Hoorn & Enkhuizen Thursday

We had a very nice dinner with Gordon & Geertje at 'Hotel Het Roode Hert' last night. The hotel only has 12 rooms and mainly relies on being a very good restaurant. The presentation was up to the UK 'Masterchef' standard.







In the morning we headed out into the rain and decided that a museum would be a good idea until midday when it was meant to clear. We went to the Westfries Museum, in Hoorn, pictured above. It was most interesting, as Hoorn was a major seaport in the 1400-1700s catering to the sailing ships trading with the East Indies. The museum had a lot of fine paintings from that period, as well as interesting exhibits.



After lunch, we went for a drive around Hoorn to try and find some of the old familiar places that we had enjoyed 39 years ago. We particularly wanted to show G & G the 'Hoofdtoren' and the beautiful old houses around the harbour. We couldn't remember where it was. When it seemed that we were going to have to give up, we happened upon a police car, so Doug asked directions.

'The what?', he was asked.
' The 'Hoofdtoren'.
' Oh, you mean the 'Hoofdtoren! Follow Us'.

I've always imagined being in a situation like this. No sirens or flashing lights, but pretty neat all the same! Through the streets we went and soon the Hoofdtoren was before us, as beautiful as ever!





The 'Hoofdtoren' is a big tower in the entrance to the harbour. There were a lot of traditional sailing vessels in the harbour, known as 'botters' and notable for the centreboards on either side of the hull that are rotated to give the boat less sideways slip in the shallow waters.



The bronze figures of the three boys commemorate the trip of three boys from Bontekoe that travelled in sailing ships to the East indies in 1518-1520.





After that we then went to Enkhuizen and had a look around their harbour and tower. Enkhuizen has been a city since 1355. It is another town that peaked in the mid 17th Century.



About 4pm we picked up our rental car. It is a Peugeot diesel' the same as we had in Devon except the handlebars on the wrong side. We followed G & G back to the hotel for coffee and to say, 'Goodbye.' Gordon & Geertje then set off south, back home to Vianen.

Tomorrow the excitement begins. We'll see how Doug copes with driving on the 'wrong' side after all these years.