We left our
host in Aalsmeer this morning after a leisurely breakfast which included a
favorite – suiker brodt – sugar bread. We drive north to the city of Alkmaar to
hopefully see more blooming fields of tulips in that area of Holland. We were disappointed as the fields of tulips
are in the same stage of blooming as the fields south of Amsterdam. We are ahead
of schedule to see the mass of color from tulips. However, we did see several fields of pink tulips
– se photos. We are really in the season
for hyacinth and daffodil - many fields were a mass of pink, purple & white
hyacinth or yellow daffodils. We are
enjoying both of them plus the smell from the hyacinth. We are still hoping to
see more tulips before we leave Holland.
For the next
week we are going to be driving around Holland with no real agenda. We have a
general idea of the direction we will take, but that is not ‘in stone’.
It has been
of course ‘years’ since we have driven around Holland, but we will be returning
to areas we have been before, plus we want to go to different locations.
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| Netherlands Landscape |
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| Well Kept Windmill - Molen |
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| Modern Wind Turbine |
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| Smell the Hyacinths? |
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| Deep Pink Tulips |
We drove
into the city of Alkmaar and strolled around the town center. Alkmaar is known as the Cheese City. However,
the ‘cheese market’ display for tourist is held only on Friday – which we knew.
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| Entering Alkmaar |
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| Former City Gate |
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| City Hall with Church in background |
After a while
we were back on the road, taking ‘side roads’ to get closer to the bulb fields –
you know, I realize I have not really explained what I mean when I say the ‘bulb’
fields. At least 99% or more of these
flower fields are grown for only the bulb. After the
bulb blooms the grower (farmer) will cut off the bloom so the plant will put
its strength into the bulb, for a bigger bulb.
This use to all be done by hand but how it is done by a machine – just like
de-tasseling seed corn– most of it is now done by machine. Only a small
percentage of the blooming flowers are sold on the market.
We also went
on side roads to see the old fashioned windmills (molen). I really enjoy the different styles of mills,
as well as the architecture designs at the top of buildings in the towns, and
villages.
Holland has
used the resource of wind for centuries, and it has now invested into the new
style of wind energy – wind turbines. They
dot the landscape. You see an old
windmill and nearby is a new wind turbine.
We drove to
the Afsluitdijk. This is the 32kilometer
barrier dike that was finished in 1932 to control the sea from flooding
Holland. When we arrived we needed to
wait for the opened bridge. Boats were going through the locks from the North
Sea to the controlled Zuider Zee.
At the other
end of the dike is the Providence of Friesland.
We began driving south along the dike, stopping to stroll through
several villages. To mention a few - Makkum, Workum, & Hindeloopen – each is
unique. We continued driving on the
narrow country roads, some were tree-lined roads, past many beautiful
farmsteads with large Dutch-styled barns and houses. Friesland has vast meadows and they have
large dairy farms.
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| Hindeloopen Harbor |
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| Hindeloopen Church |
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| List of Ministers since Inception, 1580 |
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| Netherlands Dikes |
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One of the Many Draw Bridges
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| Unique Dutch Architecture on Houses |
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| Netherlands Countryside |
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| Large House-Barn |
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| Dairy Barn-House |
By evening
we decided to make our destination the City of Sneek. Upon driving into the
city center we spied a hotel – a very old hotel that has been updated – it has
lots of character. After walking around
the town center we had dinner in the hotel restaurant.
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| Sneek Hotel-Restaurant |
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| Sneek City Gate |
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