Netherlands. Volendam

  Volendam is a port town in the northern part of the Netherlands, with a population of around 22,000 people. This town is unique as it serves as an international tourist attraction, offering visitors a glimpse into the life of Dutch fishermen from olden times. A fish auction often takes place here, and you can buy fish directly from the boats in the harbor...

   First, we took a walk along the promenade, which is the central part of this wonderful town...

 

 Along the promenade, we noticed a place where we could try the famous Dutch herring. We approached and asked for one of the fish displayed on a plate. The woman selling this delicious fish wrapped one of the chosen fish in finely chopped onions with olive oil and placed it on a paper plate for us...   

  It was quite interesting to eat it whole, holding it by the tail...

  Volendam is located near Lake Markermeer, which, until the construction of the Afsluitdijk dam from 1927 to 1933, was part of the North Sea inlet and then became the newly formed freshwater lake IJsselmeer. When enterprising Dutch people built another dam, the Houtribdijk, from 1963 to 1975, IJsselmeer was divided into two parts, the smaller of which was named Markermeer. Initially, there were plans to drain this body of water to expand the land borders of the Netherlands, but later financial considerations called this project into question. As a result, Volendam remained a port town, washed not by the waters of the North Sea but still by waters...    

   Here is the main monument of the town, located near the pier...

 

  Turning into one of the alleys away from the tourist-packed promenade, we found ourselves in the heart of Volendam. Here, we felt secluded and saw the most interesting parts of the town. The streets impressed us with their coziness and harmony, as all the houses lining the streets were built in the same style and almost did not differ in height. It felt like we were on a movie set and everything around us was fake... 

   

 The canals that dot the town feature very interesting drawbridges... 

 A notable feature is the large number of benches, not only on the city streets but also near almost every house. Apparently, the locals love to sit on their porches in the evenings...

 The decoration of the areas around each house was simply mind-blowing. It seemed that those whose flowers wilted somewhere or whose paint was chipped or who simply didn't follow "feng shui" would be fined. It was hard to believe that each house could be so well-maintained and beautiful without some financial incentive. Either that, or our minds were simply overloaded and needed a reset...

 Here, I decided to show examples of the decoration of three different areas around three different houses. The main focus is on how to beautifully decorate your property with minimal space around the house...      

  It seems there is very little space around the next house, but everything is decorated so cool and cute. The small details attract all the attention, creating such a cozy atmosphere that you just want to move into such apartments right away...

 The diversity of design is also striking, similar only in one thing - it's incredibly cute...

  The peak of our feeling that we were in the cutest town on earth came with the nameplates. Imagine that each family, couple in love, or active bachelor hangs nameplates indicating who the happy owner of a particular brick house is...

  A nameplate of a couple in love...

  And of course, an active bachelor...                         

 After visiting Volendam, we needed some time to recover... Diana even said that this town became her favorite of all we had seen before. Neither Venice nor Paris nor any other trendy romantic places could compete with such a simple yet brilliantly atmospheric place!!!