Our New Home Base - Heeg, Netherlands

Back to our apartment in Delft we realized we had a lot to think about and a big decision to make.


In the mean time we wanted to enjoy our apartment for the short time we remained there. The complex was huge. We had to go to another floor and actually to another building (but didn’t go outside) to do our laundry. Here is another picture of our apartment. We had a good view out that window. Ken was happy to watch a prefabricated building get assembled.

We had to move from this modern, very convenient apartment in the city of Delft, South Holland to the small town of Heeg, Friesland which is in northern Netherlands. We moved up north because this was where the majority of boats that we had found were.They also seemed to have  the best prices.


Our new apartment was in a newly renovated, small and upstairs. The owners lived downstairs and were renovating that part of the house, too. Both owners were friendly and helpful. The house had been built on a canal. During the summer months the owners ran a fish and chips restaurant from their home. From our window we could see a sailboat docked for the winter. There was a huge cage with an inside area for the birds. At first the birds were outside for part of the day. As the weeks went on they were inside the building only because of the cold.

Picture taken from our outside deck. You can see the roof
of the building that housed the birds, rather huge bird house. 

The inside of the Heeg apartment was modern and new. It had been decorated in a nautical theme as you can see below.

Heeg was a town built on a canal. It had several small town grocery stores (including a Co-op), several eating establishments and stores. This town had early roots and had buildings hundreds of  years old and boosted old  style, brick, Dutch homes. 

Restaurant

Not sure about the ages of these homes. I am sure the duplex below is the oldest of the two.

The picture below is of Heeg’s main business street. Some shops had closed for the season. Keep in mind we were there end of October, beginning of November. Even though it was a warmish Fall for the area it was still chilly - sweaters, jackets, gloves and hats needed to be worn much of the day. 

The main type street of Heeg. As you can see it is completely brick-in. The buildings
very close together. 

This house was several centuries old. The year it was built was
written on the front. 

Ken and I would walk from our apartment, over the bridge and into town almost daily. We liked the small town, friendly atmosphere, the beautifully quaint buildings and gardens. The Co-op was a reliable source of fresh veggies, etc. If we waited until after our days adventures to purchase our food for dinner we could have exactly what we were craving at the time. 

Several times while we were there we did major walks out to the lake (Heegermeer). There was a new marina that was closed for the season. We decided we must come back once we are out and about with our new yacht. 

Many days we were in Heeg we would drive the scenic, back country lanes and highways to Drachten. According to Google Maps the drive took 39 minutes, was a 52 kilometre (32 miles) long trip. I say that we drove to Drachten often because we drove many times during our decision making process to check out the last boat we saw with Alix and Andrew. We had really fallen in love with that boat. Even when we looked at it strategically it seemed like the boat for us.