12 September 2015 - A brilliant day: Zuiderzee Museum and a great evening in Andijk!

Now that we have our Museumkaart, the world of Dutch museums is ours to explore - all 400 of them!  I have to say that I have been very impressed with the three we've seen so far which also means that the card has just about paid for itself (59 Euros).

Luke goat wrangling outside the Dromadaris, Enkhuizen

Still morning en route to Zuiderzee Museum, Enkhuizen

 Having driven to Enkhuizen we parked for free in the station car park and there we met Diane and walked along the dyke to the entrance of the museum which was a delightful beginning to our day.

Sock washing day!

Gymnastics on the move.

The Zuiderzee Museum, Enkhuizen, has a Buiten part, an outside museum, a re-creation of the old fishing village and a Binnen part which is the indoor museum.  The outdoor museum is so extensive and so wonderful and we enjoyed it SO much that we have decided to go back another time to see the rest of the outdoor part and some of the indoor part.  This is a museum that everyone loved and didn't want to leave!  What's more, we shared our time there with Karl's sister, Diane, so it was even better!

Zuiderzee Museum - fishing boat

The first part on our path was a little harbour and fish smoking area where we could explore boats and check out various old crafts.  We had a particularly interesting talk with a man who was restoring an oak fishing boat "EB60" from 1850 and carefully hand carving the replacement beams.  Interestingly, it is no longer permissible to use tar as waterproofing so more modern materials are now used.  It was used by his family to sail on quieter waters, like the Ijsselmeer but now needs extensive renovation.  We were amazed that these little fishing boats were home to large fishing families who somehow squeezed into the space available.

Taking Aunty Di for a sail.

Fisherman's cottage with typical loft bedroom

We had no idea how extensive the museum was at this point until we kept walking and exploring, in and out of old houses, cheese stores, the lolly shop, the bakery, the laundry and all the little businesses one would expect in a village.

Looking down to the harbour.

Told you they were Dutch!

Seriously unimpressed by the costumes!

Ja, ja, ja, Mama en Papa

Exploring the boats

Smoking the herring.

Aunty and niece!

Dried fish anyone?!

The EB60

Weight lifting!

Well no-one else would pose for the photo!

Net maker - clogs and pipe included!

Outside the sweet shop.

 We did buy a small bag of traditional sweets which were really different from modern day sweets.  I particularly liked the aniseed and cinnamon flavours.  There were SO many lovely traditional things which I was SO tempted to buy - but where do they all end up?  Photos are enduring but souvenirs - I don't know - unless they have a purpose, perhaps.  BUT I was still tempted!

Puppet maker.

Laundry deliverer

We really enjoyed the traditional Dutch games like Sjoelbak (pronounced: "shoolbaak"), quoits and other "good old fashioned" games.

Traditional Dutch games.

Sjoelbak - what an expert!

Luke was very keen to learn about rope making.  A very knowledgeable woman, whose trade was rope making, showed us the amazing old rope making rig with weights and a cogged wheel.  For 1.5 Euro, Luke made a 2.5 m skipping rope from 84 metres of hemp, twisted in 3 strings of 4 strands - did you get that?!

Rope making on an old rig.

High heeled for the fashionable fisherwoman!

Still reflections in the village

It was like a walk through days gone by.

We could go anywhere and find interesting things

 And then there was the windmill and the dyke and farm animals and vegetable patches and canals with boats. Just as we were trying to leave, the kids found the rowboats and of course jumped in and rowed!  Loads of  fun.

Handstands and a windmill, a dyke and an aunty!

The foundations are just a bit wobbly over time!

Kerosene cooker - Karl's mum had one of these which she brought to Australia.

One of the highlights for me was when I wandered into a little cottage and smelling the kerosene only to find a lady in costume, cooking a meal on the little kero stove.  We got talking and she offered me some potatoes, bacon and beans, a typical "Sunday" lunch and appelmoes, which was absolutely delicious!  I am not sure why other tourists had declined her offer.  

Such hospitality!

Finishing my most delicious meal.

Mat bashing with dust flying.

 Many of the open cottages had people in traditional costumes talking about their trades: a writer, a net maker, poetry reader, etc.  It was such a great experience!

He was very swift with his net making skills

Lime kilns

Rowing on the Ijsselmeer!

More goats of boats -  we saw some the other day, too!  Must be a Dutch goat thing!

Back to our car along the harbour.  I am so glad that our kids have had a chance to get to know and love their Oma's home town, Enkhuizen.  I am sure they'll be back one day!  we chanced to see the bridge at the Dromadaris rising up to let a boat through.  It happens all the time here, but for us it is a novelty.

The bridge at the Dromadaris goes up to let a boat through.

Inside the Dromadaris

 We drove along the dyke to Andijk for a most enjoyable evening with the Van der Schaaf family.  Everyone felt immediately at home with Anneke and Sandra, their husbands and kids.  It was so lovely!  Tim had a lovely adventure on the sloot (small irrigation/drainage channel by their place) in their canoe which resulted in a dip in the stinky water and mud at the end!  Fun!  Meanwhile, the big boys, Karl, Giesbert and Bart were checking out the big boat in the garden which Anneke and Sandra's father started building many years ago but didn't complete!  It is a fantastic boat but needs some finishing touches before it is able to be used.

Tim canoeing on the sloot

Van der Schaaf's boat!

The big boys: Giesbert, Karl and Bart

Tim after his sloot experience!  We were thankful to Anneke and Sandra for providing clean clothes and washing and drying Tim's stinky sloot clothes and shoes!

Washing out the sloot shoes!

The sloot

 The sloot freezes in some winters and they can skate on it!  When Karl lived with the Van der Schaafs, he went skating with Anneke.  What fun!  The kids want to come back in winter to do that.  I'd be tempted, too!

Temptong but after Tim's dip, Annika and I decided not to!

Siem and Luke

Annika, Di and Sandra on the dyke.

Their local swimming area!

 What continues to astound me is that all this body of water was salty, but in 1927-32 when the Afsluitdijk was built, the Zuiderzee was completely cut off from the North Sea , and was renamed the Ijsselmeer.  Over time, the water turned "sweet" rather than salty and now provides drinking water.  Sandra told us that there are two water purifying plants which use state of the art ceramic filtration.  The Ijsselmeer is a VAST body of fresh water.  

It was the monks in centuries past who worked to make the dykes to reclaim the land and then the Dutch were bold enough think they not only could they make land from water but they could make drinking water from what was previous a salt water sea!  At the risk of being controversial, if the Dutch had claimed Australia, perhaps Port Phillip Bay would now be a fresh water reservoir and the dreaded dredging and de-salination plant would never have been an issue!!  Just a thought...not a suggestion...

A local resident

Friendly "neigh"bours

 We had an "epic" dinner of meatballs and noodles and witlov and beans until we were full to bursting!  Mind you we'd already consumed the apple cake and strawberry cheesecake for afternoon tea!

Karl and Giesbert

The kids' table

Sandra, Di, Karl and Giesbert

Deep in conversation

 It was after midnight by the time we got back to Ouderkerk aan de Amstel and we hadn't intended staying so late but the time just flew by!  As I said we all felt at home there and feel like we've known them all our lives.  (Well, Karl has but the rest of us haven't!)