TULIPS AND WINDMILLS VIKING RIVER CRUISE- SERIES #4

"Allow yourself to enjoy the journey. Everything you draw or paint does not have to be a finished masterpiece."- (Michele Cooper)

HOORN (IJSSELMEER), HOLLAND - MARCH  28, 2014

A Gray Boat Named "AMSTERDAM." We Left The Big City Of Amsterdam For Many Days. We Will Go Back After Our 10 Days Viking River Cruise. We Sailed Through The Night. We Arrived During Breakfast At The Small Town Of Hoorn, Holland.

WELCOME TO HOORN! WELCOME VIKING BRAGI! AND HELLO TO ALL THE PASSENGERS!  Our Ship Docked At The Harbor. That's Truly The Viking Spirit. A Beautiful  Waterfront Vista Awaited Us At Port Of IJsserleer.

Hoorn Harbor Area, One Of the Legendary Names In Dutch Maritime History. During The "Golden Age"( A Special Period In Dutch History), Hoorn Was An Important Home Base  For the Dutch East India Company. Also A Very Prosperous And Powerful Center Of Trade. The Hoorn's Fleet Plied the Seven Seas And Returned Laden W/ Precious Commodities Such As Exotic Spices, Which Were Sold At Vast Profits.  With Their Skill In Trade And Seafaring The Dutch Explorers  Were "World Traveler."  These Were Their "Floating Monuments." 

At The Beautiful Entrance Of  Port IJsselmeer. Hoorn Is A Small Town  Located On The IJsselmeer, About 20 Miles North East Of Amsterdam. Its Rich History Dates Back To The Golden Age.  Traces Of Prosperity Can Still Be Seen Through Out The Historical Town City Center And Harbour.

Rhod At The Hoorn Waterfront. A Very Freezing Weather Greeted Us Despite Of The Warm Welcome. Keep Smiling! 

Old Hoorn Harbor (BinnenHaven). Colorful And Striking W/ Ancient Row Houses. The Whole Seaside Town Still Smell And Feel Like The 17th Century. This Was The Hometown Of Willem Schouten, Who In 1616 Braved Furious Storms As He Rounded  South America's Southernmost Tip. He Named It Kaap Horn (Cape Horn), In Honor Of His Hometown. How Nice To Know That! We Were In Cape Horn (So. America- 2013) Prior To This River Cruise. It's A Small World After All. Never Thought We Would Ever Set Foot On This Distant Land Named Hoorn.

Like A Lovely Landscape Painting, This Sight Welcomed Us During Our Early Morning Walking Tour -  A Blue Cloudless Sky, A Sprawling Bare Branches And Red Rooftops. 

The Picturesque Hoofdtoren (Harbor Tower)  From The Lake. A 16th - 17th Century Tower. This Tower Is One Of Hoorn's Most Striking Landmarks

A Trio Of Spellbinding Scenery - Golden Pole,  Swaying Branches And A White Church Tower. 

 

Glorious To Behold -Beautiful Blue Sky, Bending Branches And Blessed Church. 

A Delicious Triple Treat For Tourists Eyes- Beautiful Tower, Classic Lamp And Budding Spring Tree

The Sight Of Thousand Bikes Are Eye-Sores But The Sight OF A Lone Blue Bike Is So Much More Lovelier. 

Amusing To Discover A Ben And Jerry Ice Cream Parlor Here At Hoorn. Want Some Yummy Ice Cream? Are You Kidding? Weather Was Freezing Crazy And Who Wanted Some Ice Cream? 

During Our Two-Hour Walking Tour, Our Cruise Director (Ray) And Some Other Viking Staffs Accompanied Us. The Best Experience To Enjoy Hoorn's Charming Village  Was Through A Leisurely Walking Tour.

 

Hoorn And Amsterdam Look Like Twin Sisters. Although Amsterdam Is More Grander, Hoorn Is The Smaller Version.  One Of The Most Charming Villages In The Netherlands.

Hoorn, Seemed To be A Quiet Town Where People Could Live At A Slower Pace Than The Fast Lifestyle In Amsterdam. 

A Nice View Of Bridge. Look Like Amsterdam But We Were At Hoorn.

Row Houses W/ Typical Holland Architecture.  In Quiet And Clean Neighborhood

                Walking Among Old Houses And Cobbled Stone Street

                                More Fancy Old Houses

Gorgeous Town Square W/ Charming Cathedral

 

Another Church On The Center Town Square.  Hoorn's Prosperity Could Still Be Seen In The Historical Town Square W/ Its Atmosphere Of Bygone Eras.

 

Ebb At The Hoorn's Central Square "De Rode Steen" (The Red Stone) . The Dutch Explorer, Jan Pieterszoon Coen (1587 -1629)  Had A Big Statue On the Middle Of This Square.He Was Famous For His Violent Raids In Dutch Indies (Now Indonesia), Where He Founded Jakarta.

 

The Gorgeous West Frisian Museum Located At the Town Center. The Architecture Was An Exceptional Example Of Renaissance Art. Its The Oldest Museum In Hoorn.

Another Part Of Downtown Hoorn W/ Quaint Shops And Charming Boutiques

Another View Of Row Houses W/ Artistically Arranged Budding Shrubs On The Street

         Posing Beneath Flowering Artistically Trimmed Shrubs

 

We Enjoyed A Piece Of The Traditional Apple Pie Served W/ Hot Tea At One The Dutch Homes. A Nice Experience To Able To Mingle & Talk W/ Some Local Dutch Who Live In The Area. This Dutch Lady And Family Lived In A Century Old House W/ View Of The Ocean Nearby.

We Returned To The Ship And Had A Delicious Lunch. We Spent The Afternoon Quietly In Our Stateroom, Reading And Napping. There Was An Afternoon Tour At The Herring Factory. The Weather Was Freezing Outside And Didn't Want To Go Out Again.

 

In The Evening After Dinner, We Attended A Demo About Making Authentic Dutch Clogs Known As "Klompen.". This Dutch Guy Is An Expert And Also Extremely Tall. Yes, The Dutch Are Some Of The Tallest People In The World. Here's Our Funny Photo together.

  

He Had A Very Good Sense Of Humor. He Stooped Down To Reach My Height. Ha! Ha!

 

This Dutch Guy Demonstrated How To Make Old-fashioned  "Klompen." Interesting Demo!

 

What a Lovely Day At Hoorn. Like This  Beautiful Yellow "Klompen" That They Sell Around Holland. Wonderful Memories To Remember.  

"It Is Good To Have An End To The Journey Towards, But It Is The Journey That Matters In The End." - Ursula K. LeGuin