Enkhuizen, Nieuwe Westerstraat

Enkhuizen is one of the prettiest towns in the Netherlands. It's a delightful place just to wander around on a nice afternoon. While I believe Enkhuizen is technically a city, it feels much more like a large town in a comparatively rural area, which is precisely what it is.

Most of the houses are just two stories high, although they are built solid, with no space between the buildings. The houses are typical of small Dutch cities and towns, and are usually quite shallow, so that good daylight reaches all parts of the interior. If your tastes run more to smaller cities, this is a very fine way to arrange one, except, of course, for the straight street. This area is so popular that these houses today fetch nearly half a million dollars (partly explained by the good rail service to Amsterdam).

The oldest part of Enkhuizen is old indeed - at least 500 years. In this part of town, the streets are crooked and the resultant areas are very interesting and engaging. The "Nieuwe" in the name of this street means "new," so we can safely assume that this is an extension of Westerstraat, probably built some time in the 19th Century. At the time of this photograph, the buildings were probably fairly new and still in excellent condition. Today, they are still in excellent condition, by virtue of a great deal of care and attention. (The Dutch tend to take very good care of both public and private property.)

Notice the two lines of trees marching off into the distance, each gradually merging into a solid mass in the distance

 
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