Today was another early day. We woke up at 6:45 for a 7 am breakfast. We got on the bus before starting a one and a half hour drive to the Zuiderzee (Zoud-er-zee) Museum. The museum was indoor and outdoor with a nice, small, preserved village. The Dutch made the village into a museum as after they reclaimed land, the village was separated from the Zuiderzee, or the South Sea. When the village and others just like it were separated, the Dutch felt that the Zuiderzee culture would be forgotten so they preserved the village in the 1940’s. This reminds me of a small village near my home in a reservation. The village, called the Deserted Village, is also small, preserved, and made into a museum so as not to forget the American settlers culture from hundreds of years ago. At the Zuiderzee museum there were also some activities that we could participate in outside of the village. For example, you could take small little rowboats out onto the Zuiderzee and row around.

It was interesting to see the remnants of an old, small, European fishing village as it is a style that can’t be found anywhere in the US. There were hundreds of boats and we also got to see inside many of the buildings that used to keep the fishing industry running. For example, the extremely tall smoke stacks, the seamster that made sails, the building where boats were taken in for repairs. After walking around and exploring the village, we ate inside one of the restaurants in the village. I had Chocomel which was delicious and also had to try a Tony’s Chocolonely bar which I did not think was that good, Im glad we went to Cacao & Spice. After eating we got back on the bus and left at around 1:45 getting back to the hostel at 3:45.