I am running behind with the blogs as most of the time \i have been visting friend and some relatives.
This page is dated August 3. On the bottom of the page you can go forward all the way up till August 9

Day 106

Aug 2 2013

Where's the cheese?

The city of Alkmaar is famous for two things; Cheese and the battle against the Spanish invaders which was fought in the 1670’s. The battle was won which lead to a revolution which ultimately drove out the Spaniards ending the 80 year war.

The other thing Alkmaar is famous for is the open air cheese market held every Friday. Large cheeses are traded on the market place. I am not sure if it is all for real or just a tourist thing. Anyway "where’s the cheese" means that I arrived just too late to enjoy this spectacle.

As with all older towns Alkmaar used to have an enclosed city wall with bastions every few hundred meters. Little remains of it today however there are still parts of the original wall visible today. As with Amsterdam this town has many canals and intersecting waterways which in long gone time serviced the small ships trading there goods.

Just outside the centre used to be the industrial area but again as with other towns these areas have been renovated or rebuilt to make place for new and modern housing estates which have the attraction of being located right on the waterside.

A good friend of mine lives in one of these units. These estates have a million dollar view over the canals and the town. What better way is there than to enjoy a glass of wine and roast beef sandwich while looking over the water into the old town and listening to the sound of the bells in the nearby bell tower chiming every hour.