At the end of the day, after all the tourists are gone, Giethoorn becomes still and peaceful. On the canals, only a lonely boat here and there would disturb the water mirror. On the footpaths, locals carrying their groceries in trolleys (there are no roads in the village so they can’t go for groceries by car) are going home to cook dinner.

My friend and I went for the second round of visiting, and this time it was truly magical. As the sun was setting, sending a warm light through the trees and onto the water, we enjoyed the silence that surrounded everything. We would stop to admire flowers or to talk to a cat who was doing its evening walk.  We had pancakes for dinner at the ‘t Zwaantje restaurant and went for beers at Smits Paviljoen, near the water, where we watched the sunset with wind in our hair and inhaling the salt air.

We slept well in our rented apartment and woke up to a rainy day, but it wasn’t that bad since we could drink our coffee in the garden, watching the boats passing by, and we were in no hurry to do anything.

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