29 April 2016 we went down for breakfast. The hotel breakfast was a good one and not as expensive as the one for $25 each that we had in Amsterdam. This breakfast was $17 each. The breakfast area was quite crowded because most people at the hotel were having breakfast, but there was adequate food.
Breakfast tables
Juices on the buffet
I took some packages off the buffet without knowing what they were. One of the packages was called "fruit sprinkles for bread" and it was a sort of fruit candy
Fruit sprinkles for bread
After I got some food, Bob went back and got some more for me.
Bob at the buffet
There was a busload of Japanese tourists and another one of German tourists (I talked to one of the German ladies). They had been to a farm on the previous day and to a factory to see how the cheese was made. The cheese market did not start until 10, so I thought 9:30 would be time enough to go down there. But I was wrong.
Rental boat barge
When we left to go down to the Waagplein, we passed this place near our hotel which said it was Alkmaarse bootjes Verhuut & Verkoop. You can hire a boat from them on a weekend for € 15.00 per hour including pillows and fuel. (In good weather.
I took photos of the buildings as we went. We passed De Nachtegaal on the way to the Cheese Market and I took some photos of it because I thought it looked like an interesting building. I was surprised to find out that it was a restaurant.
De Nachtegaal - top stories
Roof
The Old City Hall (Stadhuis) in Alkmaar caught our eye on the way to the cheese market.
Lions on the staircase of the Old City Hall
It was built between 1509 and 1520 in the Gothic style.
Facade of the building
Bob walking by the Stadhuis
On one corner is a tower with a pear shaped spire.
Pear shaped tower
Looking up from the street
Eight years after it was built it was mostly burned down, but it has obviously been rebuilt. It was made a national monument in 1969. Now it still has some municipal functions
Town hall spire above the street
I was able to tell where the cheese market was without looking at a map because streams of people were walking in that direction. We passed stalls selling souvenirs.
Tchotchkes
Wooden shoes
I got photos of The Waag which is on the Waagplein. (The Weigh House is on the Weigh House Square). It was built in the 14th century as a chapel for the adjacent Holy Spirit hospital. In 1566, the Bishop gave permission to re-purpose the building. When the building was converted, they added the Renaissance style facade.
Looking up at the weight house 2016
The current design dates from 1884. The original tower was replaced by a larger one which contains a carillon.
Top of the Waag steeple
There are four sides to the tower - each with a clock. One one side, underneath the clock it says vive memor leti fugit hora which is Latin for "Ever mindful of death, time flies" On another side it says Singulas horas, singulas vitasputa The first part of this is "Every Hour, Every ??" The decorative side of the building is not right over the place where the cheese porters take the cheese to be weighed.
Vive memor leti fugit hora
Atop the façade of the building is the Latin proverb: "SPQA RESTITVIT VIRTVS ABLATAE JVRA BILANCIS".
SPQA motto
This means : SPQA (Senatus PopulusQue Alkmaris - Council and People of Alkmaar) by virtue of its courage and strength, restored the rights to the balance to the people and government of Alkmaar." This refers to Alkmaar's famous victory against Spanish Roman Catholics. Also on this side it says 1520 and under it "RENOVATVM 1884". In 1950, when we visited Alkmaar, the Waag was still in use as an actual weigh house for a real cheese market.
Now it is is part of a show put on for tourists. But my photo is pretty close to the one of Daddy's
Then (1950) on the right with me, my mom and my sister and Now (2016)-weigh house
Breakfast tables
Juices on the buffet
I took some packages off the buffet without knowing what they were. One of the packages was called "fruit sprinkles for bread" and it was a sort of fruit candy
Fruit sprinkles for bread
After I got some food, Bob went back and got some more for me.
Bob at the buffet
There was a busload of Japanese tourists and another one of German tourists (I talked to one of the German ladies). They had been to a farm on the previous day and to a factory to see how the cheese was made. The cheese market did not start until 10, so I thought 9:30 would be time enough to go down there. But I was wrong.
Rental boat barge
When we left to go down to the Waagplein, we passed this place near our hotel which said it was Alkmaarse bootjes Verhuut & Verkoop. You can hire a boat from them on a weekend for € 15.00 per hour including pillows and fuel. (In good weather.
I took photos of the buildings as we went. We passed De Nachtegaal on the way to the Cheese Market and I took some photos of it because I thought it looked like an interesting building. I was surprised to find out that it was a restaurant.
De Nachtegaal - top stories
Roof
The Old City Hall (Stadhuis) in Alkmaar caught our eye on the way to the cheese market.
Lions on the staircase of the Old City Hall
It was built between 1509 and 1520 in the Gothic style.
Facade of the building
Bob walking by the Stadhuis
On one corner is a tower with a pear shaped spire.
Pear shaped tower
Looking up from the street
Eight years after it was built it was mostly burned down, but it has obviously been rebuilt. It was made a national monument in 1969. Now it still has some municipal functions
Town hall spire above the street
I was able to tell where the cheese market was without looking at a map because streams of people were walking in that direction. We passed stalls selling souvenirs.
Tchotchkes
Wooden shoes
I got photos of The Waag which is on the Waagplein. (The Weigh House is on the Weigh House Square). It was built in the 14th century as a chapel for the adjacent Holy Spirit hospital. In 1566, the Bishop gave permission to re-purpose the building. When the building was converted, they added the Renaissance style facade.
Looking up at the weight house 2016
The current design dates from 1884. The original tower was replaced by a larger one which contains a carillon.
Top of the Waag steeple
There are four sides to the tower - each with a clock. One one side, underneath the clock it says vive memor leti fugit hora which is Latin for "Ever mindful of death, time flies" On another side it says Singulas horas, singulas vitasputa The first part of this is "Every Hour, Every ??" The decorative side of the building is not right over the place where the cheese porters take the cheese to be weighed.
Vive memor leti fugit hora
Atop the façade of the building is the Latin proverb: "SPQA RESTITVIT VIRTVS ABLATAE JVRA BILANCIS".
SPQA motto
This means : SPQA (Senatus PopulusQue Alkmaris - Council and People of Alkmaar) by virtue of its courage and strength, restored the rights to the balance to the people and government of Alkmaar." This refers to Alkmaar's famous victory against Spanish Roman Catholics. Also on this side it says 1520 and under it "RENOVATVM 1884". In 1950, when we visited Alkmaar, the Waag was still in use as an actual weigh house for a real cheese market.
Now it is is part of a show put on for tourists. But my photo is pretty close to the one of Daddy's
Then (1950) on the right with me, my mom and my sister and Now (2016)-weigh house
- Next entry in the series 'Go to Amsterdam First (1950, 1965, 2009, 2016, 2018, 2022)': Cheese - Cheese Museum, Cheese Father, Kaasdragers and Cheese Maids - 2016
- Previous entry in the series 'Go to Amsterdam First (1950, 1965, 2009, 2016, 2018, 2022)': Gazing Around the Grote Sint Laurenskerk - 2016
