Edammer

Instead of noisy, hash-laden Amsterdam, we stayed in a Dutch village called Edam, homeland of one of my favorite cheeses (of the same name).  Edam is a quiet, absolutely adorable canal-side town replete with gardens, small shops, lovely architecture  and other characteristics that allegedly represent all things quintessentially Dutch.   Even Tim admitted on several occasions that the town and our accommodations were “delightful.”

Our home for the night:

We got an awesome off-season deal that included a four-star meal with our stay because we came in winter instead of summer.  I love snow, so I found the winter scene in Edam quite enchanting.Our dinner was fantastic – we ate “something like a gazelle, but not a gazelle, and kind of like a deer, but not quite a deer”  (our waiter was quite convinced there was no English equivalent word for our dish) that was possibly the best meat I’ve ever tasted.  Too bad I’ve little to no idea what it was.

The next morning we had a HUGE breakfast with several types of homemade breads,  jams, and yogurts,  meats and cheeses (including Gouda and Edam, of course), and some heavenly hazelnut hot cocoa.

That morning, we were able to tour the entire town in a lazy half-hour stroll.

The innkeeper took this fantastic photo of our family: