The Nature & Culture of: The Netherlands (Overijsel)
I know I've already shared quite a bit about the Netherlands, but I couldn't resist expressing my love for my homeland beyond just IJmuiden.
I know I've already shared quite a bit about the Netherlands, but I couldn't resist expressing my love for my homeland beyond just IJmuiden.
Shall we dive straight into the topic of this story: the Salt Works of Twekkelo?During my visit to the small town of Twekkelo (located in the Netherlands), I learned a lot about the differences between the salt production in Tunisia and the Netherlands.Something what I noticed was... wait a minute! I noticed that I haven't even introduced myself.I'm so excited about this topic that I completely forgot to introduce myself.My name is Rihab Debbabi and I'm from Monastir, Tunisia.I visited Twekkelo on October 11, 2024, to gather more information for this subject.I'm writing this article on behalf of the "Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines de Kairouan" to draw more attention to the salt works in Monastir. I'm particularly interested in two questions:- What will Tunisia do when the salt water runs out?- Can we apply the current technology from the Netherlands into the Tunisian industry?The answers of these two questions you can find it at the bottom of the page, but first, I'd like to tell you something about the history.Shall we continue in the next paragraph where we left off?As I just mentioned, during my visit to the salt works in Twekkelo, I noticed that they use a completely different method than in Tunisia.In Tunisia, they mainly extract salt from the Sebkha, and in the Netherlands, they extract salt from as deep as 500 meters underground.Before we dig into the explanation of how the Dutch salt works operate, I want to tell you a little bit more about the history to understand where the high concentration of salt in the Dutch soil is coming from:"The massive amount of rock salt in the Netherlands is a result of geological processes from hundreds of millions of years ago.In the geological era of the Paleozoic* (Greek for old life), Western Europe was covered by an inland sea.Eventually, the sea evaporated, and the salt was gradually buried under the soil over all those years."*The Paleozoic is an era in the geological timescale that defines the period of Earth's history between 541 and 251.902 million years ago*
Bien, plongeons-nous directement dans le sujet de cette histoire: les Salines de Twekkelo.Lors de ma visite de la petite ville de Twekkelo (située aux Pays-Bas), j'ai beaucoup appris sur les différences entre la production de sel en Tunisie et aux Pays-Bas.Quelque chose que j'ai remarqué était... Attendez une minute! Je viens de réaliser que je ne me suis même pas présentée.Je suis tellement enthousiaste à l'idée d'en parler que j'ai complètement oublié de me présenter.Je m'appelle Rihab Debbabi et je viens de Monastir, en Tunisie.J'ai visité Twekkelo le 11 octobre 2024 pour recueillir plus d'informations sur ce sujet.J'écris cet article au nom de la "Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines de Kairouan" pour attirer davantage l'attention sur les salines de Monastir.Je suis particulièrement intéressée par deux questions:- Que fera la Tunisie lorsque l'eau salée sera épuisée?- Pouvons-nous appliquer la technologie actuelle des Pays-Bas à l'industrie tunisienne?Les réponses à ces deux questions se trouvent en bas de la page, mais d'abord, j'aimerais vous parler un peu de l'histoire.Pouvons-nous continuer dans le paragraphe suivant là où nous nous sommes arrêtés?Comme je viens de le mentionner, lors de ma visite des salines de Twekkelo, j'ai remarqué qu'ils utilisent une méthode complètement différente de celle utilisée en Tunisie.En Tunisie, ils extraient principalement le sel de la Sebkha, et aux Pays-Bas, ils extraient le sel jusqu'à 500 mètres sous terre.Avant d'entrer dans l'explication du fonctionnement des salines néerlandaises, je veux vous en dire un peu plus sur l'histoire pour comprendre d'où vient la forte concentration de sel dans le sol Néerlandais:"La quantité massive de sel gemme aux Pays-Bas est le résultat de processus géologiques remontant à des centaines de millions d'années.À l'ère géologique du Paléozoïque* (du grec signifiant vie ancienne), l'Europe occidentale était recouverte par une mer intérieure.Finalement, la mer s'est évaporée et le sel a été progressivement enfoui sous le sol pendant toutes ces années."*Le Paléozoïque est une ère de l'échelle des temps géologiques qui définit la période de l'histoire de la Terre entre 541 et 251.902 millions d'années*
When I came back in Greece by plane, I stayed in Thessaloniki for one last day.After arriving in the city and checked in at the hostel, I putted my laptop in my backpack and went straight out onto the street.There you are, right in the heart of Greece... without a plan and without a prospect.After a 10 minute of walking, I found a small (sort of) supermarket-café.The first thing I did was walking to the counter to order a beer and went outside to sit on the terrace.Because traveling without a plan can sometimes be quite difficult, I suggested to myself that I should have at least a small idea of what I will do in the coming weeks before I'm leaving to Bulgaria.(A sip of beer can bring out so much wisdom...)Finnaly I ended up in Vasiliki, on the island Lefkada. I will tell you more about it on this page.Why don't you watch the video already? Here you will see some moments of my staying.
Thessaloniki ... Greece's second largest city that is still relatively unknown to some travelers.Most of the travelers shuffle directly to the capital; Athens.I cannot say much about the city of Athens because I've not been there yet.However, I do hear mixed stories about the capital.This has been one of the reasons for me not going over there.But, we're not talking about the capital, we talk about the student city; Thessaloniki.On this page you will not find anything about the nature of Greece, for this I will make part 2 later.During my stay I had mostly behaved like a student, so I will mainly write about this.
As you may have read on the "The Trip" page, I caught a plane May 12 to surprise my mother at her birthday party on May 13.I stayed in the Netherlands for 1 week and during this time I took the opportunity to take some photos and videos of IJmuiden.For those who may not have known, IJmuiden is my home port.The place where I have lived for 27 years and also the place I left March 13 to embark on a new adventure.An adventure of which I do not know how it will turn out, nor do I know how it will end.My fingers itch like crazy because I am writing about this with full passion!On this page I try to show you why I am so excited about IJmuiden.Do you want the fresh fish that is received at the quay, the beautiful dunes and the beach where many people will spend their time in summer?Then just come by once and you will know, why you will never forget IJmuiden....
If I may take the traveler's advice, Skopje has not been a very big success for many.I was often told that it was less beautiful than they expected, that there was little to do and that the accommodations were often disappointing.I'm so glad to be a little stubborn sometimes, because I have had a super good time!You might be thinking; pff... but if the most of them says it's not recommended, why should I believe you?I hope you have a little bit of time today so I can take you along with my journey through Skopje.....
In Tirana itself, there is not much to do with Nature.For the nature part I went outside Tirana.At the end of the page I will tell you a little bit about the history and culture of Albania.
Montenegro, the land of mountains and free open nature.A country often forgotten, but very popular with travelers.If you have the opportunity to go to Montenegro, you should definitely do it!This country has many hidden places that you can visit by bus.But if you can go by car, you can enjoy the nature just a bit more extensively, like I did.Hopefully, my pictures will inspire you to visit Montenegro. Not only the nature, but also the people have an open culture.In any case, it is a place that you will never forget.
I deliberately took only one photo of the city of Mostar.If you're searching for this city up on the internet, you'll be totally bombarded with photos of the old town bridge, reconstructed stores and houses, etc.When I take a picture, I want to take a picture that no one else has. A photo that is unique and special with its own story.I only took one, to give you a small interpretation about the old town bridge.This page will be a lot longer than you might be used to, because I had a lot to discover in Bosnia & Herzegovina.In the terms of text, I will (try to) keep it a little bit short. It's mainly the pictures that I want to show you.On this page you will also find some extra information about the politics of this country.I'm writing about it on purpose, because I am convinced that politics can make a big difference in the culture of a country.
As you may have read on the "Food" page, I did not find the peace and quiet I needed when I was in Croatia.However, I was lucky enough to meet two people during the stay with whom I took an unforgettable walk in the "National park - Paklenica".
I'm so sorry that I can't show anything about the city of Budapest.Unfortunately I didn't gave myself the opportunity to take good pictures of this.Many days were very wet and cold, it was quite difficult to park your car near the hotspots and I took advantage of the days when the weather was a littlebit better to go to the Baradla Aggtelek cave. Below I will tell you more about this.
I had such a great experience in this city! Because of this I had too little time to work on my blog!From the first moment I was not so charmed by Bratislava, but once you are a few steps in the center you start to feel it.The stiffness, openness and friendliness of the people are so different from what I'm used to had in the Netherlands.Over here it's quite normal that you are at the bar and that strange people just ask you to spend the rest of the night with them.Because of this I have met and got to know many different nationalities.To my regret it was unfortunately not possible to stay a few more days.Beside that, on the last day I did my best to take a few nice pictures of the architecture and nature in Slovakia.
Picture 1, Picture 2, Picture 3, Picture 4, Picture 5, Picture 6, Picture...There are so many pictures I want to show you about my stay in Zakopane!Still, I try to limit my enthusiasm a bit and I will only upload the pictures of the Tatra Mountains, which I admired on my way to the lake Morskie Oko.After 3:30hr. and walking 17.8km in just my t-shirt, sweatpants and shoes, with a temperature of 6 degrees, I was lucky enough to get these pictures.Photo 1: Via the bus to the mountains
Photo 1: This photo was taken in Tábor. It strikes me that the architecture of the buildings in this country are very unique compared to western Europe.It immediately gives a different way of living within the same continent as I'm used to live.Photo 2 : I drove to Bechyně to take this photo. This beautiful village is in my eyes the pearl of the South Bohemia region.I can't tell much more about the rest of the Czech Republic either, since I haven't been there (yet).