Tankers & Divers – hydroelectric power, ports and open vistas

Today was forecast to be another sunny day, so off we went on the 🚲 🚲 to cycle from Brielle via Oostvoorne to the very "front". Brielle, once the fifth largest city in the province of South Holland in the Middle Ages, is a historic fortified town and the most famous pilgrimage site in South Holland. The origin of the name Brielle goes back to the Celtic word 'brogilo', which means "enclosed area" or "hunting ground". In the 11th and 12th centuries, Voorne (a municipality to which Brielle belongs) consisted of small and large islands on which farming families settled and built dikes to prevent flooding. The capture of Brielle on April 1, 1572 by the 'Watergeuzen' (buccaneers) (photos 8+9) marked the beginning of the rebellion against the Spanish King Philip II, which is considered to be the actual trigger for the Eighty Years' War. Then we reached the Brielse Meer, a long, narrow lake between the Dutch estuary islands of Voorne and Rozenburg in the province of South Holland. Then on the right was the Oostvoornse Meer with its beautiful location between the Brielse Meer and the North Sea. A resort near the port of Rotterdam that is popular with water sports enthusiasts. The Slikken van Voorne adjoin the Oostvoornse Meer. Here we were surprised by a submarine on land, not a real one, but a wooden restaurant modeled on a submarine with a viewing point. 😉 All available natural energy sources such as sun, wind, wood, natural convection and geothermal energy are used to supply energy, heat, cool and ventilate the building. The innovative building is heated and cooled by a geoTHERM heat pump VWS220/2 from Vaillant. A sustainable concept for water purification and wastewater management was also developed for the beach restaurant. We are already looking forward to a later visit. 🍽 https://www.aanzeeoostvoorne.nl/ During a round on Maasflakte, a break on the beach was a good idea. It's crazy how many companies are building a factory out of the ground (or rather: out of the sand) here in the Rotterdam port area. The Dutch have reclaimed the entire area from the sea and are thus expanding the port area. The way back led along the other side of the Oostvoornse Meer and then along the cycle path along the Hartelkanaal. A section of the cycle path was closed here. No problem, we quickly got back on track. The closure was necessary because a wind turbine was getting a new rotor blade. Where was the old one? Torn off by the storm? We suspect so, but don't know. After crossing the Hartel Canal and the Oostlandse Rak, it wasn't far to the starting point. 🚗 We can highly recommend this beautiful route. 👍😎