Marken and Volendam, Netherlands

April 18, 2023

We spent two days in Amsterdam. On the first day, we visited Marken and Volendam, two quaint fishing villages, as well as stopping by a tourist-centered farm for cheese-tasting and a demonstration of how wooden shoes are made.

There was a beautiful sunrise when we arrived in Amsterdam, painting the sky different shades of pink and lavender.

On our way to Marken, we passed the canals of Amsterdam. Bike riders filled the bike lanes as biking is a healthy, cheap and popular mode of transportation in Amsterdam. After leaving the city, we drove by farmland and typical Dutch farmhouses. Canals and the surrounding dikes (large grass-covered mounds for the most part) wove their way through the countryside.

The people of Marken were mostly still asleep when we arrived, so no shops were open, but we enjoyed walking around the town and harbor.

From Marken, we went to the Simone Farm where we learned how cheese and wooden shoes were made. We got to sample various cheeses as well and purchased a few of our favorites. Although wooden shoes used to be hand carved from blocks of wood and then hollowed out with an awl-like tool, they are now made by machines. One machine shapes the shoe and another hollows out the place for the foot. Then they are hand painted. Wooden shoes became popular in the Netherlands because they provided great foot protection for farmers, fishermen, and factory workers. At first only the soles were wooden, but gradually the whole shoe became wooden to best protect the foot. They even made wooden shoes for horses!

We journeyed to Volendam next past luxurious houses and swans swimming in the canals.

We had a pleasant walk from the bus stop into the town center of Volendam. Shops and food stalls were open. Brent sampled some of the seafood and we walked around admiring the town.

We then enjoyed a peaceful drive back to Amsterdam.