Zaanse Schans

We spent our third day in Europe by taking a day trip out of Amsterdam to the nearby village of Zaanse Schans - a popular tourist destination known for its working windmills, cheese farm, and clog factory. We went down to the train station to catch the bus, stopping at a local grocery store to pick up some fruit for breakfast. Arriving at the train station, we first picked up our train tickets for the ride to Paris tomorrow before catching the bus to Zaanse Schans. The exact location of the bus stop proved a bit tricky to find, but eventually we found our way. 5 Euro and a short 40 minute ride through the suburbs of Amsterdam later, we arrived at our destination.

Our first stop at Zaanse Schans was a cheese shop/farm. The dutch are known for their cheese and this little shop proved why. The shop had nearly a dozen different types of cheese to sample, all of them delicious. Em and I decided to buy a little bit of a herb cheese to keep in our hotel mini-bar for a snack. The picture to the left shows the room where they churn the cheese.

After the cheese shop, we walked down the road some more to take our first tour of a windmill. This windmill is still used today to grind pigments that create paint. The windmill had a ladder that allowed you to climb to the top and get a view of all of its inner workings. I was struck by how quickly the sails (if that's the right word?) of the mill turned and by the large size of the gears and grinding stone.

Gears of the Windmill

Leaving the windmill, we walked further down the road and eventually took a short boat ride across the river Zaanse so we could see the other part of the village. This place had the look and feel off an old city, with many of the houses built over 200 years ago. Given that it was a Sunday, none of the local pubs were open and there wasnt much going on. However, it was here that we spotted the first dutch Vistaprint customer of our journey. They were sporting a Vistaprint lawn sign in their window.

Having worked up an appetite, we headed towards the local restaurant. A tourist trap that served traditional dutch pancakes, another famous dish of Holland. These pancakes aren't like the ones in the states. They are thinner and more like crepes. They are served with a variety of toppings. I opted for a heart stopping ham and cheese. Em for apples and cinnamon. Both were delicious, but I particularly liked the cheese that smothered my pancake.

Our next stop was a clog "factory". This shop had a man demonstrating making a clog, using more modern day tools. It also had a bunch of old clogs on display. And of course, it had LOTS of clogs for sale. Em and I tried some clogs on and made this cutesy little video.

Content with enough clog related information to last a life time, we jumped back in the bus and headed back to Amsterdam.

After recharging at the hotel for an hour or two, we headed out for the Anne Frank House. The Anne Frank House is the house where Anne Frank and her family hid in the attic from the Nazi's for several years before being betrayed and captured. The house has been restored to how it would have been in the days during the war and is now a very good museum. The museum was interesting, but of course also very somber. They had on display Anne Frank's actual diary along with other personal effects of the family.

Next up was dinner, we walked around for awhile before finding a Thai restaurant that looked good. We particularly liked their spring rolls. The last stop of the evening was an Irish themed bar that was showing the Celtics game. Again, being that it was Sunday night, Amsterdam was quite a bit sleepier than it was the last two nights. We had a few Heineken's and then called it a night.