April 14
I spoke to Roger a couple times on his birthday and it seemed he had a good day!
Today we went on a bus to and excursion out of Amsterdam. Just 15 minutes outside of the city you're really in the country and it was beautiful! First we stopped to see our first windmill up close. We learned that windmills were built in a row at increasing heights in order to pump out the water. We visited a cheese factory where we tasted a wide array of different Gouda cheeses. Yummy.
The first town where we stopped was Volendam-- really charming! Would be a lovely place to stay for some days. In the town is a huge lake that was originally a part of the sea but was dammed and now is a fresh water lake. Tradition here is for each house in the village to have a window close to the street and the curtains at each house are unique & special. Town has grown so much that now it connects with the city of Edam.
Driving past houses in the country showed me the typical lay out-- street in front, then canal, then another canal on the side followed by a field with grass & sometimes cows grazing. The land all was reclaimed and evidently pumps keep things in check all over. Many houses have a boat in a nearby canal. Beautiful!
Next town was Edam. Turns out though there's not a lot of Edam cheese made here as locals prefer Gouda --they say it's got a stronger flavor ( and Edam is seen as too bland). This is another really charming town!
Our ship FINALLY set sail during the night Friday-- after 2 nights moored in Amsterdam. I say "finally" because the travel plans changed from the schedule when they discovered the place we were heading to had " no room at the inn"--- or rather at the harbor. Hard to understand how that sort of thing can't be set in advance but someone speculated that the local harbor master may have gotten a better offer elsewhere... Hmmm...
But we still are having a good time.
April 15
During the night I kept my curtain open a bit to watch the water. Nice. This morning we woke up to the ship going through a lock before arriving at Arnham.
Our guide Frans gave us an excellent lecture about the waterways and how it all works. Most informative!
After lunch Merle & I joined a couple of others to deviate from the organized excursion so we could go see a museum -- Kroller- Muller Museum outside of Arnhem. It holds the second largest collection of Van Gogh works. Since we missed his museum in Amsterdam we really wanted to go here. His works were fantastic and the crowds were nothing like we found in Amsterdam despite this being Easter vacation week. In addition I was delighted to see other works such as Picasso ( I Loved those), Gaugin, Pisarro, Cezane, Monet, Renoir, Signat and some excellent Dutch painters I had not known before. We were very pleased with our decision to go here.
Weather was chilly but sunny so that's good!
Off to dinner now!
Jane
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