After work on a Thursday, we drove to Giethoorn. We were so late arriving that the hotel had actually given away our rooms! The rain was coming down in sheets and we had nowhere to go. Fortunately, the owners of this local hotel also owned a two bedroom condo at the marina. They offered to let us stay there for the same price as a hotel room. The next day we took a very short tour of Giethoorn on foot in the rain.
Our next stop was Monnickendam. We still hadn't explored Monnickendam sufficiently on our previous visits, so it deserved to be our stop from which to explore North Holland and Waterland.
Monnickendam is truly charming. If Fre's guesthouse is booked, this is the best home base for exploring. While we were a bit lost and looking for our rental, I stumbled into an artist's studio where they gave me directions and a sampling of wine and cheese. What a friendly place!
I think this is a Study of Shutters. As I have mentioned, these are tourist towns and all of them are extremely well kept. All of the historic buildings seem to have shutters with shiny paint in green, black or red. Sometimes they paint designs on the shutters to add some more color. I assume it is because of the weather that you don't see wooden houses here for the most part. So, the shutters and doors present the only opportunity to personalize with color. I particularly liked these shutters since I have never seen this design before. The huge glass store front is very pretty and the top and bottom shutters which would seem to be a hazard to pedestrians could be used for display in the summer season.
We enjoyed lunch and a stroll through Marken Island. This time we went in the wooden shoe making shop, but didn't get a chance to see the shoe maker in action. I can't imagine that those things would be comfortable, but I'll be darned if I didn't actually see an older gentleman doing his gardening in wooden shoes in Veldhoven one day!
This is an amazing shot taken in Edam (pronounced A-dom). We spent some time there shopping and enjoying their Kermis. Kermis is a traveling fair with rides for kids, bad food and another good excuse for partying. The cheese, of course, is fantastic and we bought some Delftware while we were there as gifts. Again I love the glassy reflections in the water |
| A beautiful canal in Edam |
Our final stop was Amsterdam, of course. My favorite part of this visit was going to the Rijks Museum. The museum is under renovation for many years and the resulting space still open for visitors is small. This was perfect for me because it is as if they combined all of the really important stuff in a small space. We were able to see more Rembrandts than I can remember, plus Delftware and still have time for lunch afterward. 
What a great picture of Mom and Son! Elaine reminds me of some actress in this photo but I can't think who? The next day she boarded her flight home and Jeff and I headed home to rest up for our next adventure.
