Lost and found - Euro Trip 7

This isnt tulip season in Holland, they are made of wood

They say a trip to Holland is not complete without spotting an old windmill from “Zaanse Schans” (the Dutch country side) and visiting the famous fishing villages Volendam and Marken, that's what we exactly did. The bus stopped at Volendam, where we were given one hour time to roam around, have lunch and board the ferry to go to Marken.Volendam harbour from 13th century is famous for old fishing boats, traditional houses and for people who still follow the Old Dutch customs.

No wonder Picasso and Renoir cherished this place.

Like me, miss smiley had problem understanding guide’s accent. So we double checked with him on the time and went around sightseeing. We had lunch at the same restaurant where he had his. When we finished our meal he wasn't there, but we had solid 10 minutes, and the port was just few meters away. We reached the port 2:35 but to our dismay they had left at 2:25.

Voldendam from ferry

We both stood clueless in a remote fishing village, with feeble network coverage, with no bag (all in the tourist bus which suppose to pick us from Marken) and no information as where to go. “That guide saw us going inside, how we can he leave us like that” smiley got so worried and furious. I asked her to be calm and enquired the guy in the counter about the next ferry to Marken. Thankfully there was one after 25 minutes, but the travel time is 20 minutes. So we were going to be delayed for an hour.

Marken from ferry

We missed visiting wooden shoe factory in Marken .But what bothered us was, the tourist office when called told that we had less than 10 minutes after alighting to catch up to the group. So we ran through beautiful streets of Marken.

Marken, behind me is the wooden shoe factory  ( I found my bus look)

Sadly, it seemed like a place where one can spend an entire day. There were flowers everywhere, apple trees leaning into the road appearing like arch from fences. To our relief, we caught up to group when they were about to leave.

The tram of Amsterdam

We came back to Amsterdam and boarded another bus for next part of the tour. First we visited picturesque town called Delft which is famous for Delftware pottery.

Town of Delft

Delftware is world famous hand painted pottery from 16th century. These days Delft is known because of British Airways. They painted aircraft with Delft designs and also sold Delft replica of miniature Dutch houses

This family owned factory produces “Delftse Pauw” pottery for many generations.

We were given demonstration on how the clay is made into shapes and heated in the kiln.

These wares bake in kiln for hours at 500°C !

from normal plate to art

She must love her job!

Later design is traced into these plates, and painted with oxides, white glaze and heated again to produce the shiny surface

Beware they are good to look, light to hold but very heavy on purse.

P.s: I would be posting throughout this week as I want to finish this travelogue. I hope it isn’t dragging too much. If you think I can cut short the story and just put pictures with descriptions, please let me know.