Monnickendam & Marken

During my time here in Holland, I've tried to see as much of this beautiful, small country as I can. I have the luxury of having a host family that has "given" me a personal car to use during my time here so I don't have to borrow one of theirs, and that I means I can drive it on the weekend/holidays etc. I have grown to adore this Mercedes, I lovingly refer to as the "tank".. it's green, old aged, rusted around the edges, with a very sensitive A/C system that randomly starts up whenever it wishes and an even more difficult navigation system. Thankfully, in the past month, Emma the 11 year old has successfully managed to show me how to use the navigation rather than a paper map. One Sunday, I woke up feeling very much in the mood for an adventure and decided I would take the car to Monnickendam and Marken which is north of Amsterdam on the water. I typed in the address, and almost immediately realized the GPS system is a piece of crap. I would have to do a combination of navigation and map skills to get me to my destination. 2 hours later, and multiple curse words to no one in particular, I managed to arrive in Monnickendam, a quaint fishing village, which is extremely picturesque.

After walking around the centre of Monnickendam for a couple of hours (its truly not so big) I was off to Marken. Originally an island, now you can drive to Marken via a causeway stretching from Monnickendam towards the center of the island. It's a beautiful drive, with water on both sides of the causeway and lots of places to picnic along the way. Marken was originally known as another, you'll never guess, ... fishing village(!) Thus, they built their homes on brick levels to avoid water damage and Marken has been known for the dwellings ever since. A beautiful, scenic and historical village.