Day tour from Amsterdam

During a 4-day stay in Amsterdam in July ’05, we took a day tour to Marken and Volendam, picturesque fishing villages less than an hour from town.

At $33.50 per person, our tour was arranged by ITB (Amsterdam; phone +31 20 305 1365 or visit www.itbholland.com. . . or contact their U.S. representative, Virtuoso Travel, Ft. Worth, TX; 866/401-7974, www.virtuoso.com).

It took place on a beautiful summer day. Highways followed the dikes, and beyond these large mounds covered by green grass we could see the sparkling sea. It was a Sunday, and there was a steady stream of people riding bikes along the tops of the dikes.

In Marken, it was as if we had stepped back in time. Fronting the sea were houses on pillars painted in traditional green. Lots of people were on the beach in this area, some windsurfing or sailing boats. A few sunbathers were in the water, mostly children, squealing as they braved the cool sea.

Volendam was filled with visitors browsing in curio shops. Some shops featured old-time wooden shoes, herring and cheeses as well as the more traditional take-home item, T-shirts. On the way back we visited a cheese factory to see how the cheese was made. We brought back a couple of blocks of Edam to give to friends when we got home.

Another worthwhile side trip was a visit to The Hague and Delft; a day tour to both sites cost $33.50. The Hague is the Netherlands’ seat of government. Among things to see are the 13th-century Parliament Buildings, Queen Beatrix’s residence and the International Court of Justice.

The big attraction, for us, was the Mauritshuis museum with its splendid collection of works by Dutch painters. This gave us a chance to see Vermeer’s famous “Girl With A Pearl Earring.” It shares prominence here with Rembrandt’s celebrated “The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp.”

We finished our afternoon by driving through the bucolic countryside to Delft. Walking through the historic center of town, we saw the site where Vermeer lived, now Maria van Jesse church. And as all tourists do, we toured the Royal Dutch Delftware factory, viewing the centuries-old process for making this entirely hand-painted blue-and-white glassware.

Outside of town, our driver stopped at the spot on the Lange Geer canal where Vermeer painted his 1660s masterpiece “View of Delft.” Of course, the scene has changed, but we could see the church towers. The modern city still is, as is the Netherlands as a whole, a work of art.

LARRY TAYLOR

Fullerton, CA