
The 'Orange Pride' above the Afsluitdijk (close-offdyke, translated literally) which is a 32,5km long dyke/dam that seperates the North Sea with the IJsselmeer in the Netherlands. It was constructed between 1927 and 1933 and closed off the former Zuiderzee (Southern Sea) making it into the fresh water lake that is today's IJsselmeer. It's an engineering marble (especially for it's time) and we Dutch folks are very proud of it
There is a highway and of course a bicycle lane running over it, connecting the provinces of Noord-Holland (The Netherlands is commonly called Holland, but Holland consists of only two of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands, Noord- (north) and Zuid- (south) Holland) and the province of Friesland. The 'island' in the center is actually a resting stop with a gas station and a monument. Needless to say it's always windy here

The weird brownish things you see in the water are actually sandbanks. These waters are knows as the Waddenzee. The islands above them are called the Waddenislands, which 5 of the 7 of them are inhabited. Two of them have small airports which are a pleasure to visit, which I do in real life quite often. The Waddenzee was added to the UNESCO list in 2014, because of it's unique characteristics. The difference between the tides is huge. So huge that when it's ebb, you can walk from the islands to the mainland. Over the seafloor! And this isn't a once a year happening, because this happens every day! It's also home to lots of seals and en enormous variety of sea birds. So when you are in the neighborhood, you should definitely come check this out









