close to amsterdam there is a peninsula called marken. now it is connected to the rest of north holland by a dyke, but it used to be an island in the zuiderzee (southern sea). a dam was built in the 30's to stop devastating floods as well as reclaim farmland and the zuiderzee became a lake called the markermeer. still with me?
when i visited marken last week i was bewitched. spellbound by this quiet village surrounded by water. i resisted the urge to walk straight into the pasture and start talking in my cat voice to the sheep.
barely.
i found a tiny museum in a house and watched a short historic film about marken and her inhabitants. physical anthropologists and folklorists were fascinated by how solid were the traditions and customs of this island and her people. its natural isolation maintaining a perfect relic of a former time. so around the turn of the century they came to study and learn and be amazed.
the museum was quaint. i was touched by the pride and beauty on display. best of all i had the place entirely to myself except for the 2 women ticket-takers speaking rapid-fire dutch back and forth to each other. i could see how pleased they were with my keen interest in their small museum. when i left they directed me to the harbor, but not before first telling me the word for harbor in dutch – haven. i copied it into my notebook, tucked my beautiful postcards into my bag and away i went.
i ate lunch there at the haven and thought about all i had seen.
this is a living breathing village. i felt privileged to get to see it, but also a little sad. which is how i always feel when i find a beautiful hideaway that has the potential to be swallowed and eaten by tourism. i haven't figured out a way to reconcile seeing treasured places like marken and knowing that my very presence could help to destroy it. i felt torn about taking pictures. it seemed intrusive, but of course i did it anyway because in the moment (and now) my desire to share what i had seen overrode my desire to safeguard its specialness. i'm still thinking about all of this.
maybe it's the same way all of those ethnographers and anthropologists felt a hundred or more years ago when they "discovered" marken.
i recommend walking all around the entire village rather than heading straight for the harbor. you might even get lucky and stumble upon the old cemetary like i did. the caretaker pulled up on his bike and unlocked the gate just as i was walking past. naturally i doubled-back andi followed after him up a small rise. it's well hidden. that's all i'm saying. if you get there i'll let you discover it for yourself. if you're really lucky you might also find the tiny shop where i bought my tablecloth and a little gift for my sister. it had gorgeous textiles and bolts of thick dutch fabric that looked to me exactly like the kind of material i saw in some of the old clothes in the museum.
and of course there are the vintage scarves to discover. i like this one with all of the dutch provinces.
for such a tiny country the netherlands is a land of cultural riches. i'm already anticipating a return trip sometime soon (this time with my sister!) to suss out more small villages via their excellent public transportation network of busses and trains. oy. the possibilities are dizzying.
more travel journal photos coming up tomorrow.
So many thoughts… love all the charm, the big fellow on the table, all the nooks and grannies, and those shoes. Sure hope i find a girl who wants to honeymoon in Marken.
Another wonderful adventure. Thanks so much for sharing!
Just wonderful – I promise to tip toe around very lightly when I go visit these magical places – and I won’t tell anybody except for the cats that MAM sent me. Ok, I might let the sheep in on it too. They look like sturdy souls. Loving your Netherlands coverage, girl reporter.
I would have grabbed that amazing cat and ran away cackling, “HAHAHAHAH IT’S MINE! IT’S MINE!! !!!! HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”
Ah, the nagging questions, but at least you are wide awake enough to ask them, Ms. MAM. Think of it this way: you’re travelling for us – your faithful followers – we applaud you, live vicariously through you and perhaps even are a tad envious – perhaps that helps balance the “footprint” scale. Most of all, we’re all grateful – so you carry on, girl. Just simply carry on.
Mary Ann, you have really captured the essence of the places you visited. I think all of us would like to somehow bring back some of what we see in our travels but most of the time the best we can do is with a few mementoes and fairly mundane photographs. How wonderful it is that you have developed your photography skills so that you bring back a little piece of the places you visit! Your pictures are not just ordinary, run of the mill photographs but instead showcase the details that captured your fancy. The Dutch Shoes on the wall with the flowers planted in them come to mind. The fence with the painted tops is another example. Lace curtains hanging in the window. The sleeping kitty could be anywhere but what a happy thing that you came along and took notice of what could have been overlooked.
Anyone can take good photographs. Not everyone can capture the mix of details that make the places you go so special and worthy of a photo. You will treasure them for years to come. Good job!
Can’t help but echo what others have said about your concern that you’ll intrude or spoil the places you visit. Just your presence has that potential. I think you go with that in mind and act as a steward of what you’ve been privileged to see and experience. Some of those communities need your presence. They need your business in order to thrive. I think you just should continue to go, ever mindful that if you are careless or ignorant of your impact, you can harm these special places. With that caveat, I think you’ll do fine and leave only footprints…. 🙂
A quick comment to let you know I absolutely adore the cat on the table.
I adore you for caring so much about the places you visit, leaving a gentle foot print, a mere but pleasant shadow and done so with so much respect and care, I so agree with you but also entranced and delighted for you to share your photos and adventures here, I for one would visit in a heartbeat if I could but knowing that chances are very slim I’ll get to go, having such a sweet traveling ‘steward’ to discover such lovely places and to share them is something I am ever grateful for. If we all traveled with that kind of gentleness and kindness tourism would take on a different face I think, it’s such a balancing act between places needing tourism for their survival, but also wanting to preserve a sense of privacy. It’s not just a place on a map, it’s ‘home’ to it’s inhabitants. I know I could call such a place home.
It is all so complicated, Do we want things to stay the same for ourselves or for those who live there? Can we visit and still leave only footprints (and money)? When I lived in a resort area we were glad when the high season people came and glad when they left. They made life more difficult but we needed their money. Special events were planned for them that we could also enjoy, but it was nice when things calmed back down and there wasn’t a crowd or lots of traffic. Thank you for the lovely pictures so that even if things change we have seen how they are now. I would love to visit that part of the world and would hope to do it as sensitively as you did.
Two thoughts ~ One, I feel the same as you about tourists/travelers discovering previously undiscovered places and suddenly changing things irreparably (altho please don’t construe that I am in any way dissing you). That’s one of the things I highly dislike about Sunset magazine, VIA, maybe even NatGeo — they promote visiting and subsequently ruining places that should be left alone, imho.
Two, I am so struck by the general livability of the places you travel to, in the case of NL, Marken as well as other towns. But also Italy, Norway, et al. What I’m alluding to is the fact that so much of our own country is unsuitable for actual livability, because our political/cultural climate simply doesn’t take livability into account. So your travels and your tales of same are definitely balm to the senses.
Just wonderful! I woulda hopped the fence with you into the sheep pasture. Totally.
love, love, love! so charming, both the photos and sketches. bliss.
Having my coffee with my I-pad this Sunday morning and enjoying so much visiting Marken. A place I had never heard of. I understand more each time I read about your travels why your journeys are like breathing fresh air for you. For those of us a bit more reluctant to explore the world I thank you so much for sharing your air. xoxoxo the photos!
I love love love seeing your photo tours! Since I don’t think we could ever convince you to lead tours…me thinks you should write travel guides ala “What would Maryann do in xxx?”. I love how you tour the little off the beaten paths places and explore…find crafty place. I am fairly certain these would be wildly popular and if it was part of your business you could write off these trips as a business expense:) I had never thought of going to the Netherlands…but now I want to! Oh and if you do this… and need someone to carry your bags help sample that food. I am all in!
Love the little green building with the white bench and flower baskets.
Love the painted tops of the fence pickets.
Love the planted wooden shoes.
Loved the dozing kitty.
Loved this vicarious field trip. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Wow. This place looks like my kind of place. Even more than Amsterdam. I am really impressed and you are convincing me more and more to move the Netherlands to the top of my travel list.
I LOVE your artistic way of photographing this beautiful area. Thank you so much you inserted so much joy into my day.
Enchanting.
Your photos ( and their words) have such a reverence for their subjects. Since the beginning of your blog. Now however, you’ve enriched them with a keen (should I say, highly developed -hee hee) photographer’s eye. I think your photographs and sketching complement each other so well and add to that continued development. This series has been especially exquisite. Thank you for sharing these. I know what you mean about concern for the sweet places being spoiled.
Your blog posts have been incredible. I’ve had this fantasy trip to England in my mind for Spring 2015 in the countryside, but now I think I need to go here. In fact, I think I need to retire her. Just me and the mister, some paints, a couple of journals, the pups, and of course, some clogs.
Enchanting.
You are my Traveling Soul Sister.