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Published: September 21st 2017
Our destination today was the small harbor area north of Amsterdam--the towns of Edam, Vollendam, Markem and Monnickendam. We tried out our transit cards on a northbound bus to the town of Edam after the lovely breakfast that our host, Rutger brought to us this morning--it included fresh squeezed orange juice! Our breakfast reflected the lactose heavy diet here--cheese, yogurt and butter. Of course the view from our B&B is a dairy farm--there are lots of cows in pastures here!
Edam and the other towns we visited today are old towns with cobblestone streets and characteristic canal houses. We wandered through town taking in the scenic streets and canals. This area is known as Waterland for a good reason! Apart from the canals, there are many dikes and jettys, evidence of the longstanding battle against all of that water. There were white and black swans on both the canals and out on the Zuiderzee as well as a lot of other waterfowl. Ron sampled a raisin bun at a bakery in Edam, and of course we sampled some of the cheese that Edam is famous for. We went from Edam to Vollendam and then to Markem by ferry. Finally we
took a bus to Monnickendam where we bought some groceries and headed back to the B&B To rest our tired dogs. The Dutch language is a challenge, a crazy combination of vowels and consonants! I don't think I'll be able to master more than yes or no!
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Diana
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Beautiful photos--love the cushions on the bench for the kitty!
And the canals--reminds me of Ft. Lauderdale and even sitting by River Walk in San Antonio. The Dutch really know how to deal with water and how to survive its fluctuations. I remember reading about their anti-flooding protections for Amsterdam after Katrina and we were moaning about how it wasn't possible to protect New Orleans. Well, it actually is, but you have to be willing to invest in saving the places you want to build on flood plains. Of course, in Amsterdam's case they created the land to build on but the end result is the same. And--yes--I remember Tom talking to his family back home when he visited me and I couldn't believe they understood each other! That's when I knew I would never learn very much Dutch. Looks like the weather is great!