"Nature is under control but not disturbed." ~ Beatrix, Queen of the Netherlands

On our way back to Aberdeen...

we enjoyed a stopover in Amsterdam for a few days.

I will stop right here and tell you...

I have been doing some research in order to share this post...

because of my ignorance...

no, not so much ignorance... 

as considerable confusion... 

of exactly where Amsterdam is.

Geographically speaking,

I know exactly where it is...

however...

before the research,

I would have told you we drove through Holland...

when in all actuality...

we left Amsterdam,

which is in North Holland by the way,

one of twelve provinces of The Netherlands.

The name actually means 'low countries'...

with some of the country being below sea level.

They have extended their territory by reclaiming land from the seas by constructing polders or dikes.

We drove to the province of Friesland...

where the locals would be horribly offended if you said they live in Holland.

Much like the people of Scotland... 

if you were to refer to their country as England...

instead of Great Britain.

Our hotel was in the quaint village of Joure...

home of Douwe Egberts coffee,

opened since 1753...

 allied with the Sara Lee International corporation since 1978.

They celebrated 250 years of roasting and grinding back in 2003...

and the village still has a store...

where you can have an excellent cup of coffee...

and shop...

for dutch windmill mugs!

They even gave us two samples of their coffee to bring home...

for our enjoyment.

Every store we went into...

had at least one employee who was more than happy to speak with us in English which made our experience even more pleasant.

Ren Man did download an app... 

to help us translate the menus,

which prevented any surprises.

Check back tomorrow...

as Ren Man spends the day sailing...

while I discover the lakeside village...

 of Langweer...