Texel was actually one of the few places I specifically asked to visit in Europe. I read about it in Coastal Living Magazine and it sounded just the place I would want to see. I was right because I sure know me. : )
Most our time was spent riding around exploring every road we could find and taking some stunning pictures. We never did get on a bicycle, but there are definitely more bikes than vehicles, and many more paths that the bikes are allowed that when driving a car you miss out on. It is much larger than I had imagined it to be. It is almost 179 square miles which includes seven villages and a handful of smaller settlements and about 1/3 of Texel is a protected nature reserve. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texel – http://texel.de/en/texel.php
This island is what dreams are made of, and this is one of my favorite areas in the world now. People are so laid back and friendly, it’s extremely safe, animals far outnumber people and they are ALL free roaming, each town has its own unique personality, you are surrounded by nature, beautiful beaches with many treasures for collecting, delicious fresh organic food, no traffic jams with considerate drivers, was sunny majority of time we visited, entire island is animal friendly with dogs being allowed everywhere including restaurants, plenty of shopping, busy outdoor markets, family orientated, forest areas to hike, variety of lodging including camping and many fun activities to choose from and do.
I will be listing our activities, places we visited, and/or restaurants in no particular order.
We drove the island, visited each darling town and enjoyed a new and charming area around the many corners and roundabouts.
Two places we ate that I give two thumbs up are:
Van der Star Seafood next door to the beachcomber museum, I could not finish all my delicious Codfish, but relax nothing went to waste. We had a some french fries left that I carried outside to give to the little birdies looking for a handout. Extremely fresh fish, fries and an outstanding salad with a yoghurt dressing. You are able to choose from a large array of freshly caught fish which they have on display in windowed coolers that you can see and inquire about. Very helpful and knowledgable staff. You can also purchase fresh fish to take home and prepare for yourself.
https://vispaleistexel.nl/voorpagina/viswinkel/
Restaurant de Horizon at the airport in De Cocksdorp. Yes, they have an airport here but it is all grass strips.
We were treated to a special sight because there was a plane called Karel Doorman preparing to take off into the blue skies. I find it extraordinary that humans have been flying commercially since approximately since 1914 but we are still enthralled by a plane taking flight. Especially one like this. It is a flying boat with dazzling propellors and blister panorama windows areas where people can sit. The plane was named after a Dutch Rear Admiral and was built in 1942 to honor his passing in that year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_Doorman
After the interesting preparation and take off, we finally settled in for a delicious meal.
You may choose seats outside directly facing the airstrip or comfortably inside. We sat inside and we had the owners dog leashed beside us and he made our day by welcoming us with kisses.
Han had ribs, fries and salad. I had chicken sate, fries and salad. They really outdid themselves. I gobbled up the salad first. They make the dressing in house and it was delicious. Once again, I ended up sharing with Han as I could not eat it all. We are trying a new idea of eating a healthy breakfast, having a piece of fruit for lunch then having an early yummy dinner. We want to enjoy our food but certainly need to cut down a bit.
http://www.restaurantdehorizontexel.nl
It has been quite windy this week so we have been putting off beach time but we finally said we just have to literally face the wind. The beaches have lovely white soft sand. Plenty of shell and rock treasures to gather. Obviously it is too cold for us tropical travelers to swim here and the currents are hazardous, so we enjoyed our stroll, gazed out at the magnificent rolling North Sea and gathered some little treasures of our own.
When the sea is not overly violent, there are many wind surfers out grabbing some thrills.
You can also rent little cabanas to sit in or store your items. The day we went, only about three were rented.
All the beach areas have restaurants with nice wind shielded terrases.
We walked through De Koog, as they had an outdoor market (Braderie) with many vendors. It quickly became crowded with too many tourists, so we high tailed it out of there for quieter pastures.
We had more fun driving down a narrow road through the very extensive forest between De Koog and Den Hoorn.
Surrounded by nature was much more to our liking.
We stopped by a junk market in between towns and perused the items. Han bought a book and interestingly enough found some news clippings from 1988 and 2000 from the local newspaper. I picked out an interesting necklace and a misc. lot of 27 mini spoons. All in all, we spent a whopping four euros. LOL
We visited Kaap Skil Museum in Oudeschild and it is too much to describe the learning, amazing, educational and fun exhibits.
It was definitely one of our favorite places to enjoy. Make sure you give yourself enough time to slowly explore and take in the entire experience. They have one humongous room just to exhibit the finds that wash up on the beach. We rode in a simulated submarine (more for kids), walked through actual fisherman cottages and stores, watched as workers still ground wheat into flour inside the windmill and climbed rope ladders.
http://www.kaapskil.nl/exhibitions
The absolute best store “Graaf Interior” for souvenirs, decorative home items, some clothing, all things wool (especially slippers), baby accessories, artistic lovely gifts and trinkets of all kinds from one euro and up. The prices are very reasonable, the staff are simply fantastic and we actually went back to this store for the rest of our island shopping desires.
They even have a huge concrete gorilla for sale, if you so choose, but good luck packing that in your luggage.
After shopping you can enjoy an espresso in the coffee cafe upstairs on the balcony where you can relax and watch the people who are out and about.
Before shopping anywhere, visit this store first, you won’t regret it.
http://www.graafinterieur.nl
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