{"id":142240,"date":"2022-07-12T16:32:46","date_gmt":"2022-07-12T14:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=142240"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:21","slug":"wide-open-views-meadow-birds-and-wild-orchids-go-and-check-out-plassendaal-on-texel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2022\/07\/12\/wide-open-views-meadow-birds-and-wild-orchids-go-and-check-out-plassendaal-on-texel\/","title":{"rendered":"Wide open views, meadow birds and wild orchids: go and check out Plassendaal on Texel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor Tessa Hofland is not the greatest beach fan. A walk is fine, watching a sunset is too, but her heart lies in the woods. What’s the great appeal of Texel? It’s a family tradition.<\/p>\n

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A walk on the beach at sunset is very nice, says editor Tessa. But she prefers a walk in the woods.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHans Hofland<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

If I\u2019m given the choice between the beach or woods, I choose the woods. Almost as controversial a subject as pineapple on pizza, the preference for cats or dogs, Marvel or DC, Coca-Cola or Pepsi. I know where I stand, preferably in the woods. But I\u2019d advise everyone to visit Texel at least once. A Wadden island that is partly known for\u2026 well, its beaches.<\/p>\n

A beach sunset is always glorious, the sand between your toes when you get home slightly less. For me, the best place on Texel is the middle of the island. Here you will find nature and care farm Plassendaal at the heart of the Waalenburg polder. I know the farm with its characteristic orange roof as the home of my cousin Mari\u00ebt and her family.<\/p>\n

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This is how you see Nature Farm Plassendaal when you walk back from the bird-watching hut by the water. <\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLeo Hofland<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Every time I visit Plassendaal, it seems even lovelier. Particularly when I drive up De Staart. You can see the orange roof from all over the polder, each time confirming that I\u2019m heading in the right direction and that I\u2019m nearly there. And it just is becoming more and more beautiful. The family has worked on it over the years. They say themselves that they \u2018produce nature\u2019, nature like meadow birds and wild orchids. The cows maintain the grassland. Once you reach the Zaandammerdijk, you can see the water that is a paradise for those birds and for us humans just a beautiful sight. As a child, I never noticed that water. Now that the agricultural polder has transformed into a nature-rich grassland, I notice it much more. The \u2018new\u2019 nature fits incredibly well into the landscape.<\/p>\n

My grandparents would have loved it. Every year since the 1960s, they would pack everything up and head for Texel with their five children. They spent all summer on the island. My father spent those months between the horses at Manage Kikkert. Mari\u00ebt (and not just her) fell in love with a Texel native. Decades later, the island is still somewhere that brings our family together.<\/p>\n

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Tessa's first time on Texel. Of course, the riding school where her father (also in the picture) used to go, had to be visited.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCarolien Hofland<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

When the Covid measures were relaxed in the summer of 2021, Plassendaal hosted our family reunion. I had not seen most of them since the family weekend in December 2019. It took less than a second before I was tearfully hugging an aunt. It\u2019s not just the meadow birds that feel welcome on the farm \u2013 the Hofland family feels the same.<\/p>\n

So, if I\u2019m really asked to choose, I choose family.<\/p>\n