Season 2

Arnout Hauben is getting ready to walk through the Netherlands and Belgium one more time. From Lauwersoog he leaves for De Panne in Belgium in the company of cameraman Philippe Niclaes and soundman Ruben Callens. Their first stages take them through Friesland, where they meet the quirky but friendly inhabitants. In Dokkum, Arnout goes looking for a piece of the skull of Saint Boniface, a missionary who was not really warmly received by the Frisians in the 8th century.

When Arnout leaves Friesland behind him and enters Drenthe, he hears a lion roaring in the forest. After some searching, Arnout and his friends end up in an animal shelter where traumatized animals from all over the world find a new home. In Wilhelminaoord, in the last century, no animals, but poor families and vagabonds were sheltered in the Colony of Benevolence. The people here could literally work their way out of poverty by working the land. Arnout speaks with the very last wanderer of Wilhelminaoord, who proves to be difficult to tame.

When Arnout leaves Friesland behind him and enters Drenthe, he hears a lion roaring in the forest. After some searching, Arnout and his friends end up in an animal shelter where traumatized animals from all over the world find a new home. In Wilhelminaoord, in the last century, no animals, but poor families and vagabonds were sheltered in the Colony of Benevolence. The people here could literally work their way out of poverty by working the land. Arnout speaks with the very last wanderer of Wilhelminaoord, who proves to be difficult to tame....

On his journey through the Low Countries, Arnout crosses the heart of the old, rich Holland. In Muiden he passes the beautiful castle of the famous Count Floris V, who controlled shipping traffic on the Vecht from here. When Arnout sees Sinterklaas' boat in the lock, he has no hesitation and jumps aboard this sailing piece of youth sentiment. In Woerden, Arnout delves into the city's cheese traditions, but that is not to the liking of sound engineer Ruben, who suffers from a cheese allergy...

Arnout crosses De Biesbosch National Park and looks for beavers. But they are not so easy to film. Sound man Ruben leaves a camera in the park and hopes to have better luck during the night. In Willemstad, Arnout speaks with the very last witnesses of the Rhenus 127 disaster. That was a ship full of Belgian prisoners of war that struck a mine near the city during the Second World War...

Arnout leaves the Netherlands behind and crosses the border with Belgium at the Kalmthoutse Heide. At the military airport of Brasschaat he looks for the owner of an old army plane that turns out to have a special history. In the St. Paul's Church, in the middle of the red light district of Antwerp, Arnout stares at the beautiful medieval paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck and Jordaens. These masterpieces were saved by the neighborhood's prostitutes and students in 1969 when the church was in danger of burning down...

Arnout crosses the Demer Valley and arrives in the Flemish Ardennes: the setting of the Flemish cycling classics. In Geraardsbergen, Arnout and his friends exchange their walking shoes for a racing bike to climb the legendary Muur, just like countless cyclists have done before them. They continue along the language border to Amougies. This small, rural village is known as the Woodstock of the Low Countries after it was overrun by 70,000 hippies in 1969.

In the last episode, Arnout crosses the Westhoek where there was hard fighting during the First World War. Not only are the cemeteries a reminder of that dark period, but the traces of the front line are still clearly visible on the De Palingbeek golf course. In the last café on the route, Arnout and his friends drink a Picon and celebrate their friendship. After 1,000 long kilometers, the end point of their journey through the Low Countries is finally in sight: the North Sea coast of De Panne.

For those who cannot get enough of ‘Dwars door de Lage Landen’, there is this episode full of never-before-seen encounters, unexpected scenes and touching moments not yet seen in previous broadcasts.