Today was an early seven AM wake up, which preceded breakfast. After breakfast, we traveled an hour and a half to the Zuiderzee museum. This museum houses a small fishing town located in a small bay of the North Sea in the northwest of Holland. The brackish water surrounding the town is blocked in by two dams, to the north and to the south, that maintain the water level in areas south of them, particularly Amsterdam. After a nice nap on the bus, we got out and explored the museum.

We first tackled the small boats the museum had by a little reservoir of water, where we paddled around, and I came across Mae, Jules, Lindsey, and Ariel’s boat. I wanted to make sure there weren’t any leaks in the boat, so I got in and rowed away, accidentally stranding them on an island. We then further explored the museum, I learned of the fish diet the locals would have eaten, and the work required to upkeep the houses and the boats. Unfortunately, the indoor museum was not accessible to us in the beginning of the trip, so I missed out on some information in that regard, but I nonetheless enjoyed the trip.

After walking through the rest of the town, and walking to the point, we took the ferry back to the parking lot and departed. I enjoyed this trip because there is nothing like Zuiderzee in the United States, whether it came to the integrated canals throughout the town or the size of the houses, or even the sheer number of boats that were located in the town, I have never seen any aspects of Zuiderzee back home, a completely new experience.