Monnickendam

This was another “close to home” day for us. Monnickendam is a small town that is only about 10 miles away and made a great day trip.

I found the lintel plates above the doors to be quite interesting. I had no more than taken the above photo when a gentleman poked his head out of the door and started speaking to me. I was half expecting a “how dare you take a picture of my house without permission” kind of exchange, but he said to me”Do you know what that is? It’s the golden hand of God which gives good things!” We ended up having a very interesting conversation and he invited us to see the inside of his home.

He explained that the building dated from about 1500 and that he knew the names of every owner since the 1600s. He had lived here for 35 years. He was particularly proud of his collection of items retrieved from the old well in his back yard. They were broken pieces of dishes and such, which he had been able to piece back together. He said that there were 10 homes in a row on this street from the same time period, but was the only one with a façade from the period. I’m embarrassed to say that after our visit I realized that I had photographed his home, but not him!

There Bontekoes on my mom’s side of the family. I’d never realized that it means “spotted cow”.

The above photo shows where the flood level from 1916 is marked next to the red door.

Lunch of Pannenkoeken at Pannenkoekenhuis "De Witte Swaen" in nearby Broek in Waterland was wonderful. The rain had moved back in so we didn’t wander the town to photograph it.