Hoorn

Still in the Netherlands and another perfect day!  Our cruise Director says we’re not getting the full Dutch Experience (rainy and cold), but we’re good with it! 

A little breakfast on the terrace of the ship before our tour of the city.

This might be the cutest town we’ve seen, founded in 1250; Population 70,000. Lots of canals and quiet tree-lined streets. And like the other cities, lots of open cafes.

This is the main defense tower to the harbor. The white brick is the salt water side; red brick is the fresh water side. The Coat of Arms shows a cornucopia (region is shaped like a horn, hence the name), and the Unicorn is also a symbol of the town. 

Boys could work on the ships at 14. The 3 boys on the wall are (translated): The Cabin Boys of the Spotted Cow. (Black and white cows are big here too.)

This church helped to hide the Jews during the occupation. Someone turned them in and the ones hiding the Jews were shot. 

There are 4 memorials around town commemorating this; here are 2 of them. 

Beautiful harbor that used to freeze over for a skating rink, but that hasn’t happened in a few years because of climate changes.

Many people live on houseboats here.

After the 80 years war, these cities were free from Spanish rule. This is the building where the leaders met to form the Netherlands.

Then we heard a performance by the Shantymen of Hoorn (with Mimosas!).

Our guide is a “cheese carrier” in a community group the performs demonstrations about how the big wheels of cheese were carried from the ships to the warehouses in past centuries.

While the Daves were doing absolutely nothing (while drinking!), Deb and I were busy painting wooden shoes (only 1 shoe each…).

We were wondering what the Lego blocks along the street were about. These showed the way to the Museum of the 20th Century where there is a special exhibit for Lego’s 90th Anniversary. (Grandson Harper and his Dad would have loved this!)

After a full afternoon, we finally got a drink before dinner.

After dinner, another Trivia Night! We are killing it with 2 out of 3 wins. Tonight was hardly fair to other teams because it was music trivia but we accepted our prizes anyway! With our teammates Jack and Maureen Oliaro again, each couple won a drawing of a windmill by a previous guest who is an artist.

Finally, this is for Ms. Max who commented that I was retaining a lot of info…because I’m taking notes! The challenge is reading them after trying to write while watching where I’m walking on these cobblestone streets!

Last port tomorrow 🥲 - Amsterdam.