Day 3

 Hoorn, The Netherlands

Posing in the greenhouse among the literally thousands of tulips headed off to auction tomorrow!

Today was a F-U-L-L day.  We were up before 7 am for breakfast and off the ship by 8:15 am for a four hour morning excursion through the quaint, sea-faring town of Hoorn.  When we woke up the sun was just coming up and I took a few photos, and a couple more as we were sailing into the port of the small town.  The ship dropped us off and moved on farther up the river.

Good morning!

For me, little better than sailing on a river cruise as the sun comes up!

Unless it's sailing on a river cruise with my wife!

The town had a lot of history and what was MOST fascinating were the tops of the buildings.  Not only were they so different, but the decorations were all so very unique and interesting.  I had nearly a dozen photos but reduced them down to two collages.

The watch tower entering Hoorn

Hoorn Harbor

Quaint street in Hoorn

Can't tell from the pic, but this part of the day was MIGHTY chilly (35 degrees with wind!)

Canal within the town

Note the tops of the buildings and the decorations

More cool building fronts

One of the most interesting stories came when the guide showed us what looked to be just another old house - and by old I mean O-L-D as many were originally built in the 1600's as was this one pictured below.  But this other one, the story she shared was being lived in by two women during the the Second World War when the Nazi's commandeered it for their headquarters.  Out back there was a garden and at the back of the garden a garden shed.  Unbeknownst to the Nazis the women were smuggling the Jewish people from town out of the area by hiding them here.  Eventually the one woman was sent to a concentration camp.....but she survived and later became an elementary teacher - WHO TAUGHT OUR GUIDE.  That was really something to hear her tell the story.

Home built in 1600

After the tour of Hoorn we boarded a bus for a twenty minute trip to a casino-hotel where everyone was fed a wonderful lunch.  Then the guests were split into three groups.  One group headed back to the ship, the other two groups headed off to two different excursions.  The one we went on was headed for a Tulip Farm and then a Windmill/Turbine Farm.  At the first stop, WHO KNEW there was so much to the manufacturing of tulips and tulip bulbs!  Very interesting to see the process step by step.

Separating the picked tulips

Tulips one step away from being sent to the auction and off the the buyers & clients

SOOOOOOO many tulips!

Ready to go

Posing among the tulips :)

Then ten minutes down the road we stopped a modern day farm - which primarily grew potatoes - but had a wind turbine - ONE, and it produces enough power, this one medium sized turbine, to power 515 homes for an entire year!  WOW.  After the presentation we got to climb the stairs into the turbine and go as high up as we could.  Was interesting for sure.  Both the tulip guide and the wife of the farmer who owned the turbine were excellent presenters and we enjoyed both presentations and experiences.  Headed back to the ship, about an hour and a half drive.  Met our pals Gary & Claudia for drinks and dinner and then joined another couple - who ironically live in Columbus, Ohio (where I grew up) and he was a retired school administrator.  Was a wonderful evening.

Learning about the wind turbine & running a farm

The 200+ high turbine and yours truly climbing up inside!

Tomorrow we have a four hour excursion in Arrnhem.