Marken and Volendam

We stayed in Marken for an hour or two in order to see the town.  First stop was a wooden shoe factory:

Lots and lots of shoes.  Starting at 30 Euro.

I have never understood why people would go through all the hard work required for presumably uncomfortable wooden shoes.  Luckily, the factory explained why, and let you try them on to find your size:

The shoes are surprisingly comfortable. I guess after hundreds of years of making them you would have to learn how to make them bare able! But why wooden shoes?  A few of the reasons offered are that they are great in rainy/wet conditions, that wood is a great insulator for snowy days, and that you can add attachments to them.  In the museum portion of the factory they had 10 or so shoes with different attachments. They ranged from pegs for running on ice to skates for ice skating.  These ones are for ice running:

From the shoe factory we walked to the harbor.  We passed the fattest sheep ever:

He is strategically placed below a pear tree.

The town is very cozy and quaint. Things are usually slow on Sundays.  A lot of the houses on the first street incorporated animals of gardens.  This one struck me in particular:

As a former owner of rabbits, I spotted the hutch with ease.  After looking closer at the lawn and cage, I realized I was looking at a Dutch lawnmower! The main part of the hutch has a wire grid floor that prevents the rabbits from eating too close to the ground. If you look closely, you'll notice the grass is long where the hutches haven't been yet. Another angle:

So green.

After less than 5 minutes walking we made it to the small harbor:

We had tasty fried-cod bites while we watched ships come and go:

And then we realized the stray dog was much more entertaining.  He wandered from group to group looking for crumbs.  After chasing some birds he tried a sneakier tactic.  Here he is setting up behind his target:

And then slowly he snuck further and further forward until he was part of the group:

"Give me that Cod"

After our snack we walked some more in Marken:

Everything was closed. I imagine because it was Sunday, and because it was raining. After seeing the whole town, we bought tickets for a boat to Volendam.

Here is a picture of the lake's dyke and the town of Marken.  It's weird seeing the road below the waterline. The internet says that 20% of the Netherlands' population lives below sea level.

On the way to Volendam:

In Volendam:

I really like boats. Both harbors had beautiful new and old yachts:

We walked to a flea market in Volendam. We noticed a lot of people on this road had identical Ikea porch settings:

After searching for waffles and settling for coffee, we went back to Marken.  Nastya really wanted to see a lighthouse. While waiting for the ship:

One day I'd like to have this ship.

Or this one.

or this one. Or any one in the Netherlands.

The moment we got back to Marken it started raining cats and dogs.  We weren't able to get bikes and see the lighthouse. Instead, we headed home.