When the Dutch want to spend a summer’s day by the sea, not a few
drive up to the quiet village of Petten, perched on Holland’s North Sea
coast. Some stay in tidy cottages huddled within earshot of the roaring
surf; others smell the sea air or watch seabirds from their hotel bal-
conies or the windows of the handful of shops and restaurants near the
hamlet’s main intersection. But from town, nobody can get so much as
a glimpse of the nearby sea.
CHAPTERTWO
Europe: Planning Ahead
Colin Woodard
25