Their head-dresses are striking and gay, and the front of their bodices is elaborately embroidered, the prevailing colours being red and pink.

Bright hues are also very popular within doors on this island, perhaps by way of counteracting the external monotony, the Marken walls being washed with yellow and hung with Delft plates, while the furniture and hangings all have a cheerful gaiety.
The island is flat save for the mounds on which its villages are built, each house standing on poles to allow the frequent inundations of the winter free way.

If one has the time and money it is certainly better to visit Marken in a fishing-boat than in the steamer--provided that one can trust oneself to navigators masquerading in such bloomers.
The steamers from Amsterdam pause for a while at Broek and Monnickendam.

Broek-in-Waterland, to give it its full title, is one of the quaintest of Dutch villages.

But unfortunately Broek also has become to some extent a professional "sight".