Sep 06 (Saturday) – Volendam and Enkhuizen

Our breakfast included this little packet that turned out to be peanut butter.  The literal Dutch translation is “Peanut Cheese”.  The Dutch do love their cheese.

After breakfast we headed out to the town of Volendam.  The countryside in this section of The Netherlands is really pretty.  Many of the country roads are lined with shade trees.

When we got to Volendam we found that they were having a carnival.  However, it was too early in the morning, nothing was running yet.  

First thing we did was walk down to the waterfront and the harbor.  

Then, we went looking for a public bathroom but found none.  So, we thought we would just get some tea or hot chocolate at one of the several cafés along the waterfront.  Easier said than done.  They were all only selling beer.  At 9:30 in the morning.  We finally found a café that also served tea.  We were able to have a short rest and a bathroom break. 

Folks having their morning beer.

Then we spent some more time wandering around the harbor and nearby areas.

The harbor and views of the ocean beyond.

Then we headed off on one of the main “old town” streets.  It was lined with souvenir and clothing shops.  We bought a couple of cute items for our youngest grandson.

The Cheese Factory was along this street, and it warranted a visit.  

It was primarily a store selling lots of cheeses...

but they did have several displays of cheese making equipment...

and a lot of placards with information about the Dutch cheese industry and the cheese making process.

Then we were off to another town, Enhkuizen.  Pretty countryside along the route. 

The first parking lot we found was full so we were off through the very narrow streets, trying to find another parking lot. We eventually found the huge parking lot at the train station.  Fortunately, there were still a very few spots available but it was a long walk back to the station and then into town.  The station had a good size parking lot for bikes as well.  And it was full.

The next order of business was to find lunch.  We found a café right along one of the nearby canals.  We both had a very good falafel salad. 

Some photos of the canals and the harbor with its many boats.

Some photos from our walk around the town.

We saw a wedding couple being photographed. 

We found the Boat in a Bottle Museum.  

This museum has around 1,400 boats in bottles and related items.  We saw a video that showed how these amazing things are made.  Basically, the boat is constructed outside of the bottle with all the masts and such hinged and tied to a string.  The boat is slid into the bottle and the strings used to pull everything upright.

There was a display of the tools used to make these…and most of them are very, very long so that they can reach far into the bottles. 

There were boats in big bottles with boats... 

medium size bottles...

extremely tiny bottles as well...

in oddly shaped bottles...

and even one in a light bulb.  Well, actually, it isn't a boat but it is still a very small item in a very small light bulb.

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More Boat in a Bottle
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We decided that we also wanted to see the Zuiderzee Museum.  Some boats at sea that we saw on our walk to the museum.

It was late in the afternoon and by the time we arrived there was only a couple of hours left until closing time.  

The lady at the museum suggested that, given the amount of time we had left, we would probably do best to see the outside museum that displayed vintage dwellings and boats.  So, we bought our tickets and walked down the street to the outdoor museum. 

Some very interesting buildings...

with very complete period displays inside the work buildings.  

And there was a fullly furnished home. 

The museum was complete with a small harbor... 

with lots of boats. 

This gentleman looks like he is a veteran sailor. 

After we made it back to the main area of town Mary found a café to relax with a drink (water) and Paul went out to do a bit more exploring.  A colorful addition to the local flavor (we both saw it) was this party bike.

We headed back to Hoorn in time for dinner and found an Italian restaurant on our square.  Very good food.