Day 21 – Saturday 11 June 2016

A leisurely start this morning, after yet another magnificent breakfast, we departed at 8.30am & enjoyed very light traffic for a change as we drove out towards Volendam & the Zuiderzee. Our first stop at 9am was a small cheese making & clog making farm. We had an interesting talk on the process for making cheese, with a glassed-in-room behind Wendy, the presenter, showing the Gouda cheese in different stages of the cheese making process. Some cheese was soaking in brine, some was being pressed, some was drying & some was being cured.  Next we went into the clog room & we were shown the art of making clogs by hand from a block of poplar wood. The craftsman is very skilful using very sharp hand tools to shape the clog. The factory they have in a shed outside produces clogs commercially in 50 different sizes, they are finished in all types of colours & designs. The clog maker had a good sense of humour as he presented the benefits of clogs & why everyone should own at least one pair. Next we moved into the shop area with a selection of cheeses for tasting, after sampling some home-made berry flavoured gin. Our tour group bought a reasonable amount of goods to add to the problem of bulging suitcases.

Next we followed the Hoogedyk Road, along the bottom edge of the dyke separating the Zuiderzee from the farmland. The Zuiderzee is a very large freshwater lake (about 50km across) that sits about 6 feet above the surrounding farmland. The large windmill we stopped at next is used to pump water out of the farmland drainage ditches up into the Zuiderzee, to drain the farmlands when it was raining. This windmill was built in 1650 & all the structural timber is still original & it is still used to pump water when it rains. The windmill can pump 65,000 litres of water a minute up 6 feet high into the Zuiderzee. It has a thatched roof that lasts around 100 years before needing to be replaced. All the gears are wooden & the gear cogs last around 80 years before needing replacing. It is an amazing piece of old technology. I climbed up the steep ladders inside to see the working headgear at the top of the windmill, very interesting indeed.

It was only a very short drive into the old port of Volendam & we spotted a group of old sailing ships grouped together & making slow headway in the light winds. As we walked into the old town the port opened up with a collection of old boats, some modern ferries & some very modern & expensive pleasure boats. It is very picturesque, with loads of tourists starting to arrive as we were leaving. We stopped & had a bite to eat on a bench looking out over the Zuiderzee, it was very peaceful. Back on the coach at 12.15 & back into Amsterdam & our hotel.

After a short rest we walked to the Het Scheepvartmuseum, the maritime museum, not that far from our hotel along the waterfront (everything is along the waterfront in Amsterdam). After paying our 15 Euros each we went out first & looked at the Royal Barge, encased in its own temperature & humidity controlled shed. Moored at the wharf is a replica of the Amsterdam, a ship from the old East India Company that was wrecked in a storm on its maiden voyage to Asia near Hastings, England, not really all that far from where it was launched. The ship was very interesting, the hold was set up with typical cargo & had an interactive children’s area. The cabins also had examples of typical equipment & personal items from that time. The space between decks was limited, so we were always bending low to avoid banging our heads. There were cannon from the era on their gun carriages lining both sides of the ships. It must have been hell below decks when the guns were being fired.

The museum was next, on 3 levels & after one stint at the steps we took the lifts, it is a long distance between the floors of the old building. I was a little disappointed with the inside of the museum, it is very spacious & modern, with a limited display of items. Again there are some areas designed for children to interact with the exhibits. There was a display on navigation equipment that was interesting to look at, a display of ancient atlases was also interesting. The problem was, the explanations were all in Dutch, so we could only really look. The paintings from the 1600s onwards was interesting, there were some very good Dutch painters depicting maritime life. There was also a large collection of boat & ship models, the craftsmanship was superb. The display of porcelain, glass & silverware was fairly lame, disappointing overall. The walk back to our hotel tired us out so we had a bit of a rest until our next venture out.

At 5.15pm we headed out for a boat tour around the canals of Amsterdam. The waterways were very crowded as it was a Saturday afternoon & fine weather. We had the glass roofed tour boat all to our tour group & the boat skipper pointed out lots of different features, buildings & highlights as we motored up & down the canals, under very low bridges & through very narrow canals. He explained that the mass of houseboats lining the canals were now worth big money, with the small ones selling for 500,000 Euros just for the slot on the canal wall, then there was the price of the houseboat on top of that. We passed some mansions in the wealthy area, some of the most expensive real estate in Europe with the better ones fetching 50 million Euro. The tour boat finished off by dropping us off near our restaurant.

The Haesje Claus Restaurant was established in 1520 & we had a private room upstairs for the 28 of our tour group. We all had a gin to start with, then some traditional Dutch food for entrees. I had a cold fish platter & Tereza tried the pea & ham soup. For the mains Tereza tried the Dutch Hodgpodge & I had the salmon (delicious) & we both had the same desert, a cinnamon flavoured ice cream with brandy-soaked raisins (delicious). We had a lovely talk with our fellow travelling companions whilst enjoying a glass or two of nice wine. We had to leave the restaurant by 9pm as the people queued up for tables stretched from the bottom of the stairs, through the restaurant & out into the street, it is very popular.

Tonight was our farewell dinner. Most of us got very friendly with each other sharing 18 days of wonderful adventure, finding out snippets of each other’s lives & future plans. We have been very fortunate to have had such great people. We also must give a lot of credit to Brian (tour director) he worked hard organizing our tours, extra tours & also forming a great group dynamics. He made the tour very interesting because of his great knowledge of history, enthusiasm & caring. His language skills are great. We all said goodbye because tomorrow we are all leaving to different places & at different times. Brian sighed a great relief – he didn’t lose anyone, no accidents or health problems or whatever can happen on a tour.

Without Piero’s, (the driver) driving skills we wouldn’t have felt safe.

Another great day, though we are both very tired & looking forward to a good night’s sleep.