Why I love the Netherlands

I really love this country because it's so tiny. Canada is a beautiful country, but it's just too big; Traveling from east to west is like traveling the entire continent of Europe. Here, the cutest little towns are a half hour bus ride away (and that's considered far), and each is cute as a button and steeped in history.

Marken was an island in the Zuiderzee (South Sea) until 1957 when a causeway linked up with the mainland. This is an authentic town, with painted houses raised on pilings to escape the Zuiderzee floods. Not a museum!

Which is cuter, Anna or Marken?



































We stopped in Monnickendam for a rest during our bike trip to Edam back in September, but I headed back to take a closer look. Monnickendam was founded in 1356 for the Benedictines who built a dam here (monks + dam, get it?)




















Hoorn is a port that was once the capital of West Friesland and a major trading city. Famous explorer Willem Schoutens named South America's Cape Horn after his home town in 1616.