We’ve finally arrived in Holland! We joined up again with our Dutch friends, Jarno and Manon, who live in The Hague, Holland. We first met them in Central America and immediately hit it off. They planned a weekend getaway for all of us to a vineyard in the South of Holland. The vineyard is set in the little town of Vijlen, which is storybook precious. The green rolling hills with cute little cottages sprinkled in were so inviting and peaceful!
Wijngaard Sint Martinus Vineyard, Holland
We stayed at a family owned B&B, Cuba Libre, which was equally as precious as the town. We had a brilliant time enjoying the fabulous food and chatting it up with the staff. The owners were so attentive to our needs and they really went over and above to make sure we had a great time!
The main reason we were in this cute little town was to harvest grapes! We volunteered for a day, and picked grapes for the Wijngaard Sint Martinus vineyard. I’ve always wanted to pick grapes, and unexpectedly it all worked out that the weekend we were going to be in Holland was harvesting time at this vineyard. Jarno and Manon had set it up months prior, and we just got to tag along, lucky us!
Ryan picking grapes in Wijngaard Sint Martinus vineyard, Holland
We started off picking the green grapes used to make their white wine. The air was crisp and very cold! They had their first freeze the night prior, and they were worried that another night of freezing temps could damage the grapes. So we picked earnestly all day. Even though our toes were frozen at times, we really enjoyed the experience! We were able to have a nice wine tasting of Wijngaard Sint Martinus’ products during lunch. Later in the afternoon, we started on the red grapes. They were much more of a challenge to pick, we had to be more precise, only picking the deep blue colored ones. I have so much more appreciation for the wine I drink now. The owner and his staff were super nice, and this is something that I would love to come back and do again! What a great day!
Jarno, Manon, and Ryan at lunch at the vineyard
Heidi and Manon at the vineyard