Amsterdam Day Four - Road Trip

Today we had planned to rent a car, and go for a road trip.

This started out as a desire to visit two locations, these been Markem and Edam. When planning the trip, we contemplated trying to do these via public transport, but expanded the idea to a longer circuit.

We had to take a tram back near central station to find the rental car company. The car was stored in an underground carpark that is 900 metres long! Once setup with GPS, camera etc, we headed off with Helen behind the wheel.

The drive out of Amsterdam was very quick, only 10 minutes and we were out in the countryside. Our first stop was Durgerdam, a small village situated alongside a dike. Standing on top of the dike, which isn't that different to the stopbank alongside the Hutt River in height, there is water on the other side. It looks like a lake, with many boats moored and some passing by.

From here, the road follows the dikes along to Marken. On the way, we encounter beautiful scenery including beautiful houses in amazing settings, boats, wind turbines in sets of two or three in certain places, and as we cross to Marken we get a great view of the water, the overcast sky proving a mixture of dull and moody.

Marken is a small village on an island, of which the majority of houses share a common style, and are well kept in that condition. This is also a major tourist spot, with parking for plenty of coaches, souvenir stores, and many cafes and restaurants. By now it was alrrady well toward lunch time, so we sat outside a restautent and had hot chocolates and meals. Here there is a ferry which takes people across the water to Volendam and back. We watched everyone board and saw the ferry depart. Check out the photos, do you like my clogs?

From Marken, we stayed near the "coastline", in that the roads follow the dikes but don't allow for a view of the water, heading around the inlet to Volendam. This is a larger town, and although we saw the village where the ferry arrives, we didn't stop here. We continued on, just a short drive away was Edam.

On the way to Edam, following a canal, we came across a lock where a boat was passing through. We stopped to be curious. The boat was as long as the lock, with no breathing space at either end, and that's with the bowsprit raised. It didn't help there was a rubber dinghy on the back that was catching as they tried to close the lock. Anyway they got their eventually, and the lock was pumped full of water. We didn't wait to see the boat move through due to time contraints.

As we approached Edam, the GPS told us to turn right and cross a small bridge. The Netherlands have plenty of small wooden bridges across canals that are designed to be raised when boats pass. This one was quite narrow, and in front of the bridge was two metal poles, the idea being if you cannot fit your car between the poles, you cannot pass. It looked narrow so I got out and guided Helen through as she edged forward. Anyway it seemed too tight and we didn't want to risk scratching the rental car. By now Helen had locals queuing up behind tooting. So she backed off. We watched them pass through no problem, although to be fair most had smaller cars such as hatchbacks.

Here's a photo of a local driver showing us how it's done. Note they tuck in the driver side wing mirror. Now that's what I call a close shave!

We found an alternative path, bypassing the GPS, and passed through the middle of Edam. We didn't stop here, it was a cute town with small cobblestone streets and plenty of "cheese and clogs" shops. We eat Edam cheese all the time, surely the 1kg blocks from our supermarket are the same?

Continuing north, we pass by Hoorn, before driving west toward Alkmaar, and along the way started to see some real windmills dotted around the countryside. They really are quite spectacular up close, especially the thatched ones.

We then started heading back toward Amsterdam, firstly setting the GPS for Keemskerk as a waypoint, and ultimately heading to Zaandijk and Zaanse Schans. Along the way, we encountered a motorcycle shop, that was a dealer for BMW, Honda and MV, so we pulled in for a look. This was by far the largest and most impressive motorcycle dealer I've ever seen. I tried counting the number of brand new BMW motorcycles on the floor, and stopped counting at 50. For example, they had 8 K1600GT on the floor, one in every colour. And the same for many other models. Most impressive. I did end up buying some new summer gloves there, after trying on about 40 pairs and wearing down the patience of Helen and the helpful shop assistant.

We then carried on to Zaandijk. This should have allowed great views across the canal to some windmills at Zaanse Schans. As it happens, all the canal front is lined with private houses, so not much to see. Although it is a beautiful and probably exclusive housing area.

Around a few corners and across the bridge, we found Zaanse Schans. This is a museum in its own right, and for us it was a bit late in the day to be stopping. Parking was difficult so Helen dropped me off to walk across the bridge and get some photos of the windmills, while she battled traffic to come back and pick me up. With more time, it could be an interesting place to spend a few hours I'm sure.

We then made our way back into Amsterdam, stopping in another motorcycle gear store for a look. We arrived back around 6:00pm, making for a full day even though we only covered around 180kms.

Well done to Helen who did the majority of the driving, with a right-handed stick shift, on the opposite side of the road than we are used to.

What amazed us throughout this journey was just how vast the dike system is, and how wet the general lands are, with canals and/or irrigation systems everywhere. Often the roads have water along each side. There are small bridges everywhere. Also there are bike paths on every road. Often a two land bike path follows alongside the road. If not a dedicated cycle lane, most country backroads are marked out with cycle lane markings and bicycles are definitely first class citizens.

Finally, with all the stagnant water around, sandflies are abundant, and they are huge! When around you, it pays to keep your mouth closed to avoid breathing them in.