Blogs from Volendam, North Holland, Netherlands, Europe

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Volendam was said to be the picturesque side of The Netherlands. A fishing village where people dressed in traditional Dutch costume. (A living history Colonial Williamsburg sort of place?) Well, not quite. But, first things first. The excursion to Volendaam took place in late afternoon/early evening on Sunday. The first stop here was to inspect an operating Dutch windmill. This was a highlight of the afternoon excursion. Molen Katwoude (De Katwouder Molen) outside Volendam, also known as the Kathammer, is an operating windmill built in the 17th century. It was restored in 1896 and 1988. The mill operator explained that is is a water pumping mill, intended to keep the below sea level polder dry. I'm accustomed to visiting water mills that grind wheat for flour. But here the similar geared mill machinery and rotating shaft ... read more

Today was one of those days in which I finally got some tourist type things done. Vincent - check; windmills - check etc. Did the Vincent museum first - can we pronounce it properly first people? - it's van Gockh - not van Goh already. As I had a bus tour at 1pm decided I had better get down there the fastest way possible - well sort of, tram. I had seen a central conductor booth on one yesterday but neither of the two I got today had em so I just ended up not paying - wanted to, but you do not pay the driver. It had a recorded announcement to check out when you get off with your chipped card - well you do when you have one. Basically I was walking everywhere so ... read more

20km north-east of Amsterdam lies the fishing village of Volendam and, 1/2 hour offshore, the island of Marken. These villages still exude the charm and tradition of yesteryear and feature the original homes used for hundreds of years by its fisherman inhabitants. Once upon a time, the villages were host to men and women dressed in traditional garb - the men in balloon-shaped black woollen trousers and black caps, the women in voluminous black wool skirts and colourful embroidered aprons worn over the top, white cotton-embroidered shirts and white lace caps. Sometimes, depending on the wealth and status of the women, coils of gold were worn dangling at their temples. On the feet of all inhabitants were worn the wooden clogs indicative of their lives in their watery homes. These days, the last of the traditionally-dressed ... read more

Greetings from The Netherlands...errr, Holland...where dutch people ride bikes and from what I can guess, eat, sleep and live. We spent the fourth of July in Amsterdam where we took a Canal Tour and went to the Anne Frank House. All the streets had the mixture of the smell of marijuana, body odor, stagnant water and every so often, pastries. It rained off and on all day but it made the ambience of the city very nice. I must say that all these kooks who want to legalize marijuana back home just need to spend one sober day in Amsterdam and they'll change their minds, after bathing their entire bodies in that waterless hand sanitizer. On the lighter side, I did have a fantastic Dutch Trappist Ale called La Trappe Tripel with dinner last night ... read more