The first part of our ride took us to the statue of the boy who saved Holland by putting his finger into the dike. The dedication reads: "Dedicated to our youth to honor the boy who symbolizes the perpetual struggle of Holland against the water". We saw another couple of cycling tours here as well as other tourists.

 

After lunch in an outdoor restaurant in Zaandijk alongside the Zaen River. Afterwards, we visited Zaanse Schans, a working community that dates back to the 18th and 19th centuries. It’s packed with wooden windmills, barns, houses and museums and built in the typically Dutch wooden architectural style, relocated here piece by piece since 1961. It is a popular tourist destination. We encountered several bicycle groups as well as large busloads of visitors.

 

We continued our ride into Amsterdam stopping several times to make sure we were on route. We finished our route by taking a ferry to the main train station and riding about 100 meters to the Merlijn. It was the beginning of King's Day and the party had started. Orange was everywhere and the beer was starting to flow. We had a fairly sedate final dinner on board and said our thanks and good-byes to our new friends and to the crew of the Merlijn.