G & J away from home

Monday, 18 May

Nothing on this morning except doing the ironing after my heroic hand-washing efforts yesterday.  I can't for the life of me understand why we're not waking up as desiccated as a sun-dried raisin in the mornings if the room can dry off really heavy clothes in 12 hours. ;o)

This afternoon we set out from the hotel in our biggest group yet on one of these 'fill in your Amsterdam time' excursions Stefano has organised for us.  This tour was to see a working wind (water) mill, and the towns of Edam and Volendam.

When we set out it was overcast and looked like it wanted to drizzle.  Actually, it intended to pour down!

The windmill (which was used for moving water from drainage canals up to canals that would flow out to the sea) was an absolutely awesome visit - the miller (known to our party as 'that windmill guy') was very funny and informative.  And then we got to climb up the two huge ladders to to the top level where the gears were rattling around.  I wish I could have got more photos but there was no room to move back far enough to get the scale right.

A few facts I remember from the talk: the thatching on the windmill lasts 100 years; the wooden gears last 50 years.  I can't remember the exact figures but when the wind is blowing this water mill can shift swimming pool sized amounts of water in minutes.  I wish we had had longer there ... and not only because it as dry inside!

Gears in the windmill

Off next to the very pretty and historic city of Edam.  No, the cheese doesn't come from here - it wasn't a cheese-making area, it just had the right to hold a cheese market, as did Gouda.

But the walk through the historic part of the town (in the steady rain) wasn't really about cheese, rather about the very, very pretty canal-side scenery.  Gary didn't even get his camera out but I chanced rain on the lens to snap a few shots.  (And I must say they don't do the rain justice,)

Edam suburbia

Everywhere we went there were smaller or larger counter-balance bridges that could be opened to let boats pass through.  Our guide said the distinctive counter-balance system made them easy to operate but I noticed he didn't offer to show us so maybe 'easy' is a relative term.

Counter-balanced bridges

The idea of just living alongside a canal like this, and having a boat parked almost at your door was very appealing - but please note that in this photo you can see the rain on the water.

Rain on the canal

I managed to take a photo of the group as we wandered along the streets.  Underfoot were cobblestones (made of bricks, I think) that were surprisingly good at draining the water off and never felt slippery.

Our tour party - it's wetter than it looks!

Gary was a bit worried by the weather forecast and had decked himself out in thermals, a sweatshirt and a hoodie, a raincoat, and was clutching an umbrella.  He probably did better than most the party at staying dry during the afternoon!

Gary in the cheese shop

Then we got back into the bus (much to the driver's disgust, I'm sure) to drive over to the larger town of Volendam,  This used to be a fishing village on the edge of the bay, but the bay was enclosed and changed from the sea to a lake (fresh water) and from what I can tell the income of the town changed from fishing to tourism. It attracted a lot of artists in its day; today it attracted damp tourists.

Formerly a bay, now a lake

By this time is was raining in earnest and the wind was blowing as we walked along the very picturesque dyke.  Where the road changed direction slightly there was an excellent wind-tunnel effect that turned 100% of the umbrellas inside-out and shredded a few as well.

Gary decided that he and his umbrella were not going a step further so we agreed to meet back at the bus.  Most of the party were ducking into cafes to grab a coffee and drip on somebody else's floor, but I headed out to the water's edge.  The wind was less than it was between the buildings, but that rain was certainly being driven along hard enough to sting.

Once I was wet enough I decided to head back to the bus.  On the way I found this group (another tour party) heading down the dyke toward the cafes and shops.  They were so completely advancing with their umbrellas to the fore that when a chap on a motorbike came along he had to slow down and (quite apologetically) toot to make them look up and scatter.  It gave me a smile.

Advancing with brollies deployed!

As I sit here and finish up this blog post it's just after 11pm and Gary's tucked up in bed.  The curtains are open and I can look out over the lights of Amsterdam.  It's our last night here and it's been an interesting and fun place to visit.

We've heard that the Vista has a new engine and is back in the water but is still a few days away from reaching here (or meeting her next tour somewhere along the river) even with sailing 24 hours a day. A bit sad not to see her dock, but perhaps we'll get back to do another river cruise sometime and visit Amsterdam again.

Nighty-night.
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