Volendam

Today we saw some interesting places outside of Amsterdam. We hopped in the car with Jordan and Sandy. Our first stop was at Muiden. Kevin and I cycled there in May, but this time we toured the Castle.

The May blip tells the story of the Castle and Count Floris V. Today, the guide in the Castle provided an alternative view regarding the Count's demise, as follows. The Count had attracted attention from his friend, the King of England, because he was becoming increasingly powerful due to his control (i.e. healthy tolls) over access to the River Vecht and because he was on favourable terms with the King of France (not a friend of the King of England). A scheme to kidnap the Count and take to England where he would be imprisoned, backfired. All was going well at first, as the kidnappers imprisoned the Count in his own dungeon. However, traveling to England proved too difficult to manage when he fell enroute and his horse landed on him, breaking his arm. So, that was it for the Count. Not sure which story it is, but somehow the one that has power and politics involved seems the more plausible.

After a lovely lunch at a restaurant near the castle called Graaf Floris V, we travelled a little further north to Volendam, a cheese making town on the Markermeer Lake near Edam. The Markermeer Lake is one of the freshwater lakes that was created when the Zuiderzee was dammed in the early 1900s, forming the IJ and other freshwater lakes, as well as reclaiming agricultural land where there had previously been salt water.

It was a beautiful day. Boats were out on the water and people were enjoying the restaurants beside the marina. A few people were swimming at the small nearby beach. The tourist shops were full, including a cheese shop that offered a very short info session about cheese making and a very long session about the great cheeses and cheese slicing tools available for purchase in the store. An interesting stat: There are about 16M people in the Netherlands and about 4M cows. The Dutch eat a lot of cheese! I can understand why. It is delicious, and the yogurt is the best ever!

After stopping for a drink and shopping a little, we strolled along the lakeside and enjoyed the afternoon.