Wonderful Weesp

 We are back home, returned a couple of days ago. We spent the last night in Vinkeveen where we had picked up and now returned our boat. The marina is filled with many boats that are permanently docked there, and what seemed like an equal number of LeBoat boat rentals. Ours, the Cirrus B, is the smallest boat they rent, which sleeps two comfortably and would work  for a family with a couple of kids.  

On our travels and at the dock we marvelled at the larger boats which hold from 4 passengers to up to 12, with multiple cabins and bathrooms. I don't think I'd enjoy being in such close quarters with so many others, nor do I think Loring would be comfortable navigating a much larger boat. Although he did well with ours, he did express a certain amount of nervousness especially while navigating locks and docking the boat, especially when he needed to back in. 

Cruising along the canals was wonderful, the experience onboard as delightful as the places we visited. It is amusing that some of the places we went are much more accessible by car or public transportation than be boat. But that was fine. We didn't even mind crusing some canals several times when the bridges weren't working and we were stuck for several days between two locations that we went back and forth between.

I regret that we didn't get to many of the places we had intended to visit, including Delft and Leiden. Amsterdam had been tentative from the start because from what I read it's overrun with tourists. (like us, I know.)  I wouldn't have minded spending a day there, especially to visit either the Rijkmuseum or the Van Gogh. But I also don't much regret not going there. 

We did visit Gouda, but by bus from our mooring in Maarssen if I am remembering right, and also the town of Oudekerk, which had been on our route but we might not have stayed at otherwise. Gouda is a popular tourist stop, and as you probably know, famous for its cheese. They have a weekly cheese market, which we weren't there for. I understand it involves some slapping as a form of bidding on or paying for the large rounds of cheese. I suppose I should look that up. But I don't mind that we werent there for the market. I did write more about Gouda in a previous post. 

Oudework was a treat, especially since we had no expectations of what we'd find there.

We also went to Utrecht by bus on another day, which we probably would have done anyway. Only electric boats are allowe into the city. 

And Weesp was a delight which we might not have discovered if not for the bridge closure situation. I had looked at it breifly before we left home, mostly as a possible last night and also a jumping board for a day trip to Amsterdam. It's pretty close to both. But I hadn't really looked into what there was to do there. So that was another unexpected treat.

Our passage along the Vespe river, much wider than the canals, had given us a bit of trepidation because of its size and also the amount of traffic, including a large number of huge barges. But in fact it was quite interesting,  and surprisingly relaxing,  although nowhere as scenic as the canals, . Most interesting were the many barges, to which of course we had to cede the right of way. It was hard to imagine someone piloting a boat so large, where it didn't seem like the pilot could even see over the length of the boat from the back. It wasn't clear how many crew members were on board. But some of them had cars aboard. I imagine their voyages were long. I wonder where they travelled to and from. Some were clearly fuel tankers;  it wasn't possible to discern what most others carried. 

It's hard to know what we missed by not going to many of the towns we'd planned to. I would have liked to visit them, but who knows if we would have enjoyed them more than the ones we did spend time in. We didn't see much of Utrecht when we went in for the day, but did enjoy the museum and the Miffy artist's exhibit. Who remembers Miffy and all the cute little books by Dick Bruna. I hadn't known that he was Dutch, but it was interesting to learn about him and see his recreated studio. 

One thing we did not see much of was art. There are an amazing number of artists that were Dutch, Vermeer, Van Gogh,  Hals, Rembrandt, Mondrian, many others some of whom were known to me, and many others who were not. I would certainly have  liked to see the Girl With the Pearl Earring and some of the others. Including a number of woman artists who hadn't received the attention they deserved until more recent times. Of course we saw replicas of all the Bosch paintings and much more about him including the parade and his house. That brings to my mind the question of how important it is to see the original vs. an excellent reproduction, or even an enhanced copy via modern technology. What makes it important to see the originals at all? Is it anything more than an item to check off a so called bucket list?  I don't have an answer, Let me know if you do. 

What we did gain via the extreme heat that limited our travels was to visit some interesting and less touristed towns that we might not otherwise discovered or spent much time in. Those include Maarsson, Breukelin, Oudewater, and Weesp. 

I've written previously about some of those towns. But let me tell you about Weesp, our last stop before returning to the lake and Vinkeveen. Weesp is a short distance from Amsterdam, so I would recommend it as a possible base if you are visiting the area. It is a charming and scenic town, with a number of shops and restaurants. But what really made the town for us were two sites that Loring discovered via Google maps. That often seems to identify places that other sources don't. 

First was the town museum. It is located on the second floor of the town hall which is still in use. A woman at the museum told us it's a popular site for weddings. We didn't get to see the hall, but another employee showed us the former prison cells located on the lower level.  The museum itself is small, just a couple of rooms. But sometimes these small museums are hidden treasures. Weesp was apparently famous for two things, its painted pottery and the renowned Van Houten chocolate company. The pottery preceeded the more famous Delft pottery that came later. They had a number of examples, somewhat different from any pottery that I am familiar with. Some pieces had tiny insects painted onto the bucolic scenes. A temporary exhibit featured a modern potter with some of her pieces interspersed with the antique ones. 

Best of all, in my opinion, was the room devoted to Van Houten chocolate. The walls were lined with gorgeous deco posters advertising the product, and the middle of the room was glass cases filled with other company paraphenalia, including tins and boxes and all kinds of accoutremens related to the company's products. It was visually stunning and just the kind of display that has great appeal to me. I took a lot of pictures. I'll post a few on facebook.

Our final stop in Weesp was at the Weesper Automaten Kabinet. It was described on Google as currently only open to rent for parties.  We decided to walk by, as it was not out of our way in the small town center, We thought we might be able to peer in the window. We came up to the window but before we could try to look in a man came to the door. It was the owner. He was happy to let us in. We wandered through the several rooms in absolute wonder. Ever inch of space was covered, mostly with antique arcade games. He told us this was actually just a small part of his collection. There were also pinball machines, old claw machines, carousel animals, much more. We were both in total awe. He told us that all the machines were in working condition. He had a few of them running and would probably operated more if we had asked. He also told us that this was where he lived and the room we were in was his living room. I wonder what his bedroom looks like.  I never got his name. 

I am tempted to have a party there, maybe a destination significant anniversary party. Not that I would expect anyone I know to make a trip there. But if you do happen to be in the Netherlands, I highly suggest you make an effort to go to Weesp and try to schedule a visit to the Kabinet. 

What I am going to suggest to our nephew and niece-to-be, who are planning to get married in December,  is that they go there for their honeymoon. They are both pinball addicts and would absolutely love this place. They could also visit Breuke
lin on their trip, the original town for which Brooklyn NY is named. They live in  New York's  Brooklyn. Or maybe they could just forgo their current plans to get married in New York and get married at the Weesp  town hall with the party at the Kabinet. Aaron and Ilana, if you are reading this, I know there are klezmer bands in the Netherlands! I am kidding about changing the wedding plans, but not about the honeymoon suggestion!

Well, this seems as good a place to end this Netherlands saga as any. If I think of anything more that I haven't described, I will add another post. In the meantime, I will post this and then post a last round of pictures on facebook.