(Part 5) The Land Called The Netherlands: Harbor Hopping in Hoorn

- July 13, 2019, Saturday.

- After four days in the Netherlands, I could confidently say that the coziness of the country has really grown on me (except the fact that it's still quite expensive to go around the Netherlands.) On my fifth day, I told my mom that we'd be going to one of the most underrated places in the Netherlands, as the places outside Amsterdam that we visited are mostly well known by tourists (click to see Zaanse Schans here, The Hague/Den Haag here, and Haarlem here.) Hoorn is a small town in North Holland, and is a mere 25- to 35-minute train ride from Amsterdam. I discovered Hoorn by accident while looking for stuff about the Netherlands online prior to this trip. After reading about it and seeing how it looked like, I just knew I couldn't leave the Netherlands without visiting it. Why? Hoorn is a historical harbor city and the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) from where many Dutch ships would sail across the world during the 16th century. Some of these ships eventually conquered parts of what would become part of the Dutch Empire, such as Indonesia. Hoorn actually reminds me of the Belem District of Lisbon, from which ships such as ones used by Ferdinand Magellan and Vasco da Gama would sail the seas to do trade and conquer new lands for the Portuguese Empire (click here to see my trip to Belem.)

- After arriving in Hoorn early in the morning, my mom and I walked towards the farthest point and most important landmark in our itinerary: the Hoofdtoren. However, we had a short stopover at the Roode Steen Square to take pictures of the city's main square and the facade of the Westfries Museum.

Westfries Museum.

17th-centruy D'Oude Waegh or weighing house. It is currently a fancy restaurant. It is located at the Roode Steen.

- Once we reached the Hoofdtoren, we realized that we had to go to the Baatland, which is the small park on an artificial island, to have a better view of the Hoofdtoren for photos. The is a small harbor in the area called the Binnenhaven with plenty of private yachts parked. It is one of the many harbors in the city, but this perhaps is the main harbor of Hoorn. The Hoofdtoren was a 15th-century defense building that controlled the ships entering Hoorn. Today, it is a restaurant. I think the Hoofdtoren is a funny-looking building because it is flat on one side (the side facing the city,) but half cylindrical on another side (the side facing the sea.) The Hoofdtoren is the most iconic landmark of the town.

With the Hoofdtoren. Also, I never mentioned this in past posts, but one reason why male Dutch traditional costumes look like this is because this look is based on a fisherman's costume. However, there are many regional costumes across the Netherlands.

History before my very eyes.

Binnenhof. The church in the middle is the 15th-century Oosterkerk ("Eastern Church.") 

- While walking around the city we saw a man selling smoked eel, and since my mom and I were abit hungry, we decided to buy one. I found it interesting that this man was smoking eel right in front of his stall, and he would smoke around 70-100 eels in his small tin drum. The man told us to take off the tough skin before eating it. It tasted good! Probably the fanciest and most unique street food I've tried in the Netherlands. After eating our eel, we had a brief visit to the 15th-century Oosterkerk which was being renovated so we couldn't go inside, and the Oosterport, a mid-16th century city gate and the only city gate remaining in Hoorn. Some smaller ports and harbors can be seen along the way.

EELS EELS EELS.

We just bought one eel. HAHA.

This is the head of the smoked eel. You have to remove the whole brown thing before eating the meat as the skin is too chewy (removing the skin also makes it look less....scary to eat.)

Oosterkerk.

Oosterpoort.

- We later walked back to the Binnenhaven area and took more photos of the Hoofdtoren from its rounded side before having a light lunch in one of the few restaurants open that morning. Since it was a weekend, most establishments open around noon. Some restaurants open before noon might serve small snacks, but will not big meals until noon or a bit after noon.

Hoofdtoren's flat side.

My new friends. HAHA. These are statues of Bontekoe's cabin boys. These boys are based on a 1920s novel which was in turn based on a 17th century logbook by Captal Bontokoe. The story talks about three boys who were around 14 years old and traveled all the way to Indonesia from Hoorn with Captain Bontekoe, as well as their mistadventures going to Indonesia and finding their way back to Hoorn. 

Harbor-side Hoorn.

- After lunch we walked to the small "island" beside the Hoofdtoren to visit the West Frisian Ship Museum to visit the 1989 replica of the Halve Maen ("Half Moon,") which was originally a ship from the 1600s owned by the Dutch East India Company that sailed from Amsterdam all the way to New York with a British captain named Henry Hudson. The ship sailed along a river in New York, trying to find a passage westward. Captain Hudson named the people living on the banks "Manahata," which was where Manhattan got its name. And the river where the ship sailed? Well, it was formerly called the Mauritius River, but was later called, you guessed it, the Hudson River (Click here and here to see my "visits" to the Hudson River in New York.) When I heard this fact through my audio guide, it really made me ecstatic since I've seen the Hudson River a couple of times before. I think this is one of the most interesting things about traveling - when you go to difference places in the world and realize that these places are somehow connected through historical events. By the way, just so you know, if you visit the Halve Maen on a Friday evening, you can pay to ride on the ship as it sails around the sea as you have your dinner (just prepare for the cost as it is quite expensive.)

The Halve Maen's bow.

All aboard!!

Inside the ship.

They had canons.

The logo of the Dutch East Indies.

Bed.

Captain of the ship.

Ready to clean the ship.

- Apart from visiting a ship, which in itself is really cool, another reason why I'm really happy I got to visit the Halve Maen is because this ship is only on loan to the Netherlands until December 2019 and it will sail to the USA. This is because this particular 1989 replica is owned by an American who specializes in ship restoration; it used to sail around New York as some kind of traveling museum before it was loaned to the Netherlands. Speaking of replicas, the original one was destroyed when it sailed to Indonesia and the British attacked the Dutch, and the first replica from 1909 was destroyed in a fire.

Making boats and ships at the workshop.

The rudder of the Halve Maen.

See that half moon? Well, it's the "Halve Maen" ("Half Moon") after all. Haha.

- Across the ship museum is another museum that I'm sure many people will love and appreciate, especially older people. The Museum of the 20th Century (Het Museum van de 20e Eew), opened in 1994, is a large museum dedicated to popular culture in the 20th century. I do somehow relate to this museum because of my interest in popular culture especially of times before, but my mom went crazy in the museum! She saw some things that made her recall her childhood, such as old radio models, toys, food, music, and so on. Truly, this museum smells nostalgia for many living people - unlike most museums that show things or situations most people today have not personally experienced as they were used or they happened centuries or millennia ago.

dining room setup of a house in the 50s.

70s!! (Also this was the time Abba rocked the world!!)

What streets and shops back then would have looked like. Reminds me of the small museum inside the Seoul Folk Flea Market (click here).

Old dolls. They creep me out.

But of course, Smurfs!

And we can't ignore the impact of Barbie.

One of the first Barbie dolls.

More Barbie.

OK, this is more of my stuff. HAHAHAHA. See Tamagochi and Pokemon????

The building of the 20th Century Museum, which also houses the cinema museum.

- We later walked to Westfries Museum, a museum that opened in the late 1800s to showcase the history of Hoorn, but more importantly the interactions of the Netherlands with the colonies such as Indonesia. It is definitely a must-see museum as it is one of those museums that gives more insight on world history especially at a time when the east and west were interacting more frequently compared to earlier history.

Papercut!!

Animals they caught from the colonies.

A box bed.

For all your wine needs.

17th-century Dutch clothing in paper (I think?)

People back then were so small!!

OK this has got to be one of the most flamboyant standees I've ever seen. The standee is not flat so when I put my head over the standee and my arms where they should be, it looks as if I'm wearing the costume but I'm not!! (Also, it helps that my shirt matches the color of the standee.)

- On the way back to the train station, we passed by the 19th-century Grote Kerk, a former church turned into a food park which has also closed down, and the old city hall. We also got hungry so we tried Surinamese food from a food truck that we came across. Suriname is in South America but has influences from African and South Asian cuisine.             

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Bara (Surnamese fried bread, and we had chicken filling to make it more interesting,) roti and chicken curry (Indian-influenced Surnamese food.)

Old city hall.

Goodbye Hoorn!

- Truth be told, I'm glad I decided to go to Hoorn even though I had a tougher time finding information on where to go and what to do, as many people would choose places closer to Amsterdam, or perhaps just stay in Amsterdam, during their stay in the Netherlands. My experience in Hoorn has reassured me that there are times when we should try going to the off-beaten path (as long as you're sure it's safe of course,) as we could discover many amazing things. I have done this many times in my various trips - and even within my own city of residence! - and not once have I failed to learn something new about some place familiar, or something new about a totally new place.

- Please don't forget to read all about my other adventures in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg here!!

THE NETHERLANDS

Parts 1 and 6, Amsterdam: here, and here

Part 2, Zaanse Schans: here

Part 3, The Hague/Den Haag: here

Part 4, Haarlem: here


BELGIUM

Parts 1 and 5, Brussels: here, and here

Part 2, Ghent/Gent: here

Part 3, Bruges/Brugge: here

Part 4, Antwerp: here


LUXEMBOURG: here