Zaanse Schans a Windmill village

Our last day in The Netherlands. We had breakfast again at Bagels and Beans. A Sunrise Sunrise Bagel

And porridge.

With Duncan, Lauraine, Odessa and friends from France (Hugo, Sophie, Philippe, Giacomo?) we had a lovely walk to Zaanse Schans. 

It is a historical neighbourhood with monumental wooden buildings, windmills and craft shops. On the walk you could smell chocolate!! We stopped a chocolate store called “Smells Like Chocolate “

Crossing the bridge to see windmills 

A hot chocolate kind of day! Now into the village 

Real windmills 

Grandma and grandpa and Odessa and windmills! 

Always a park for kids

Then homeward for lunch and a story first

Saying goodbye to everyone and back to hotel.

One last walk about Zaandam. We found a boat going through the locks. Man on the left opening the locks 

This man is lowering a wooden shoe with a rolled paper inside to collect money from the boat.

And the guys pay! 

And the lock is closed once they are through. 

Thanks and off they go. 

Time to pack all those books and chocolate while Yellow Bunny watches.

And Norm waves goodbye

Alkmaar

A day to explore the nearby town of Alkmaar, known for its traditional cheese market on Fridays, we visited on Wednesday but there’s still a lot to see. Caught the train and arrived in Alkmaar by noon. First church is St. Lawrence.

A beautiful sunny day so time to sit near a canal and have lunch. The most apple filled apple pie we’ve had! 

A ham and aged cheese sandwich is eaten with a knife and fork in the Netherlands. 

Some buildings date from the 17th century but Alkmaar was granted city rights in 1254. 

Alkmaar is known for its cheese market that traditionally takes place every Friday. The cheese is weighed at the medieval weigh house seen here. 

Unfortunately we are here on a Wednesday. We walked up and down narrow streets filled with a variety of businesses. 

An old fashioned bridge with the Cheese Market behind

Time for real Dutch fries with mayonnaise. Made from real potatoes 

Yummy 
Thought Norm should try these….

Again looking up always finds interesting architecture 

Time to buy cheese in Alkmaar, known for its cheese! 

Tonight we decided to go to Albert Hijn to make our own dinner. One thing I found that there are rows of candy and chocolate but a very small section of cereal compared to what you find back home. 

Can you see Yellow Bunny wondering what would be her favourite? 

Thursday is our last day in Holland. Had a wonderful time catching up with Lauraine, Duncan and Odessa. And the  sightseeing and the numerous kms walking, most of them in Amsterdam, a perfect city for walking.

Museum of Contemporary Art - MOCO

We went back to Bagels and Beans this morning for breakfast and I found oatmeal on the menu. 

This is porridge and it was perfect. I asked to leave out the bananas but it had nuts, seeds and apple. 

Their napkin starts your day with inspiration.

As we headed to the museum we could not resist a few photos of what makes Amsterdam…Amsterdam! 

First, the thousands of bikes, everywhere.

Most buildings here were built well before elevators, so to move things to the upper levels they use the hook at the top of the building and raise or lower items. Here they are renovating and moving old building material out. 

The red bin is for the waste and here it comes 

The guy in the open window is almost hanging out! 

Next we visited a store selling “real”’Delft porcelain. Some tiles were in the hundreds of euros.

We love houses…

For the MOCO we passed through the Rijksmuseum passageway. 

MOCO was showing modern and contemporary Masters. Here is some that we saw…

Keith Haring

Waves for Ukraine by Eddie Vedder 

This a chair…

Probably what we most enjoyed was Banksy. The Flower Thrower and Girl with Balloon. Really thought provoking! 

After this it was time for food! On a side street with fewer tourists we had found a funky cafe called Eggs Benaddicted serving breakfast, so we went in! 

And of course a Prosecco! 

Tonight we are on babysitting duty! Duncan and Lauraine are celebrating Duncan’s birthday with a dinner out. Predinner storytime. 

Cleo, the cat is helping us, along with Yellow Bunny. Should be a successful evening!!