Holland makes some fantastic cheese. It’s a huge source of income for some of the smaller villages in the Netherlands. Alkmaar for example is a train ride away from Amsterdam. One can fetch a free map of the city outside the railway station at Alkmaar. It’ll have the route to the weekly cheese market chalked out. It’s a good twenty-minute trek from the railway station.
I came upon several brochures at tourist information offices that had photos like the one above. I was curious. The weekly cheese markets enact the cheese trade of bygone eras. Actors enact the bargaining that used to happen between the wholesalers and their customers. Throw in a horse-carriage, chief-guests, a live band, boat ride and cafes serving you local beer.
I’m sure that it’s hard work running around like that for a couple of hours. It must take a lot out of these gentlemen every Friday morning between April and early September.
Alkmaar is a beautiful city. Don’t resist the cruise around town.
Edam, on the other hand is a short bus ride away from Amsterdam. A bus leaves every few minutes from the back end of Amsterdam Central Station. It’s a small, beautiful village and one that I highly recommend.
Edam host their Cheese Market on Wednesday mornings in the summer. The drill is much the same as Alkmaar but it’s a smaller and thus a more intimate showing.
In the old days, the price was negotiated between the seller and his customer by slapping each others hand.
A lot of the cheese manufactured in Edam and Alkmaar is exported especially to the United States.
I enjoyed my time at Alkmaar and Edam and I recommend that you stop over both these fantastic cheese destinations on your next visit to the Netherlands.
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I’d like to take the attention of my regular blog readers to my facebook page, Discover The Art. Starting today, I’ll be posting a TRAVEL PHOTO OF THE DAY along with a small write-up about the location/culture etc. It’s a cool way to discover new places, people, cultures and events etc.
I reckon that this is one of the best photos that I’ve made.
I like caricature artists parked along the pavements of the world. I like to get one of mine done whenever the opportunity presents itself. I have a few; nicely rolled up and sitting inside the cupboard waiting for the right time and place.
It took all of sixteen hours over two days through the narrow streets alongside Sacré Cœur before I had this photo. It’s a long story but an interesting one. I met a lot of very interesting people and stuff and I’d intended to tell you all about it but that was all of three months ago. Age has caught up since. And the enthusiasm of narrating the fable has long faded away.
I’d told Vincent van Hessen that I thought that he played Redemption Song better than it’s creator. Every time I hear him do this song, I get the feeling that a revolution is erupting around him; one that is about to change the world for the better. Vincent has a museum in Amsterdam named after him.
I came upon him oft at Dam Square. I bought a CD of the covers that he does but then I recorded him do Redemption Song using my h4n zoom sound recorder. I listen to it oft.
I came upon The Laughing Life at Dam Square on a glorious summer evening in Amsterdam. Small crowds of people had already gathered around them. I joined in, making the odd photo. I heard them play a couple of songs and thought to myself that this was one of the better street shows I’d witnessed.
I ran into them often through the months of June and July. I stopped by each time, made photos and enjoyed the music. I like what Sandra Söderman has done to some of these songs. And Manuel Gatti’s guitaring is almost unreal.
A day before I left Amsterdam, I ran into them rather early on morning at Rembrandtplein. And this time, I recorded their 25 minute street show using my h4n Zoom sound recorder; knowing that this might be the last time that I hear them in person. Never say never though.
I listen to this recording very often. I miss Amsterdam and all that it has to offer.
I spent the first four days of this week scouting Purushwadi.
Yes, I contemplated the idea of writing a few jokes to follow that opening line but then decided against it. Purushwadi is atop a hill near Ghoti along the Mumbai-Nashik Highway but never mind all of that. The turfs at altitudes higher than Purushwadi must have been uninhabited at the time of its Christening. Hence the name, पूर्ण उंच वाडी – three Marathi words that give out this fact. It then further corrupted down to Purushwadi. You’d imagine that the ratio of men:women in PURUSHwadi is 999:1 /thereabouts but that’s not true.
PU RUSH. OKAY hang on whilst I quickly logon to youtube.com and play Limelight; a song by the Canadian band, RUSH. Living in the Limelight, the universal dream for those who wish to seem..
DASH IT! Coming back to Purushwadi, it happened to be Diwali. I’d light the odd sparkler and snake as a kid but then figured; why ruin the air? I can go on about the different things that people in my neighbourhood do during Diwali but DASH IT! It’s all too urban. All too routine.
In Purushwadi, the odd kid and his associates scoot from door to door singing. In his hands he holds a network of sticks and cut grass. Honestly, I’m struggling to describe all of this.
Long fable short: families hear the children singing outside their front door, come outside and pour some oil into the oil lamps that are mounted amidst the sticks and cut grass that the principal kid is holding.
HAPPY DIWALI EVERYBODY!
FIN
Grassroutes have been running village tourism programs at Purushwadi since the last few years. I have partnered with them in conducting weekend photography getaways through November 2011. You’ll find all the info. etc here.
Edam is one of my favourite villages in the Netherlands. It’s famous for the cheese that they produce and export. Narrow streets border a narrow canal that flows through the village. Typical Dutch houses line the outer edges of the streets.
The people of Edam are delightful. They love their cheese and their church. The church tower overlooks the quaint village and the beautifully landscaped cemetery.
Last week, I read a note on facebook; it said that the Amsterdam Roots Festival has been nominated the Best Music Festival in 2011. I’d spent a day at the festival; June 26 I think it was. I had a good time.
Earlier that week, I’d been to the LaMère festival in neighbouring Almere. I’d never experienced a music festival in Europe before. I vowed to write long essays about my experiences at these festivals but never got down to doing it.
I doubt if I’ll post a photo of Prague on my blog after today unless I go there again. I’d like to go but then again there are other places in the world. I’d still go though.
In a previous post, I’d told you about the h4n sound recorder. I used it to record some fantastic sound bytes in Prague. I have decided to etch all of them in this post. So take a day off from work/school. And spend this day reading this and listening to all of the sound clips that I have on offer for you. So here we go.
If you haven’t already, begin by reading my post about the Astronomical Clock Tower from 2010. All links will open in a new window/tab. This year, I didn’t trek up the Astronomical Clock Tower (though I wanted to) but recorded the hourly clockwork from the streets below:
The trumpets are sounded from a handful of towers in the Old Town. The youth, dressed in red and yellow costumes; shiny helmets but blunt swords are stationed in each of these towers for your entertainment.
I did this recording from the top of a tower on the Old Town side of Charles Bridge:
I’ll be honest with you. I’m not into classical music. A troupe sat there on Old Town Square performing some songs. One woman played the harp. A song later, another woman joined her playing the violin. And finally one other woman joined in singing. It turns out that I like a good harp. I found inner peace and solace in the melody that she played. I like the exaggerated stage-presence and the look of composure in a person playing a good harp. Listen to her:
A humble man stood at the top of Charles Bridge closer to the Old Town playing classical tunes on his violin. I cannot afford to spend ten euro on the music of every street musician that I come upon. I regret not having bought this man’s music though. It might have brought me further peace and solace, especially in old age:
What more can you ask for? And just as you begin to think that things can’t get any better, you come upon a puppeteer! A puppeteer along Charles Bridge! A good man. I have a couple of his shows for you:
Now for the travel tip. One can walk through all of Old Town Prague. And I mean; all of it. A group of expatriates conduct walking tours that survive only on tips. I don’t indulge in guided tours. In fact, I feel like pelting stones at red and yellow sightseeing buses every time I see them; there aren’t any in Prague though. It’s different. I enjoyed the little insights that the expatriate in Prague had for us. You’ll find all the info. at the front desk of your hostel in Prague.
We came upon similar walking tours in Paris conducted by local people. I’m sure that they’re good too but we didn’t have the time.
FIN
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I came upon this man playing an instrument along Dam Square in Amsterdam. I didn’t really figure any of the music but the musician is a delightful man. The sounds of extended ‘tings’ and ‘tangs’ coming off his instrument flooded the crowded square that fine afternoon.
“It’s a Xylophone!” he said. I’d asked.
I guess I’d never seen a xylophone before.
I had access to an h4n zoom recorder. And at times, I even used it. In the days to come, I will be enriching my blog with sounds bytes. Here’s a start; a sound clip of the music that he’s playing.
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