Zaandam to Volendam

On our third day of bicycling, we started with quite a shower, but we were able to continue on and end up having beautiful weather for the rest of the day.  We stopped at a lake and just enjoyed the country side.

We did bicycle through a storm or two that morning.

One of our selfie pictures we took on our ride.  

Enjoying a coffee and goodie at a quaint cafe.  

A Reformed church.

We did stop at Kaasboederij de Kaas Hoeve.  The picture below is Joel standing in the cheese storage room.  Many different kinds of cheese, many of which we were able to sample in the store at the end of the mini-tour of how to make cheese.  I purchased some cheese slicers here.  Dutch should know how to make good cheese slicers!

From the cheese farm all the way to Volendam, we were on a road beside the dyke called the Hoogedijk.  It was an interesting feeling that where we were bicycling, was probably right at sea level.  The Dutch certainly know how to manage water.  I was told on this visit that all streams and canal levels are controlled.  So, if you have a exceptionally rainy day, they move water out so the water levels remain within a foot of the water level.  We saw a number of pumps

Taken on top of the dijk

Panorama view of the Gouwzee 

Volendam from my hotel window

Volendam is a Dutch fishing village along the sea.  It was a fun place to be.  There were still a few active fishermen in Volendam.  Most of the boats moored there, appeared to be vacation type of boats.  Along the water they had a number of stores and restaurants.  Many of the restaurants served seafood, mollusks seem to be the most popular.  It had a different feel than Amsterdam, Haarlem and Zaandam.  Volendam was very touristy, but did give us a different view of what The Netherlands is like.