Fishy days at Volendam

It was wet again in the night, and grey this morning, but nothing daunted we set off for the bus station – only a step away in fact - to catch a bus for Volendam. This is a twin town with Edam, has a nice little port, and is a favourite Dutch tourist destination. The bus journey was short and easy, and we strolled into the town, which lies below the level of the Ijsselmeer, and up onto the dyke, to be met by this formidable lady:

The port was quite busy, with a river cruise ship tied up, but pleasant enough. Some old sailing barges too, and a replica pirate ship.

Several yachts were heading out onto the meer and hoisting sails – the wind was quite gentle and it looked fun, even if the sky was very grey.

We sat on the dyke contemplating the scene for a while, to be joined by this optimist:

And plenty like this unidentifiable one, which our one Dutch reader later told us was a starling:

Volendam is famous for its fish, and there were plenty of shops and stalls offering their wares. We found this one which looked reasonably authentic, and tucked into a nourishing mid-morning snack.

That worked up a bit of a thirst, so we relaxed at a café before the arduous walk back to the bus stop. Meanwhile the town was filling up with tourist groups – plenty of Japanese, but we also heard Spanish, Italian and others unknown.

It resumed raining shortly after we got back to the boat, so we had lunch in the hope that it would stop, but it didn’t really, so we set off anyway for the short trip round to Purmerend, where we are now tucked up. They even had to raise the railway bridge to let us in:

Tomorrow further north – in search of the sun!