16-20 August On Thursday we set out for Alkmaar with our friends Jean-Marie and Leona on board. Alkmaar is known for the Cheese Market, and we had timed our visit to allow us to go, so we set out for the market on Friday morning. It was in many ways similar to Edam's cheese market, but bigger and perhaps not as friendly. There was a scaffolding on the church and (for a fee) you could go up for the view and to get a better look at the ceiling which they have been restoring. We also had a wander around the town, including a cycle around the old town boundary canal on our bikes. We decided to leave on Friday afternoon, and head to a mooring that Jean-Marie and Leona knew of on the way to Purmerend. It was a nice sunny afternoon and a pleasant cruise, although the mooring was a little further than we had planned. Luckily, when we arrived it was free, and the fishermen were just packing up for the day. We had a nice BBQ on the back deck. The next morning we had a cycle to De Rijp, which I had read was quite pretty, and it was. At De Rijp we found out that before the 17th century it was on the shores of a lake De Beemster which was connected to the Zuiderzee via a canal. Actually De Rijp was on an island surrounded by three lakes. The De Rijp economy was then based on fishing and trade. However in the early 17th century all of the lakes were reclaimed, funded by prosperous Amsterdammers and the town's economy was devastated, and they had to turn to more agricultural pursuits. On our way to De Rijp we had passed a couple of impressive houses and gone through the town of Middenbeemster which was also a nice town. They were on the Beemster Polder which, it turns out, is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In fact we were moored against the dyke at the edge of the polder. In the afternoon we cruised into Purmerend which was only about an hour away and got a mooring just near the lock. Purmerend was a pleasant town, nothing special, except that they had a boules competition going on in the town square. They also have a very modern pedestrian cycling bridge which we could see from the boat. It had a high part that was always closed, that you could climb up via steps, and a lower part at an angle that could be opened to let boats through. Quite a nice view from up there. On Sunday Ruud and Petra drove up from Vlaardingen and we had a nice lunch aboard the boat, and then a walk around the town. On Monday we completed our trip back to Zaandam via the IJ. It was great to have had Jean-Marie and Leona aboard again.
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AuthorWe are sharing stories about and travels on our barge Moondance. Archives
August 2023
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