The world right now is a scary place. But countless stories of nature thriving have emerged from the coronavirus pandemic, like fish, dolphins, and swans to returning to Venice's less polluted canals.
And one village that has more than a little in common with the iconic Italian city is Giethoorn, which is also known as the "Venice of the Netherlands."
Take a look around the idyllic village below:As Giethoorn's nickname suggests, like Venice, it is a village connected by canals instead of roads, and it truly looks like something straight out of a fairytale.
In fact, it has no modern forms of transportation at all! Only boats and 176 bridges.
According to the village website, Bored Panda reports, "the loudest sound you can normally hear is the quacking of a duck or the noise made by other birds".
Why don't the boats make any sounds? I hear you ask. Well, that's because they aren't just any old boats, but "whisper" boats that have silent engines.
The Venice of the Netherlands was founded around 1230, and as you can imagine, it's the picture of tranquility despite being an understandably popular tourist spot.
When the area was first inhabited, Bored Panda reports, people found large peat deposits which they dug out to form the canals that exist today.
Needless to say, at the time, there was no way of connecting Giethoorn's newly-formed islands, which is why it's many bridges were built, creating a truly magical village.
In short, a visit to Giethoorn is like stepping into a fairytale, and something that we can all lust after (and maybe one day make a reality) while we do the right thing and stay at home to save lives.
You can even go on one of Google Earth's 31 virtual tours of 31 national parks to help beat your isolation blues!
