"Holland for his own": from Amsterdam to Horne, Medemblik, Enkheisen. A journey into the past

Name: "Holland for his own": from Amsterdam to Horne, Medemblik, Enkheisen. A journey into the past
Price: 650 EUR
Availability: InStock

Description:

This tour is like a fabulous kaleidoscope or a treasure box. Rapidly changing pictures, stories, legends are folded into bizarre patterns. In the box there are ancient sailboats and mills, picturesque polders with grazing sheep and smoked mackerel, a prison and farm ice cream, mermaids and an ancient castle, an ancient locomotive with amazing passengers from the past and pirates, a fishing village and a market in the church, weather vanes and quiet alleys as if asleep for centuries, and once one of the most influential cities in the world. And most importantly, this is another cloudlessly happy day that will be remembered for a long time.

Early in the morning we will meet at Amsterdam Central Station and head to Horn. This city was once the seat of the powerful East India Company, which participated in international politics along with the European powers. Now Horn is asleep, enjoying visions of former glory. What are his dreams? We will.

On the way to the harbor, we will go to the ancient Hofje and talk about social institutions in the Netherlands fifty years ago. Picturesque alleys will go to the central square of the old city with a very beautiful town hall and a weight chamber. Let’s talk about the country’s colonial history, the East India Company and, of course, pirates. We will learn how to decipher wall reliefs Hevelstenen. Take a look at several craft shops, an ancient hospital and a Protestant cathedral, where the “market” is located.

Crossing narrow bridges across the canals, we will go to the ancient harbor. On the way we will see how everything is arranged in the courtyards of local residents. At the stunning, more cathedral-like building of the port office, we will talk about mermaids and how three teenagers managed to inflict damage on the Dutch fleet, comparable to the damage from an attack by an enemy squadron. If you're lucky, we'll look at Horn from a little hidden window.

We will visit the former prison, which houses a fashionable hotel. And finally, and most importantly, we will see the sailboat Half Moon. The one where Manhattan Island was discovered. We will learn how life was arranged on the ship, how the Navy used cheese, how to escape from the storm, what a "crazy stick" looks like:) and many other equally important and useful things:

On an old steam locomotive with a whistle, a fireman, throwing coal into the furnace and other funny attributes, we will go to Medemblik. We will be accompanied by 19th century Dutch people. On the way we will learn about Dutch traditions and national costumes, in a wooden car-restaurant we will try pofferches, and on the station lost in polders we will play old games. All the way we will be accompanied by stunning beauty landscapes with mills and canals, grazing sheep and colorful boats. Let’s talk about how Dutch agriculture manages to be one of the most successful in the world. And of course, we'll take a lot of pictures.

We will walk through the picturesque center of Medemblik. We will find out that there are castles in Holland, and we will see one of them! Over a cup of traditional Dutch tea with the best apple pie in the neighborhood, let’s talk about how the country, 60 percent of which is below sea level, protects itself from it. If desired, we can arrange a picnic at the walls of the castle overlooking the bay and sailboats.

From Medemblik by boat we will go to one of the best ethnographic museums in the Netherlands. Here it is impossible to smell the flowering kalina, the sea, distant wanderings and an indispensable instant happiness forever! We will walk through the picturesque fishing village, the city quarter, the harbor, see how the Dutch lived in the XIX century. And, of course, we will meet many of the “residents”.

You can never be sure which of the dozens of artisan workshops we will enter. Maybe we can work in the shipyard, or help make wooden clogging shoes, or weave baskets.

But what we can be absolutely sure of is that we will definitely try smoked mackerel right in front of us - yes, right with our hands, sitting on a wooden shop in the yard of the smoking house, send home a postcard from an old post office, ride the canals on a gondola and do many other very important things.

And we will look at the mills and learn some interesting facts about them; we will tell you how Dutch cheese is made; we will see ancient craft and retail shops; we will go to the hairdresser, pharmacy, pastry. If we do, we’ll also look at contemporary art.

We will finish the tour in an excellent fish restaurant in Enkhuisen overlooking the old harbor. Well, then, on the way to the station, we look into the park with social houses built in the XIX century by the owners of the factory for workers. We promise you the greatest shock.

What we'll see:

Horne Weights Chamber
Horn Town Hall
A few hofier XVII century
Many craft and design shops
Port office, impressively more like a cathedral
Street sculptures and monuments
The old hospital
Prison hotel
Fachtwerk houses
Protestan cathedrals
Half Moon sailboat, on which the island of Manhattan was discovered
Locomotive and railway stations of the XIX century
Friesland's national costumes
Castle of the Dutch Counts
Harbor with many modern yachts and ancient sailboats
Polders with canals, farms and sheep
Mills.
Many workshops and shops of the XIX century
from basket weaving and smithing to the first automatic laundry, smoking and pharmacy
Fishing village
The life of the Dutch city and village of the XIX century
Old shipyard
Works of contemporary artists and designers
XIX century social housing
What's Hidden Inside Dutch Quarters

And much, much more.

And also:

Let's ride on an old steam locomotive.
We will swim along the bay on a steamer of the 50s of the last century
Let's try local fast food.
Let's send a postcard from the old mail.
Try smoked mackerel or eel directly on the smokestick
Let's play the Dutch National Games
Let's take a boat on the canal. n
If we wish, we will do different crafts.
Dinner at a great fish restaurant
Have a picnic at the walls of an ancient castle

And we will do many other equally exciting and important things.

Duration of the tour: 9 hours (each additional hour of the guide - 50 euros)

The cost of the tour: 650 euros for 1-4 people or 163 euros per person if you are more.

Payable separately:

Travel by steam locomotive, steamboat, entrance to the ethnographic museum (in the amount of €40 per person, there are benefits for children under 12, families with two children, etc.)

Important!

The tour is possible from April 1 to October 23 inclusive. In winter, the open-air ethnographic museum is closed.
Due to the long duration of the tour, it can be difficult for children under 8-9 years. If you are traveling with young children, we offer a “children’s” version of this excursion – without Horne, but with a wonderful children’s amusement park very close to the ethnovillage – with attractions, a village of dwarfs and a bunch of other beautiful things. As experience shows, this option does not tire even the smallest travelers.

The price includes: