I'm running a bit behind with entries!  On Friday, we went to the cheese markets in Alkmaar.  This town has been showcasing their famous cheese markets for centuries and every Friday over the milder months, men and wmone will dress traditionally and operate the markets in an historic way.

Andrew's borther-in-law first told him of these markets over 7 years ago when we last visited Alkmaar.  The hype was building, the virtues of the markets were being extolled and then we turned the corner , looked onto the square, and the markets were not there!  So, it was rewarding for Andrew to finally see these chesse markets in operation, still visit the wall to wall cheese shop and just stroll around Alkmaar's streets.

After this, we pressed on with our car trip and went across the dyke to Friesland.  The half-size replica of Noah's Ark was moored in Sneek, Friesland so that was where we had to go to see it!  Even at 70 metres long (instead of the 150 metres mentioned in the Bible), this Ark is impressive in its size and dimensions.  The floors inside were spacious and a lot of information was given to support the record of a worldwide flood.  We were glad that we had the opportunity to go and see this and were amazed to learn that another, full scale, ark is being built in time for the London Olympics.

We travelled back to Amsterdam, had a quick dinner and then left for the airport.  It was sad to say good bye to the vdBs but we were also looking forward to spending time with my sister in England.