Highlights Edam and Hoorn

I had done some research for a triangular trip but it had not been saved! It was fine because it was probably too much for a day anyway. We considered a train to Amsterdam but opted for a drive to three towns/villages in the wider area instead. There were four village recommended but one was supposedly more touristy so I left that off the list. I found them by searching for the prettiest towns in the Netherlands.

We had opted to have our breakfast delivered before Daisy took her children to school so a basket appeared at 8.10am. We had a traditional European breakfast provided of breads, melon, cheese and ham and hard boiled eggs (which I always find rather random). We enjoyed it, and then just left the dishes as we were told they would be collected by Daisy to wash.

The first village was Edam. We took a roundabout route to here that took us along some nice country roads by various canals. With the sun out and water in many scenes it was very attractive.

We pulled into a parking area outside the town but were told something by the local warden in Dutch which was not entirely clear, Thw gist was we couldn’t stay there but there was parking somewhere else. So we drove a bit further. Poor John!! He ended up driving through the middle of the town along narrow cobblestoned roads with numerous pedestrians and bicycles and over a bridge he initially thought was pedestrian only. After that we went into the parking area via the exit, but as it was a smallish lot with some spaces, it was fine. We even found it was free for 4 hours if we had a parking disc. I wrote a note to say when we arrived and hoped we would be OK but decided to get a disc if we could in the town.

Although small, the history meant there were some high spires we could see and the streets were pretty with the old buildings, flower baskets and the canals. We stopped for coffee and after paying I asked the person serving us where I could buy a parking disc. He offered to lend me one and then clarified that I could keep it. Such a nice offer. I went back and put it in the car.

We found the information centre which had some nice souvenirs and an attached museum. We then entered a cheese shop that sold cheese made at their own farm which was 4km away. We were even assured that we could take them into New Zealand. 

Next stop was by one of the towers where there was a carillon and a cache. We heard the bells at midday but didn’t collect the cache although one area looked likely. Then we went towards the other spire and found another cheese market. I was puzzled, as I knew that Edam had one, but thought it was on Thursday. Clearly it was today, Wednesday.

This one was slightly different. There were still teams of people tossing cheese but there was also a barge and horse and cart. We were here near the end (It was open 10.30am to 12.30pm) and there was a part where people sang, a band played and people danced. Then there was a large group photo before they packed up. We ate nice fish in a light batter and then finished up with fresh sweet strawberries as we sat at a table beside the market. At the pack=up it was obvious that some of the large cheese rounds were real and others plastic, but it was all fun.

We went back to the car via the cache area where Katherine made the obvious comment that allowed the cache to be found. It was nice to have it in hand, but embarrassing that the non-cacher helped the cachers with their 7600th find.

We then drove to Marken, an historic fishing village. We read that there is an historic ferry that goes from a very pretty village near Edam (Volendam) but I thought it might be a stress to park there (ironic after Edam). The drive took us over a causeway that a lot of people were cycling on and into a carpark which we did have to pay to use. It seemed to have more tourist shops than Edam and yet we didn’t like it quite as much.

Its’ appeal is that it is a former fishing village with traditional wooden houses. If we had had more time we would have walked to the lighthouse, but instead we walked along the wharf area and then through the village. It was originally an island until linked to the mainland by the causeway. We again took a lot of photos of a pretty village.

Our final town was Hoorn. We were side-tracked to a waterside drive to get here which was a bonus as the town looked lovely from the distance across the water. We left John snoozing in the car park and Katherine and I walked along the waterfront to what seemed to be a posh hotel but we suspect was in fact apartments. There was a series of sculptures on the waterside, some of which appealed and others didn’t. Then we headed for a cache that took us to the historic area. This was even nicer, although we were running out of time to enjoy it. We headed back to the car with a few minutes still left on the parking ticket.

]I was interested to read that Cape Horn, the most southerly point of the Americas, was named after the town by Willem Schouten, who circled it in 1616. There was a reference to this in the historic area as well.

It was not surprising that there was no English menu but we had a really nice server who was happy to translate as best she could. The food was really nice and we did ask her to complement the chef. She said she didn’t want him to get too big for his boots so the message may or may not have got to him. So we had a delicious and not too expensive meal and we were able to walk home still in the light and post a very positive review on ‘Trip Advisor’.