It's only been a month since we were last in Amsterdam but it feels like a lot longer. We have been to so many exciting places since then. It is the start of a new leg of our cruise, and sadly for us, our final leg. Our friends were commenting today about tripping over suitcases in the hallway last night, and then suddenly we thought, gosh that will be us next time! I am not looking forward to that day……
But back to beautiful Amsterdam. We arrived into port around 1.30pm yesterday and had thoughts of getting off the ship and heading into the town area but it was a bit of a miserable old day so instead we got heavily engrossed in our books and had a relaxing day. I don't think Philip and I have ever read so many books back to back. We are both into David Baldacci books at the moment and we love the twists and turns he creates in his novels. Last night we had a sunset canal cruise booked and thankfully by the time we boarded our canal boat the clouds had disappeared and we were left with a lovely warm night. As we boarded the long boat we were greeted with candlelight (fake) and wine, cheese and savouries. It was a lovely ambience as we set sail down the canals. As you imagine the night scenery was stunning and so different to the daytime scene. We drifted lazily along the canals in our super quiet boat. We passed many people enjoying the balmy night at the many restaurants that line the canals. The houseboats are close to us as we pass them and definitely no privacy here as we could see right into them at eye level. The houses also leave nothing to the imagination as we peer into them. We feel a bit like voyeurs! It is truly a lovely night and the hour and a half passed way too fast.
The sun was shining brightly as we woke this morning, so it was the perfect day for us to see some of the Dutch countryside. Our bus would take us first to the small fishing village of Marken and then on to the larger town of Volendam. It is around 45 minutes to Marken and we sat back and enjoyed the beautiful Dutch countryside. Occasionally we spotted Windmills in the distance but they are very few and far between these days.
There is approximately 22,000 kilometres of Dikes in the Netherlands and the construction crews are always reinforcing them. Around 26% of the Netherlands are below sea level with the lowest point a staggering 7 metres below. The dikes are truly an essential requirement of the Netherlands. We drive and walk along many of the dikes today.
Marken, with a population of around 1700 and in the province of Holland, is a small picturesque coastal village with narrow streets well tended gardens and homes. They have strict requirements for living in this village and even the tour guides are restricted to only talking in certain designated areas so as not to disturb the local residents. Surprisingly there is even restrictions on when you can hang out your washing. Today was apparently the day and all I can say here is that this person/s loved the colour black…..
It is only a short distance to the harbour that sits on Lake Marermeer, a large shallow freshwater lake, and here our guide gives us some free time to wander this lovely area. When we arrive back at the bus we look out the window to find a farmer wandering around his sheep. The sheep come running to him. The all seem to have a mutual love of each other.
Next stop Volendum, that takes us around 20 minutes from Marken. This place is alive with busloads of tourists. My goodness it is busy. Our tour guide walks us along the dike leading into the town area and points out to us the low lying homes on the other side of the dike. I would find it scary living that far below sea level but I guess the Dutch have simply learned to live with it.
Our guide walked us to the end of the old town and then left us to our own devices. We were on a mission to buy a birthday gift for one of our friends who is celebrating his birthday in a couple of day. A T-shirt was an easy enough find. Our guide has been very helpful and pointed out various places to eat, drink and purchase souvenirs. We were dying to try the little Dutch Pancakes that are served with lashings of cream, chocolate, strawberries and banana. We found a shop and placed our order. I thought they would be served cold, but no, they are served to order and served to you straight from the grill to the plate. They are so delicious. We shared this small box but I could have easily eaten them all by myself.
Volendum is truly a lovely place to visit, even if it is just a short time. The crowds were hard to contend with but that didn't distract us from the beauty of this older part of town.
The hour long return to the ship slips by and we are now ensconced in our suite and away from the maddening crowd of the newbies that have joined us for this last leg. When I say maddening, I don't mean it in a derogatory way. They are just all noisy and over-excited as I'm sure we were at the beginning of the cruise (I don't think so). On the bright side, they are a whole new bunch of people for us to get to know and that is always exciting.
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