Friday, April 29 we left early to go to Alkmaar. It’s cheese market day! We arrived by train and found our way to the market, where things were still being set up. Once things began it was very ceremonial, with a woman who spoke Dutch, English, French and German explaining everything. This cheese is being sold to commercial buyers, but there were plenty of stands set up in the area selling cheese and other goods to visitors.

We then went to Zaanse Schans to see the open air museum, highlighting windmills. Old buildings were open to visitors and the windmill museum was good. We ran out of time to see the bigger museum that was a short walk away.

In the evening we met a lovely couple for drinks, James Rhoe and his partner, Nancy. No, this was not a random meeting. Jim discovered a couple of months ago that a James Rhoe lives in Haarlem. He reached out to him and they arranged to meet. His Rhoe is pronounced different, more like Rue with a rolled R. Jim has always wondered about the origins of the name, since it’s so unusual. James’ father is from Indonesia, and since Jim doesn’t have any Indonesian background the mystery continues. They are very nice people and we enjoyed getting to know them a bit.

It’s a good thing we are going home very soon. After walking over 10 miles yesterday my foot is telling me it’s time to stop walking so much.