Trafalgar Tour Day #6

 June 21st.  Rain and chilly

We left Groningen early this morning and drove two hours.   I had really wanted to see the Afsluitdijk as I remembered studying about it in Geography lessons back in High School.  Built between 1927 and 1933 it is a masterpiece of engineering in which the North Sea has been closed off from what was called the Zuiderzee.   Now this is not only a flood barrier but has also created IJsselmeer - a lake which is fed by rivers and over the years since the construction of the dike has changed from salt water to fresh water,   At 32 kilometres long the Afsluitdijk is long and the dike on the right hand side as we travelled didn’t seem all that high to be keeping out the might of the North Sea.   At each end are a series of locks and sluices and we waited at the northern end for several ships and sailing boats to pass through from the lake to the sea.   I am so pleased to have seen this.

We drove to the Zuiderzee Outdoor Museum.  Well, more accurately we drove to the ferry terminal and caught the boat across to this area where the cultural and maritime heritage of the old Zuiderzee area is preserved.  While some of the buildings are originals and others have been relocated, nothing is in its original position but they have done a splendid job of preserving in an interesting and educational manner so much of the historical life of the region.   

There are three kilns where sea shells are used to create the lime mortar which is used in the rebuilding of the old houses and shops.   Our guide told us they tried moving a complete stone building but it was not successful so they have since moved in sections.   One wooden building was moved onto a barge and transferred with exceeding care from Amsterdam to the museum back in the 1980s.  As the guide said “we wouldn’t get away with that now”

We saw the small cupboard beds in which the parents and grandparents slept half sitting up on the top and the children, often many of them, squashed sardine style into the bottom.   They used straw mattresses which the guide said they changed regularly - once a year!    Can you imagine the smell?

And we saw the bucket of peat which was used to fuel the fire. That must have created a smell too!

One house was preserved intact and had been left the museum by an old man who had lived in it all his life and died just three weeks short of his 100th birthday.   His wife died at 50 having never recovered her strength after the difficult birth and early death of their only child, a son.   So the old fellow was a widower for 50 years and had neither electricity nor running water.   

The guide pointed out on one roof a tile that had a small hole in it.  This was for the owl to come in and out.  Grain and other food stuffs was stored in the loft and prone to infestations of rats and other vermin so many houses had owls that lived in the loft area and kept the vermin under control.

In one area a group of two men and three women come in each day and “re-enact” the life that those living on the island of Urk, in the Zuiderzee , would have had.   One woman was crocheting, a man was making a fishing net, another two were just chatting and one woman was being consoled at the loss of her nephew.  I was completely taken in and thought they lived there in the style of 1902 as if in a time warp.   Not so, it is just a role play but very convincing!

Then at 12 noon the steam boilers in the laundry area release their pressure with a loud hoot and a massive blast of steam.   It was fun watching the children from a visiting school enjoy this spectacle.   I couldn’t help thinking that they danced and skipped in the steam with far less control and concern about health and safety than would be possible in New Zealand.

There were several shops alongside a small canal, including this bakery and a very Dutch looking staff member obliged me with a photo.   There are 200 paid staff members and 300 volunteers who run this operation.   Today there was a wedding on at the church so there were many visitors, as well as school groups there to have an educational experience.

The guide at this museum was amazing.  Her English was brilliant, she had lots of information and stories and made sure that we all had a positive experience.   For the first time in my life I gave a tip to a guide!

From there we took the ferry back to Enkhuizen and wandered about a little to find some lunch.   The cafe I and my friend chose didn’t have an English menu but the kindly waitress recommended a sandwich and it came with salad and a cup of coffee.  As the rain had started and it was chilly I was happy to have a warming cup of strong Dutch coffee.

Following lunch we drove to a Cheese Factory and Clog Factory.   Both together run by two brothers, this was a disappointing and only slightly disguised souvenir shopping opportunity.   I didn’t exchange any Euro although it is probably fair to say that in the time they allowed us I saw every souvenir on display at least once!

A visit to a working windmill was next.   Tom, the miller explained how he is responsible on behalf of the Water Management Board for maintaining the balance of the water levels between the dike and the canal.   It is heavy work, especially when the top of the windmill has to be rotated to get the angle to the wind correct.   He climbs two sets of extremely steep stairs to adjust the set of the sails and it sounded like it was a block and tackle type of mechanism he used.   Many of the tour party did climb the steps to see the top of the mill but I wasn’t keen.  

While they were up and we were down three men of Eastern European origin tried to come in to see round the mill.  When Tom spoke to them in Dutch then in German telling them this was a private tour and they needed to go out, the atmosphere got a little heated and curses were exchanged but they did leave, too, photos and drove off.   

Next stop was the town of Volendam where we walked down to the Harbour and along the street.  Mostly souvenir stores and cafes and bars, we wandered for a bit but eventually found a warm cafe and had a hot drink while waiting until it was time to go back to the coach.

Last stop was dinner - at a farm just on the outskirts of Volendam.   The farm has been in this family for four generations.  They have 80 cows which are currently outdoors from 8am until 4pm.   The farmers wife told us it has been so wet they don’t want the cows outside too much making a mess of the land.  In the stable where the animals are houses, there are two Robots as they called them.   These are automated milking machines.   A computer records how much milk is taken from each cow, how much of the pellet food they eat while milking and other such information.   The milk is stored in the usual way in large stainless steel vats and once every three days the tanker comes to collect it.   It’s all a much smaller operation than the large herds we have in New Zealand but the farmer did tell me that not everyone has ‘robots’ and that the man down the road has a carousel.   I took that to mean a rotary shed.   The operation we saw was certainly not very hands on!  They do have some sheep as well.  The farmer told me that their land is not good enough for cropping so the6 have had to diversify into other areas.  They do three to four of these dinners a month which must be relatively lucrative.

Dinner was a typical Dutch meal and quite delicious but oh so filling!   It was called a Stompot- every vegetable was mixed in with mashed potato and served with meatballs, sausage and bacon.   It was a farewell dinner for the tour and I didn’t ask for the recipes!

Last night is back in the hotel in Amsterdam and tomorrow morning at breakfast the tour officially ends.   It has been quite a comprehensive snapshot of life in The Netherlands and I certainly feel that many of the things I’d read about have come to life and I do have a far greater understanding of Dutch history.