0038 - Netherlands 2

0038 Netherlands 2

16th - 24th September 2022.

Hayley & Emily

While on the train from Paris to Amsterdam, Nick texted me and told me NOT to stay on the train all the way into Amsterdam Central, but to get off at Schiphol Airport - It was closer and easier for him to pick me up from the airport than to go all the way into central Amsterdam.  Was slightly flustered as this message only just came through as I was nearing the airport, so I had to get myself sorted rather quickly.  Added to this, the train journey from Paris had been a bit of a nightmare trip - A group of about 8 very rowdy ladies were obviously heading for a big girls weekend in Amsterdam, and, having boarded in Paris, they had obviously started partying early !!   The noise was indescribable !!    So I was very happy to get off the train a little earlier than expected.     Once I managed to find Nick & Janet, and get in the car, I realised how exhausted I was from both the Camino walk, and also the long day stuck in Paris Nord station, followed by the train journey from hell !!  I was so pleased to find a bed and get some sleep.

During the last 8 days we had with Nick and the family we were able to spend some good time with the

Picnics in the garden

girls. Tanja's parents, Jos & Ricki, were away on holiday but had kindly offered Janet & I the use of their house while they were away.  This worked really well, and we were able to just catch the bus over to Nick and Tanja's.  Between indoor games and picnics in the garden, it was a good chance for the girls to continue to get used to us, instead of us being strangers, so it was very valuable time for us.  In the evenings we played some fun board games, even managing to beat Nick & Tanja occasionally !  

Pulled Pork cafe

Janet had found a little cafe place near Jos and Ricki's house that sold

Pulled pork - Yum !

delicious pulled pork bbq, so she took me over there for lunch one day to try it.  She was right - It was excellent.    On our last day in Almere we set off with Nick in the car to Alkmaar - About 70 kms NW of Almere, and N of Amsterdam.  Alkmaar is where they hold the weekly cheese markets all through the summer, and this week was the last one for the season - Too cold and wet in the winter !   The square where the markets are held is overlooked by the Waag Building, or Weigh building.   This was originally opened in 1603, and while the enormous balance scales on which they weigh all the cheeses can be seen through the doorways on the ground floor, the building also houses the Dutch Cheese Museum and the Tourist Information Office.

Alkmaar Cheese Markets       

The process followed in the market is highly structured, with 4 teams of

Cheese for sale

carriers all with different coloured hats and cheese sleds to differentiate them.  There is so much history here - It was all first started in 1364 with a single set of scales, and this was only increased to 4 scales in 1612.  The true market was only started in 1593, and the square has been enlarged several times as the market has grown.  It has been, and is, a major source of income for the city of Alkmaar.    The cheese carriers carry the cheeses being sold on special wooden sleds, with two men carrying each sled by way of a harness across their shoulders.  The almost run in a very distinctive gait which is quite humorous to watch, and they take their sled into the Weigh House where it is put on the scales and weighed.  The carriers then hook

Traditional costume

themselves back up to the sled and take it back out, where it is loaded into the

Clog slippers 

buyers transport. There are a couple of videos in the photo section that are worth watching if you have never seen the Alkmaar Cheese Markets before !   A great day, even though the weather was a bit cold and drizzly.   After sample some raclette and other hot traditional foods from the stalls, Janet found a pair of "clog" shaped slippers that she liked, before we wandered off around the lanes of Alkmaar, past the amazing "striped" City Hall, and stopping for coffee in a little cafe as we made our way back to the car.

On the 24th we were originally scheduled to fly on Easy Jet to Gatwick, then have 6 days with the Skidmore's before flying back to Australia on the 30th September.  A few days before we were due to leave Almere, Easy Jet called to

Where we needed to be

say their flight was cancelled. (To be fair, it was Schiphol Airport who was cancelling flights because they had insufficient ground staff.)  We rebooked our flights for the next day, and 12 hours later, they cancelled those too ! We were starting to think we might miss our flight to Australia !   Considering the problems at Schiphol, we decided to pay extra and travel to the UK on the Eurostar train - Surely they wouldn't cancel that !! Nick was due to pick us up at 10 am and we would then catch the 10.30 train from Almere to Amsterdam, and then continue on to Brussels where we would board the Eurostar direct to London. Literally 5 minutes before Nick arrived, I got a text saying the train out of Almere had been cancelled !  I won't go into too much detail, but basically we caught a train, and

Where we didn't want to be

Nick was on the computer at home working out which trains were still running, and telling us which platform to go to and where to get off, so we could work our way around what was apparently an electrical line problem with the trains.  And it didn't help when we were supposed to get off at Den Haag station, but, not realising that there are actually 6 separate Den Haag stations, we got off at the wrong one !  Just a little bit of stress there, especially lumping suitcases etc up and down staircases, but all credit to Nick, he kept me  calm and we eventually made it to Brussels - 10 minutes after the boarding time closed for the Eurostar !  Luckily the guy could see we were a bit frazzled, and realised we had been held up in the "electrical issues around Amsterdam", and let us through !   Phew.  So we joined the crowds of people and eventually made it to London St Pancras, tubed it to Waterloo, and then on down to Effingham, where we arrived quite late, and VERY tired - But thankfully Di was there to meet us !    Once home we had a number of strong G&T's to settle our nerves, and eventually fell into bed.  This travel business is not for the fainthearted !!

All the rest of the photos and videos from our second stay in Almere can be found here :-  

https://photos.app.goo.gl/emn9TkBSZuBbs86R9