Venice of the North

There's a lot of water in this country.  Sometimes, there are more canals than there are roads.  Statistically speaking, this sometimes leads to the case when there are no roads at all - just canals.  Welcome to Giethoorn - a town with no roads - also called the Venice of the North.

All of the transportation in Giethoorn is either done by bike, by foot, or by boat on the numerous canals.

A "garage" for boats.

The picturesque bridges of Giethoorn.

When we visited, there was plenty of opportunities to get to know the locals.

...including the black sheep of the family.

And the newborn lambs (ok, yes, I am a bit behind in my posting this year. :)

 

 

The ducks took the opportunity to get to know my dad better, mainly in the fashion of chasing him around the tree, asking for bread.

  

Finally, mom lures them away.  They think she will give them food, but she's actually just trying to get a good picture of them.

 

Take a boat to church, taking the convenient canal to church stairs.

Beautiful thatched roofs on houses along the canals.

You may wonder - why all the canals?  Well, Giethoorn had it's origins almost 800 years ago.  For a point - what one product was produced in Giethoorn, essentially giving the town its modern day characteristic of plentiful canals?

Of course, it is the Netherlands, so bikes are still used.  Here's a nice bike ramp on one of the many bridges over the canals.

Out for a spin.

The canals drain into a large nearby lake.

Mom posing with rose quartz.

Dad on a bridge.

The Rolls-Royce of boats.

And the parking lot!