterdam, and with its network of canals, windmills, an old Fort with a moat, and bicycles, as in every town and city, is the perfect place to unwind, some call it an 'oasis of serenity'. The town lies next to the river De Vecht, which together with the Amsterdam-Rijn canal, connects the town to the buzzing city of Amsterdam.

The busy 'Lange Vechtbrug' - a draw bridge that lifts to let boats pass underneath, with pedestrians and cyclists constantly crossing.

Ossenmarkt fortress from the late 19th century played its part in defending Amsterdam by safekeeping the shores of the river De Vecht. It was only used during French-German war of 1870 to 1871 and the First World War. An ancient canon is still there reminding one that the building's actual purpose was for military use.

Pretty typical Dutch-style homes overlook some of the canals, while walking through the town there were many pretty small shops, majestic old buildings, and many church towers as in most, if not all of the places we visited.

We enjoyed brunch at a café along one of the canals, watching a plethora of bicycles! I never knew there were so many different designs; the usual bicycle that sees even the silver-haired folk cycling, obviously keeping them very fit! Some are designed to carry the kids, the pets, and the shopping bags.

There are three windmills in Weesp, but we only saw two, we really needed at least two more days to enjoy all that Weesp offers.

Molen De Vriendschap was rebuilt in 1900 as the previous one burnt down after being struck by lightning in the 17th century, not sure why they left it so long, but this mill now is used to grind grain.
We saw a fisherman sitting quietly, just enjoying the peace while waiting for the fish to bite!

The second Windmill on the Riverside has been turned into a four-bedroom Airbnb, at a steep ZAR14 855 per night, way above my budget!

Late afternoon, before heading back home, we stopped by a gorgeous old church that now is a brewery-cum-restaurant/pub called the Wispe Brouwerij. My son is a home-brewed beer snob fundi and wanted to try their beers, plus it was time for a bite to eat. There was seating outside, but Mother Hen (that's me) needed to 'powder her nose', wink, wink and we wanted to see what it looked like inside. The waiter looked at this silver-haired old gal, and warned us that it was noisy inside. He wasn't wrong, so I quickly went up a steep set of stairs to 'De WC'.
Did I tell you there are many narrow staircases in the Netherlands?

We escaped back to an outdoor table, the beer was good and we enjoyed our light meal!
This was the only place that was no different from the city, but the noisy chatter did not escape outdoors through the ancient thick walls of the church!

I will be back to discover more hidden gems in the tranquil town of Weesp, a hidden gem full of surprises, and who knows, maybe I can get a glimpse inside that Windmill Airbnb, but it will have to be done discreetly and through the back door!

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^{Artwork by @artywink}