Monday 21st October 2024 (day 38)
Our journey south today, was about 170Km, mostly on motorway. No issues except that changes to the road layout in Groningen meant we made a few wrong turnings before we found the right road. The route along the A7 motorway took us across the Afsluitdijk, a huge dike which is 32Km long and crosses from Friesland to North Holland. It was constructed between 1927 and 1932.
We stopped at a parking area where there were information boards and statues in honour of the stonemasons who built the dike and to the man who conceived of the idea in 1891, Cornelis Lely.
Our park-up for the night on our way south is near Alkmaar. It is called “Op de Akkers” a dairy farm which also has space for around a dozen motorhomes and is around 3-4 Km north of the town. We visited the town centre and on the way, passed at least five windmills. These date from around 1630 and were built to maintain water levels in the canal system.
I love the clogs on the wall outside the door:
The town itself is gorgeous. Picture postcard view everywhere you look, mostly based around its canal network, which surrounds the centre.
As expected, there is priority given to bicycles everywhere in the centre, which means there is very little motorised traffic. Alkmaar even has an underground bike-park.
At the end of the main shopping street, Great St. Lauren’s Church:
To the rear of the church, there is a sculpture to commemorate the city carpenter, Van der Meij, who was a hero in the siege of Alkmaar in 1573.
Alkmaar is famous for its cheese and the cheese market, but unfortunately, the market only happens during the summer months in the main town square. The building with the tower is where cheeses are weighed. It also houses the Alkmaar Cheese Museum.
The town centre has cheese-sellers galore:
Outside the cheese museum, there is a young lady pouting to invite a kiss. It seemed a bit discourteous to refuse:
It seems that kissing in this fashion is a thing:
With one last look at the tower building and its canal reflection, we returned to Fufu for the night. As you can see, it was starting to rain.
Tomorrow, onward, further south. TTFN. See you later.
By the way, if you click on any of my photographs, it should open a larger version in a different tab of your browser.
"See-u-Later" 
The long dyke and Alkmaar are very familiar to us we really enjoyed that region, keep enjoying.
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