Cheese Please

This is the city of Alkmaar on a sunny day.  It isn't my picture.

Yesterday, saw me taking the train to a city about 30 km outside of Amsterdam.  Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market.  It's only held on Fridays so I had no option but to go.  I walked out the door to pouring rain.  It was blowing so hard that it felt like someone had turned the sprinkler on me.  Oh joy!

Off I traipse to my bus and then to Amsterdam Centraal to catch the train.  The trip took about 37 minutes.  Inside the train, I saw blue seats and red seats.  The red seats were in a section behind a door.  It was pretty packed in the blue seats so I took a seat in the red seats.  It was very quiet and very few people were in there.  I thought it was because it was only 9:15 in the morning.  On the way back to Amsterdam, I learned the red seat section is for people with first class tickets!  Did I have a first class ticket on my way there?  No but I guess if you look like you know what you're doing no one questions you.

I arrived in Alkmaar to, you guessed it, a bit of a walk but since the market didn't start for an 45 minutes, I popped into a shop that was open to get out of the rain, kill time and connect to the internet.  There was a seating area so I took a seat.  I noticed signs on the counters that looked pretty official.  After sitting there enjoying the warmth, I decided to use Google to scan the sign and translate it.  It said "Ordering Mandatory".  Oops!  Since I'm a rule follower, I got up and started looking for something to buy as well as eat.  The great thing about small shops in small cities is that they often carry the neatest things.  I bought my granddaughter a couple of things.  I won't say what because her mother will read this blog.  Grandmas on vacation can buy stuff.  haha  I also ordered food because that's really what the sign was telling people.  There is a lot of food here that is unfamiliar to me and also unique to the Netherlands.  As a picky; cheap person, I asked what the baked goods were.  I didn't want to pay for something I wouldn't like.  I was told a couple of things that might have been delicious but just the name yelled "Don't go there!".  I chose a cheese bun.  Even that made me nervous because I only like mild cheese. 

I took the bun to my table and had a bite.  Oh yum!  Warm bun with some kind of warm melted; mild cheese in it.  I was pleased with my choice so much so I went to the clerk to ask her what kind of cheese I was eating.  She said one moment.  The next thing I know another clerk comes over and starts punching keys on the monitor used with the cash register.  A receipt prints out that was about 6" long!  What the heck?  The girl hands me the receipt and says here are the ingredients but I can't find the name of the cheese.  What???  She thought I might have an allergy to the cheese.  lol  I told her I loved the cheese and wanted to know what it was.  Nothing on that receipt told us what kind of cheese I ate.   Language barrier for sure!

I finished my bun and headed to Waagplein where the market is held.  When I say headed, I really mean guessed the direction.  Again, no darned signs to say "This way to the cheese market.".  Off I go praying to God that I am headed the right way.  It's so early in the morning there wasn't anyone around to ask.  Finally after about 10 minutes of walking, I saw a woman to ask "Which way to the cheese market?".  She told me walk toward the church, you'll find it there.  So off I go walking and walking toward the church.  I get there, round the corner and there are two stands set up to sell cheese.  Yay, I found it.  I'm so pleased I take pictures of the "two" stands.  Note:  I can't find the pictures!!  As I'm doing this, I'm thinking "Has the rain kept all the tourists away?  This is a once a week thing and I'm the only one here?  That's weird.  Hmmm, maybe it doesn't happen in the rain?".  Since I still have 15 minutes until the start time of 10, I walk around the shops.  It's now 10 and I'm still the only one at the cheese stands.  I decide to go ask someone where is the traditional cheese market?  I'm told it's at the end of the long street I'm standing on by the church.  What??  Two churches in one small area on each end of a street!  I hoof it up to the end of the street and hear a voice on a loud speaker.  I follow the direction of the voice and am suddenly in a crowd of at least 200 people.  There is one area for seating.  It's full.  The standing room is three people deep all the way around where the traditional cheese sellers are doing the demonstration.  Oh and it's still bloody raining.  I am ticked because I was there early enough to have gotten a seat in the covered bleachers.  Now I can't even see the demonstration because it seems everyone is tall!!!!  I made the decision to try to go over to the other side of the crowd.  Well the blasted road is fenced off all the way to the end so I have to go to the end of the fence and walk back up.  By this time, I am NOT happy.  I'm cold and wet!  I want my mommy!  When you're fed up sometimes you don't care what people think so I went to a spot where the crowd was only two people deep and said "Excuse me.  Could I squeeze in to take a few pictures?".  The crowd parted like Moses parting the Red Sea.  I must have been giving off don't mess with me vibes.  I took 13 quick pictures and got the hell out of Dodge.  I'd had it with being cold.  My feet were already tired.  I thought go home. Wahhh, wahhh, wahhh!

A little about the Cheese market:

In 1365, as there was only one set of scales for weighing, cheese was traded on the Waagplein.  The cheese was delivered early in the morning.  The cheese market Master and traders would check whether the cheeses had been well stacked on wagons.  Up to 30,000 kilos, or 2,200 whole cheeses, are lined up and waiting for customers.  In the Middle ages, it was common practice to establish a guild for every professional group, the cheese carriers established theirs in 1593.  The cheese carriers' guild consists of 30 men and the cheese father.  Carriers can hold various positions.  The clothing they wear makes it easy to know what position each person holds.  The poor guy who stacked the cheese in the wagon was wearing a grey smock.  Bet his wages were pretty low!  If you want more history about this fascinating re-enactment of the cheese traders' market, you can look it up.  Here are a few pictures.  The first two, I didn't take.  I couldn't get a shot like this because of the crowd and because it was raining.  Notice the blue skies?  The rest of the pictures are mine.

I left Waagplein to head back to the train station.  The rain is still coming down, I'm wet and think they lengthened the road back to the station.  I'm also puzzled because nothing looks familiar.  Again, I ask a woman for directions.  She tells me.  I trust her and finally am at the station.  I look for the time the next train will arrive.  Five minutes!!  Oh thank heaven!  The train pulls in, the doors open and I find a seat.  I'm so happy to be sitting down that I get out my camera to take a picture of the inside of the train.

Suddenly an announcement comes over the sound system.  It's only in Dutch.  I don't understand what it is telling me.  The fellow across the aisle from me stands up and starts putting his coat on.  My spidey senses go off so I ask him what is happening?  He says the train has been cancelled.  We all have to get off.  Another train will come in 12 minutes.  Noooooo!  I want to stamp my feet but they're too tired.  I grab my stuff and get off the train.  I am NOT amused.  You may have heard that the workers for the trains in the Netherlands are on rotating strikes.  Trains in the Netherlands are suddenly cancelled as a result of it.  That's why this train was cancelled.  The next train did arrive but it was one that stopped at every station along the way.  Instead of taking 37 minutes to get back to Amsterdam, it was about 50.  The train was packed with people.  Fortunately, when I got on it was the first pick up so I had a seat.  With it taking longer to get to the main station, I had a nap.  Hope I didn't snore!

I had planned to go back to my room but because of the nap and having more energy, I decided to take a free ferry across to where the A'Dam lookout tower is.  Using my I Amsterdam card, I could go up and look out over the city.  It was overcast and hazy out so I didn't get great pictures.  It was still neat to look out over the city.

Lots of people were taking pictures with the A'Dam letters.  The group of twenty somethings before me were sitting on top of the letters.  I asked one of them to take a picture of me too.  I told them I wasn't getting up on the letters.  They asked why.  I told them that by the time I managed to get up on a letter that they would be in their fifties. 

If you pay extra, you can also go on a swing that swings out over the edge of the building.  I didn't do that.  I'll just watch crazy people do it.

I took the ferry back to the train station and head back to my room.  I'd had enough walking for the day.  When I got to my bus stop and started to walk past the park, I saw this bird standing there.  Crazy to see a bird like this next to the water.  A seagull, I can understand but not a Heron (I think that's what it is.) in the middle of the city.  It must be used to people because I was able to get really close to it to take a picture.

The end of another adventure.

Steps today = 17,946