All posts tagged: beach combing

A vegan look at Texel (the Netherlands)

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A couple of weeks ago, we were in Texel for a couple of days. Texel is an island in the Netherlands, north west of Amsterdam. There are only a handfull of small villages on Texel, but the island is very touristic, so there are quite a lot of hotels and restaurants. Not that much options for vegans though. In previous blogposts with restaurant reviews, I promised I would give an overview of places where you can have a vegan meal (and also some restaurants that replied they cannot fullfill our vegan needs). You can see this overview below. First, some other impressions from Texel, from our vegan point of view. sheep, sheep and more sheep E-ve-ry-where you look on Texel, you see sheep. Thousands and thousands of them. Not that Texel is a sanctuary for sheep of course. They are raised for economic purposes: for their meat and milk, and also for wool. Hence sheep products like sheep meat, cheese and wool (and even sheep skins) are a common feature in restaurants and shops in Texel. We read online …

A museum filled with beach rubbish. Our visit to the Juttersmuseum in Texel (NL)

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Growing up along the Belgian coast, I remember Winter beach walks and finding all sorts of stuff washed ashore. From ropes to driftwood, large barrels to plastic bottles. I didn’t know there are people who actually have a full time hobby collecting these items: beach combers. In Dutch they are called ‘strandjutters’ or ‘jutters’, hence the name of the museum on Texel: Juttersmuseum. It is said to be the largest collection of material collected through beach combing (jutten), with items found on the beaches of Texel over 75 years. Several beach combers donated their individual collection to the museum. If you think the only thing you would find at the Juttersmuseum are plastic bottles or boat ropes, think again. Just about everything has been found on the beaches of Texel: from TV’s to shoes, from helmets to bicycles, cars, inflatable dolls, bottles, children’s toys and even drugs. You name, it’s there. The barracks are literally packed from floor to ceiling and even the sheds themselves are (mainly) made from material found on the beaches. Some of the stuff is ‘accidentally’ lost into the ocean (washed overboard …