Day 13, April 26, 2017 A day to ourselves "Let's take a drive".

Ruth had in mind getting to visit the Cheese making shops, especially the ones around Volendam. This is in Noord Holland and north of Amsterdam on the way to both of the man made dikes that hold back the waters of the North Sea. We did traverse one of those and for your reading, (as the entire procedure of building dikes , pumping water out, maintaining water levels and building soil is a very complicated process, too long to tell accurately here,)   SO... I recommend this web site  (below) for a reasonable complete description of the water problem including, but not limited to the great storms that killed thousands, to the election of the all important "Water Boards in the Netherlands". At one time there were 2,700 of them, and today less than 30, but they are very important to the country. I would put the tax rates in this article, but you know the problem,... it's too complicated and too diverse to condense it.
THE SITE...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_control_in_the_Netherlands


Today ,weather wise it turned out to be another one of those cloudy---sunny---rainy-- sunny, etc, days. On again, off again. Generally it was a fine day.

Oh, back to the Cheese shops...Ruth wanted to visit the one(s) near Volendam  and that is where we headed, Renate had given us some suggestions about birding areas up that way if we had the time and energy to do that.(We were not able to do so, but thanks Renate,) and we'll read on...
So,... determining how to drive that route, we set out around 10:00. heading north...  again, with very good roads. We did a 1/2 circle around Amsterdam,  (They are called 'Rings' here) and headed up a National Road  toward Volendam. The cheese shop (Elida Hoeve) was one of three operated in this area by the same man. He has expanded the company now to having shops in other Netherlands cities, and ships cheese all around the world.
We found the shop quickly as it was just on the side road we turned down.  They are owned by  a man who uses his name  on many products. He is Henri Willig and still is active in the business. We were shown the process of wooden shoe making by machinery and the entire process until the shoes can be customized in colors, names, emblems, etc., when finished. There were many racks of shoes already to sell.

The Alida Hoeve cheese shop near Volendam.

The demonstration room which held a French group right after we finished.

Uula posed for us after telling about cheese aging.
The younger cheese (1 Yr.) on the left
The older chees (2Yr.) on the right

 One fascinating and informative piece of information for me was that there is a great difference in the aging of cheeses. In the USA there is seldom many cheeses that are "old"cheeses. Most being sold as "young" cheese , just a few weeks old at best. I did learn and tasted the difference in the cheeses , not so much in the favors, but in the aging.

It should be noted that along this route to the cheese factory, we saw some terrific ponds and wetlands that were hosting many birds  if onlt there were places to pull off to see them. We did some of that but not enough for us.


After the cheese visit, we headed north further to travel around the Markermeer (the dam closest to Amsterdam ) which is 18 miles in length. There was a safety spot (sea harbor) built on it about 1/2 way and we stopped there to get some photos and observe the wildlife if any. But we were surprised as there was a restaurant and so we indulged in a noontime snack at "Check Point Charlies" restaurant. For me it was coffee, tomato soup (Mexican style)  and fries (a huge plate of fries) and for Ruth a ham and mushroom omelet. ("Even  better than yesterday".) she said.

Looking for a birding spot on the mainland was a journey in frustration. We found it  along the Oosvaardersdijk, but then had to back track a distance to catch the freeway back to Werkhoven.

So, along the way there were many fields being worked , some huge tulip beds where the flower heads were being cut by machine (to save the bulbs) many flocks of birds, and the largest herds of milk cows I have ever seen. Of course this is cheese and dairy products country, and these herds showed that industry. Some of the herds numbered in the hundreds  and there were many of those. Can you imagine the time it would take to milk all those cows twice a day????? Consider that the Netherlands has 1.39 million cows (not cattle)  versus the state of Michigan with about 400,000 head of milking cows.

Again I cannot help but comment on the wonderful job this country has done on its road system. We drove almost 200 Km today and I never once (even over bridges) felt a bump that did more than make a very soft "rump" as we crossed a bridge.  It is wonderful. And I mean ALL roads, Even the country lanes that are macadam are very smooth.

Tomorrow we visit Ruth's family, again,  and this time in Rhenen a town about an hour away from us. More on that tomorrow.  Here are a few more photos to illustrate the tone of the day.

The Stad Amsterdam in sail. Maybe you
saw the reaneactment  trip of the HMS Beatle?
This was the ship that did it for TV and PBS
It took eight months. How long did Darwin take?

There are some tulips tat are being de-headed now for bulb use, (Most value is in the bulbs) 

A klompen used for the groom on his wedding day.
It has been hand carved.

It says it all, but also there is a tower for bungy jumping nearby.

The demo area at the cheese and klompen factory.

Hey, you can have your tennis shoes made as Dutch sport shoes.

Enter the cheese shop.

The Markerwaarddijk

Same dijk with  the other view 

The Stad Amsterdam in Port. It is 285 feet long.

We are surrounded (next door) by goats , sheep and horses.

These sheep are "buds"

Finally those klompen can come in all sizes.
You have heard of the Dutch Giants?