Grouw, Skûtsjes and Mourning

It seems totally unreal to mourn and to enjoy the beautiful summer weather we have enjoyed these past days at the same time.

A typical sight in Friesland

Hoping for ice!

I spent two full and very exciting and enjoyable days in Friesland, one of our most northern provinces. A different country where they speak a different language – never make the mistake of calling it a dialect! - , similar to Anglo-Saxon, which wouldn’t be of any help to most of us. With so many lakes every Frisian can sail. But modern sailing is different from what it used to be: sailing on flat bottomed barges transporting freight across the lakes and myriad waterways. The so called Skûtsjes are big and heavy wooden barges, with lee boards. No engines. Every year in summer there is a contest between those sailing barges representing the different towns. The contest takes place over a period of 11 days, and on a different lake each day. It requires skill, muscle power and team work.

I was a guest on a sponsor ship of  Eernewoude, and enjoyed the spectacle from the top deck. It was such lovely weather, warm and sunny. Fortunately there was wind as well, as without wind the race can’t take place. The lake isn’t very wide, so manoeuvring is a very delicate job with those big barges. As Eernewoude won, the festive mood was even better! I took far too many pictures, having such a marvellous view and never having seen this before. Since the lakes are in part the result of peat digging, they are shallow and there are many bogs. Our sponsor ship got stuck in the mud, its keel too deep, and had to be towed by a tug!

 All the ships watching the race have gone "home" by the time we are towed away

One of many beautiful boats

Colourful sails

The next day my friends took me for a trip on the lakes in their motor boat, through nature reserves and parks along narrow and shallow ditches and waterways to Grouw, a very attractive Frisian town. 

Approaching Grouw. The flag is half mast, although not clearly visible in this picture

Almost every town has a harbour, as has Grouw. We walked around. It was sunny and hot again. The church, an old medieval church, was open. Almost all churches were open, as this was a day of national mourning. At four o’clock the church bells all over Holland were ringing, the moment that the first plane carrying the coffins of the victims of the plane crash touched ground at Eindhoven Airport. This was followed by a minute of silence. Trains, busses, cars, everybody and everything came to a halt. It seemed so unreal, innocent people, looking forward to a holiday, the victims of a war crime, dead. Complete families, couples, many children among them. The flags were half mast, but bright and cheerful in the breeze and the sun. Such a contrast, so unimaginable. Till we saw the convoy of 40 black hearses on TV, each one carrying a coffin. 

The Skûtsjes race that day was on another lake. After the race, the Skûtsjes were lined up, flag half mast, to pay their respect to the victims of the plane crash. Here you’ll find a picture of the lined up Skûtsjes and a report of the race of that day (in Dutch, I am afraid, but the photo’s are worth looking at)

Left: A side door. Right: the main doors

The entrance gate to the church green

The former choir, later also used as a courthouse. Thence the extra bell tower

"Saddleback" towers are characteristic of the the three northern provinces

Intricate brickwork : Tower, Back of the choir

Grouw is a very nice town. No high rise buildings in Friesland, but small and friendly houses and attractive gables. The church is very interesting, although spoilt by a beamer which is totally out of character. The organ is impressive and large for the size of the church. A guest organist who was due to give a recital that evening, was rehearsing, the choice of music adapted to the sad day so he told me.

An interesting aspect is the former choir of this church. There is a wall between church and choir. After the Reformation the choir was used as a courthouse till 1832. A special small bell tower was built on the roof. The bell would announce that court was in session. Now it is the vestry of the church and there is a connecting door between church and choir below the organ built against this wall.

 Woodcarvings on pews for the rich families and on the regular pews

The pipe organ

I love those small towns, the churches and the houses and narrow alleyways. Usually there are lots of flowers, if not in front gardens at least in window boxes. And I could dream about living in one of the attractive houses which were for sale.

 Grouw

 typical roof decorations

 Grouw

The wind across the water on our way back was lovely. The landscape is idyllic, big old farmhouses dotted along the water with red tiled or thatched roofs, shielded by trees, fields with cattle behind the buildings, very lush and green in the bright light. Or changed into holiday resorts or second homes, the land given back to nature. Windmills, old labourers’ cottages now also used as holiday homes, children swimming, jumping into the water from the banks or sliding down, screaming with pleasure, splashing, trying to keep cool. The sky a festive deep blue with a few white clouds just for decoration it seemed. The flags red, white and blue. The Frisian flag as well, half mast, hoisted to the top of the church towers in a rather unexpected way. Joy and sadness, sunshine and darkness, such contrasts on this particular day.

Our boat and one of the views

Tropical days

A few tropical days. Yesterday at 20.00 hrs. It was still 31 degrees (centigrade) on the beach, usually the coolest place. Not this time because of the wind – if any- coming from the East. A two hour walk along the flood line on soft and yielding sand was quite a workout. And in spite of walking through the water, not cool either.

At one spot a few bunches of seemingly fresh roses were washed ashore. The witnesses of the scattering of somebody’s ashes at sea?  Sand, salt water, shells and roses, they don’t seem to go together.

Sundown at 21.50, almost half an hour earlier already than around the summer solstice. It was still very busy with people, watching the sun go down, swimming, trying to cool down in the sea. Lots of small children around. The summer holidays have started in this area and with this heat it is impossible to sleep anyway. It didn’t cool down at night. 

Unfortunately when the wind comes from the east there are jellyfish. Not the poisonous type this time, but still their stings can be very unpleasant and painful. So no swimming for me.

Lifeguards and police still patrolling the beaches at 22.30.

Enjoyed a cool drink in one of the beach restaurants, trendy places nowadays with lots of nice things on offer, seeing the sky turning from pink to purple to ink blue. No need to go to the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean has come to us!

Hard work...

The evening would have been perfect for a beach party. I am always amazed that people stay near the cafes and the restaurants. Just a short ten minute walk, and there are only seagulls and oyster catchers around. And the occasional couple seeking solitude, but that is all.

Found a few perfect shells, rare nowadays on these beaches.

Once home, it still was hot. Stayed outside in the garden reading till 2 am. It was too lovely to go to bed and much nicer outside anyway.

Zwolle, pipe organs and books

A free day pass for the train, a free upgrade to first class and a special pipe organ festival in Zwolle, also free!  I had planned to go further north to see the tall ships docked at Harlingen, but the trains did only go as far as Zwolle, so I changed my plans. And I am not sorry. It was a dull day, with the occasional heavy shower, but that didn’t matter.

I had to leave early, as the first stop would be the splendid bookshop which has been housed in a former church, the Broeren church, way back the chapel of a monastery (see my post of the February of this year). The owner of the shop and publishing company has restored the paintings on the vaults and kept the beautiful pipe organ. Since the opening of the shop I have wondered what the organ would sound like, and now was my chance. It is played regularly on Wednesdays by students of the adjoining school of music. This Saturday it would be played by a well-known organist. As there is also a coffee shop and lunchroom in the former choir, I could sit there and enjoy coffee and cake while listening to the music. However, because of the many people browsing in the shop which is in the nave, the sound wasn’t very good in the cafe, so as soon as I finished my coffee and cake, I went up to one of the galleries to hear and see better.  It must be disconcerting for the organist, Harm Jansen, to know that people are hovering over him, watching him play! The programme was conventional, J. S. Bach, Carl Philip E. Bach, but an opportunity to use most of the stops, especially in Mendelssohn.

 Harm Jansen playing the organ in the Broeren Church in Zwolle

 What is more satisfying than a fabulous bookshop and a beautiful pipe organ? After the concert I browsed the bookshop, which is a Mecca for book lovers. However, the thought of having to carry them all day made me very virtuous and I left the shop empty handed!

The next stop was a rather unattractive and non descriptive church from the outside, but rather remarkable inside. Built as a protestant church, it looked more like a shoebox. However, the organ is a jewel, the sound very clear and bright. Just as the organist, who did not provide us with a programme, but bent over the organ gallery and told us what he was going to play and which organ stops he was going to use to get the effect het wanted. Usually the secret of the organist. He was young, enthusiastic and played very well and inspired.  It was hard to take a good photo of the organ, because of the bright light through the windows behind it. But I got a picture of the decoration on one side.

 Plantage church, Zwolle

After this recital had some time to spare and had a bite in a very small cafe in an alley which I happened to walk through. A funny place, full of old and enamelled pots and pans and kitchen utensils, the things our grandparents used to have which chipped quite easily.

Next was the St. Michaels Church, the main church of Zwolle. It is splendid, but whenever I was in Zwolle, it was never ever open to the public in spite of a notice on the door saying otherwise. Now it was! I was impressed by the width of the church. It is not in the form of a cross, but has a nave with two aisles, of approximately the same height. The organ is famous, built by Schnitger, and very impressive. Under the organ are stairs and beautifully carved oak doors leading to the octagonal vestry which is on a higher level. I have never seen anything like it in the Netherlands. As a work of art the organ case is a gem, with lots of gilding and decorated with many figures, angels and musicians. It is a big instrument, with four manuals and of course a full pedal. And the sound is fantastic! Toon Hagen gave a recital which lasted an hour. Apart from Buxtehude, Johann Gottfried Walther and Camille Saint-Saëns, he played two of his own compositions, variations on psalms. Especially the composition on Psalm 27, composed that week so brand new, was surprising. It was a long piece, beginning and ending with variations on the psalm melody, the tune we use in protestant churches in Holland. But the middle part was fascinating. It had a haunting quality, very mysterious, and reminded me of the Canto Ostinato by Simeon ten Holt. Not so surprising, as I read afterwards that Toon Hagen has performed and recorded the Canto Ostinato!  Little did I know. I was intrigued, but I did not grasp what it had to do with psalm 27. Perhaps I should hear it again. But there is no recording of it – yet.

Toon Hagen Playing Canto Ostinato -just a fragment

 The entrance to the vestry

 Some unusual views of the organ

As the organist is wedged high up between the two parts of the organ, we couldn’t see him. So they had a webcam and we could see him at work via a large screen.

After the recital I had drinks and some tapas in a wine bar /restaurant on the church square. And so did the organist and his assistants! I would have liked to ask him about this composition of psalm 27, but did not want to disturb him enjoying a well-earned drink with his assistants – and perhaps some admirers. The rain had stopped and it was warm enough to sit outside.

 A view into the vestry

 Ceiling and chandelier in the vestry

A side aisle

I resisted the temptation to buy the gorgeous silver sandals which I came across, works of art, which fitted me to a T and were reduced as well. Neither did I buy any books or one of those beautiful handbags in the shop in the church square, which has a gable stone with David playing the harp. I wonder what the story is behind it.

A harp player on the organ in the Broeren Church and one on the organ in the St. Michaels Church

It was a wonderful day, and most of it for free! Once a Dutch(wo)man, always a Dutchman.