Alkmaar Cheese Market

Alkmaar's cheese market at the Waagplein is one of the country's most popular tourist attractions.

The cheese market traditionally takes place on the first Friday in April and the last market of the season is the first Friday in September.

Every Friday morning (10.00–12.30 a.m.) the Waagplein is the backdrop for this traditional cheesemarket.

After the old-fashioned way of the hand clap, traders and carriers will weigh the cheeses.

The market itself is really only a demonstration of how

this merchants' market operated in times gone by

The traditional fare of this cheese market are those cheeses made in the local area.

The cheese market demonstration takes place in front of the medieval weighing house.   The building was originally a chapel, built around 1390, and converted to a municipal weigh-house in 1582.

The city is one of the oldest in the Netherlands and is very quaint with narrow streets.  The center of town has only pedestrian traffic.

At Kanisstraat 1, on the corner with Geest, is one of the oldest surviving houses in Alkmaar, restored in the 19th century. (The original settlement of Alkmaar had only wooden houses: brick and stone houses were gradually made compulsory in medieval towns, because of the repeated fires).

Another windmill.

This one is particularly picturesque.

 There are canals everywhere.  The more popular tourist cities have tours on their canals. 

Everybody wave. 

Oh, Oh! everybody duck down, we are going under a bridge.

Alkmaar has many medieval buildings that are still intact, most notably the tall tower of the Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk, where many people from Alkmaar hold their wedding ceremony
Not quite as elegant as others we have seen in Europe, but beautiful nonetheless.  The organ was being played while we were there.

The artwork on the organ was particularly impressive.

We got a little hungry so we stopped at a little sandwich shoppe.  Sister Moore ordered the "fish tower sandwich".  - four layers with crab salad, tuna salad, salmon salad, and smoked salmon, all garnished with tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers. Now that's a sandwich!

Our new instant friends, Elder and Sister DeLeeuw. It is surprising how fast you learn to love and appreciate other couple missionaries.  The two girls are members of the church who live in Alkmaar and gave us the grand tour.

Elder and Sister Everton and another young couple who accompanied us.