TEXEL ISLAND, NEDERLAND

Texel Island - the largest island off of the coast of Holland. It is part of the province of Noord Holland, which is the same province that both Leiden, my current residence, and Amsterdam, and Haarlem are a part. West of Texel Island is the North Sea and east of Texel Island is the Waddenzee. I was able to visit both seas from each side of the island. Texel Island is a very quite and peaceable farming island. The biggest town on the island is Den Burg, a very charming town filled with typical Dutch shops and clothing stores. The most famous item on Texel Island would be the sheep. They outnumber the people on the island, and you can buy all sorts of wool products at different shops throughout the island. Also the island is home to five museums, two of which I was able to visit, the Maritiem & Jutters Museum and the Ecomare Museum. The Maritiem & Jutters was filled with different objects that are and were used by island dwellers of today and yesterday. The Ecomare was more related to the wildlife on and around the island of Texel. It is home to 10-15 wild seals and hundreds of other fish that are native to the North Sea and Waddenzee.

While on the island, I took part in a boat tour that went shrimping in the North Sea. While on deck, the ship captains carried out all of the normal shrimping procedures and explained to we "deckhands" the importance of different tasks and the value of different fish from the local waters. Near the end of the tour, I was able to eat some the shrimp that we caught while on board. They were very tasty, but quite small compaired to what one is used to in the United States.

• The second picture is a memorial within the burial grounds of a Georgian grave site. These were Georgians that gave their lives during WWII, and the Texel citizens honor them for there bravery against the German Nazis and thank them for risking their lives for them.
• The first picture is of the Texel countryside as I biked around the island. What you see is a gravel path that weaves between and along the canals on each side. The picture does no justice to what the eye could see. You would had to have been there!!