"Marken, touristic isle in the Dutch Southern sea" Marken by lvdpiet

Marken is a former island in the former Souther Sea of the Netherlands. These days the Sea became a lake in the late twenties of the last century and the island is connected to the land by a dyke.

The island is located before the coast of Volendam, another touristic fishermans harbour in the province of North-Holland. It is all in the tradition of tulips, wooden shoes and windmills that made Holland famous for tourists. We, however, like to think that this image is false. These days we are a country of services, distribution and high tech innovations and industries, where shareholders value rules!

Still, it is charming, this remains of a past culture. A nice little harbour on a scale you won't find in the real sea harbours anymore. Clothing tradition, old craftmanship and wooden houses, built in a way is is not done anymore in Holland for over a hundred years. So whenever you are here, go there and look what Holland once looked like some hundred or more years ago!

• Pros:unique, nicely small scaled
• Cons:exploited, touristic
• In a nutshell:nice for a short visit