Hi Eric.
I'm more southerned ( copyrighted word) than you, so i may "exagerate" a bit ... sometimes.
By the way I love the North Holland , Edam, Volendam, Monikendam, the enormous B&B farms ( a bit smaller than the Belgian ones) of that "kaas" region and Alkmaar, the deutch jewel immediately at north of it, generally my definition of ones of the first week end for a new love story with a loving girl.
By the way "strong" is not an attribute of a man seen from a women. In the army or sport may be. Not even "reliable". His friends or employer can use such lexical field. A women usually see a man "viril" or not, good father or not, successfull or not, even.rich or famous but not "strong or reliable". Such choice have to mean a very particular world view in a very particular region of world and very dated at the very now.