TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

And is the perfect side trip if you are visiting Amsterdam for longer than 2-3 days. This is my second time in Marken actually. I was here 11 years ago when I visited the Dutchman in the Netherlands (I was not yet living here) and I insisted that we have to visit the pretty Zaandam villages: Edam, Volendam, Marken and Zaanse Schans. They are a stone’s throw away from Amsterdam. Dutchman was a  bit perplexed, ‘Huh? Why on earth would you want to visit these (strange) villages?’ And I’m like—‘DUH, you are Dutch so these villages won’t be of interest to you!’ Anyway, last month I was here with my cousin, Dr. Balin. I want to show her a quaint Dutch traditional village and Marken conforms to that idea. Naturally Dr. Balin was excited. She wants to see the country and not just the big cities like Amsterdam and Utrecht. This former island, now a peninsula and part of the Waterland municipality is connected by a causeway to mainland Netherlands. It was a lovely driv...

Monnickendam is located north east of Amsterdam and is part of the Waterland municipality, a group of towns and little cities of the glorious Dutch medieval past situated by the water. I came here by car which is probably the easiest way to come here, but there are buses as well that regularly ply the area from Amsterdam. My list of things to do and see in Monnickendam: (1) Climb the Speeltoren – This was on my plan to visit, I even checked the tower inside from the ground but didn’t buy the ticket to go up because I wanted to first go around town on foot and then have my beer at a café. I guess I people watched too long with my beer at the café that I lost track of time. Before I knew it, the tower was closed. (2) Visit the Grote Kerk (Church) – Located by the entrance to the village. There will be a separate post about this. (3) Tour the town on foot to enjoy the architecture – The town is small so it’s easy to walk around. Do pay attention to the houses, their details, the houses h...