The still operational shipyard in the middle of the old town
Captain Fluffy was in an adventurous mood today. Normally he doesn’t leave the boat if there isn’t a finger dock, but now he had discovered that another boat functions perfectly well as finger dock. Within the blink of an eye he was up and over the neighbouring boat and frolicking about in the grass.
After Captain Fluffy had his fun we did a bit of exploring ourselves and set out to the historic centre of Edam. Edam is a beautiful little city. If it wasn’t for the cars parked here and there it could have been an open air museum. Funny, we’ve been to several historical towns and cities so far, but somehow this one looked more real. Most buildings date from the 17th century and there’s even an old shipyard that is still in use in the middle of the town. We like it here. It’s a friendly town, people are smiling and relaxed. And even though there are quite a few tourists about it doesn’t feel like a touristic place. We enjoyed the scenery and the people passing by whilst enjoying an ice cream in the sunshine. Life is good.
According to the map there should be an old fortress on the other side of the canal. We thought it might be worth a visit and set out to explore. Fort Edam, as it is called, turned out to be a fortress built at the end of the 19th century as part of the defence line of Amsterdam, a defensive circle of 46 forts and batteries around the capital. The Dutch have always resorted to inundating the land as a defensive measure. And in the past it had worked, for instance against the Spanish army, but that was when armies attacked each other on horseback and dragged heavy cannons with them. Unfortunately they hadn’t heard of airplanes yet when they designed the defensive line in 1880, so after its completion in 1914 it was already outdated.
You might think that we had learned something from this miscalculation, but no. In 1951 the Dutch, still clinging onto the idea of inundation, built the IJssellinie, a line of defence 120 kilometre in length in the east of the Netherlands. Its purpose was to keep out the Russians. Inundation hadn’t worked against airplanes, but who knows, maybe it will work against nuclear missiles! Really, sometimes it is just time to think of something new and kill your darlings.
One of the artefacts
We joined a tour guide just about to start his tour with a small group. He asked if we all just wanted to hear the highlights or do the full tour, which we all chose. Little did we know that the full tour was a 3 hour long experience in which the story behind every bolt and stone in the fort was revealed in a very enthusiastic and detailed way. The volunteers who run the museum evidently have a lot of love for their work, and are keen to share their knowledge. So when three hours later we emerged in daylight again, we knew all there is to know about Fort Edam. Living there must have been terrible because after just three hours we were chilled to the bone, and needed lots of warm tea to thaw again. While defrosting outside in the sunshine the helpful volunteers were eager to give us advice on what to visit next, and swamped us with brochures and coupons.
The walls were too tough for hand drills, so they incorporated wooden blocks in the wall to fasten things on
Our heads still buzzing with historical facts and pockets full with brochures we went back to our boat to further defrost in the sunshine.
The weather had indeed changed. The wind had picked up significantly, but fortunately no rain. After all the fuss with the anchor alarm we finally had a good night’s sleep. The harbour master came to check on the electricity, and after some fidgeting we finally had power. All was well with the world again.
It was high time for a trip to a grocery store. Armed with backpacks to carry our groceries we set off to the nearest supermarket. On our way there we saw a peculiar sight. A Pheasant was being attacked at the same time by both an Oystercatcher and a Moorhen. The Oystercatcher kept pelting down on the Pheasant, every time pecking him hard on the head, whilst the Moorhen was attacking him from below, screaming like a banshee. The Pheasant must have caused some serious grieve to be harassed like that.
While standing there on the dyke watching the spectacle, a women with a camera stopped to watch as well and we started talking. She used to work as a self-employed neurotherapist, but decided to end her practice, move to a smaller house and see something of the world. Like us she had downsized significantly when she moved to the smaller house and experienced that you really don’t need so much stuff. The change allowed her to save money to travel and she had just returned from a long trip to Vietnam. Now she was trying to organize her life in such a way that she could become a perpetual traveler. It’s remarkable when you’re traveling for an extended period like we are now, that you meet so many like minded people, almost as if you’re attracting them. Her explanation for these chance encounters was as simple as true: “We are the only ones standing still while everybody else is rushing past”.
