Blinded by the Sun (at De Rijp)

Hey there, stranger.

So I guess that this is happening. Or at least, I'm gonna try to make it happen. It was one of my resolutions for my birthday, bring back this little corner to life, just because.

To be honest, I've done a lot since I left. I've been in Sweden twice, in Belgium, back to Poland, back to London and in a lot of places around The Netherlands. Met my friends in Madrid twice, people came to visit me... Yeah, I've been busy. Also with work (not everything is having fun, of course). If you've been following me on Instagram, you know what I've been up to, but of course, I always shoot a thousand photos that I wanna show you.

And now I don't know where t start! Today I'm sick at home (almost lost my voice and had a fever and nasty coughing) and therefore, I don't feel like being philosophical or intensita (little intense, like we say in Spanish. Oh, yeah, you know I can be pretty intensita).

So I will start here, in one of my favourite days of last spring: our visit to De Rijp.

De Rijp is a village and former island very close to Alkmaar. Before the poldering of the lakes surrounding it, De Rijp was famous for its herring industry (herring is a very typical bite here in The Netherlands, you eat it as a snack in the streets). Today it's known for its rijksmonuments (National Heritage Monuments), which include some of the oldest wooden houses of North Holland.

We went to De Rijp for visiting the Museum in 't Houten Huis, a small lovely and kitsch place where you can learn about the story of the place; from where there was still an island to De Grote Brand in De Rijp, a terrible fire that destroyed almost all the town in 1654.

The story goes like this: in the night of 6 to 7 January 1654 a strong south-westerly storm blew in De Rijp. The blades of a hemp mill turned so fast that the mill caught fire. Bunches of burning hemp blew towards the village. Many wooden houses fell victim to the fire. Two-thirds of the village was destroyed, including the church. The town hall and the herring tube fleet were spared. It must have been a spectacular fire that could be seen far into the surroundings.

I must say that although De Rijp is a small town, it contains lots of charm. There are lovely houses and tons of canals for such a small place, which makes the town more charming if possible.

There are also some very nice places to enjoy a bite in De Rijp (actually there is a nice restaurant we would like to try one of these days!), so it has everything you need for enjoying a lovely afternoon if you're looking to do something different when in The Netherlands.

By the way, is not that I was closing my eyes accidentally in all the photos; I forgot my sunglasses at home that day and I was not expecting such a sunny day, so yeah, I was literally blinded by the Sun!

I hope you've enjoyed this entry and find it useful, I will do more like this to show you lovely little places around the country.