Europe 2007 – 6/23/07 – Amsterdam.  Click here for pictures.

            On our third day we woke up much like yesterday.  We waited for our hot croissants, but they never came.  We left with hungry stomachs, but decided to wait for breakfast till we arrived at our first day trip – Zaanse-Schans.

            We left from central station on a bus after a long process of picking our transportation.  The bus ride took about 30 minutes and our stop was the last one on the line.  We exited the bus and walked toward the town.  The first thing we noticed when we started walking was the stench.  The area is very industrious, so we are not exactly sure what was causing the smell (cocoa, paper).  But, it never went away.

            The walk to the town was short, but once we entered we realized we were in a tourist trap. It was very busy with several large chartered buses.  However, the site was beautiful.  There were 5 different windmills lined up along a lake.  The town across the lake was filled with green and white houses (green because the color slows the rotting process in the wood).

            First we bought a pass to see all the various shops.  The museum displayed the historical need for windmills in this area.  Prior to modern-day machinery, the windmills did all the work.  Some made cocoa, others made paints, and still others made oils.  With the invention of the steam engine, the windmills became outdated.

            After the museum, we went to the bakery to see how bread was made many years ago.  It was a very short tour, and no samples were given.

            After the bakery, we walked along the path to each windmill.  We took tons of pictures.  We entered a windmill that was responsible for making paint.  No demonstrations were occurring so we moved on to the next one – a windmill responsible for making oil.  There were 2 millers present and the windmill was working.  They took us through the process of crushing seeds, heating to extract the oil, and pressing the seeds to squeeze out the oil.  It was a very neat process to watch and all of it was done with wind energy.  We stayed awhile and got several pictures.

            As we headed back to the main village, we stopped by the clock museum and the pewter demonstration.  Last we went to the cheese farm and the shoe factory.  We saw demonstrations of how cheese was made and how wooden shoes are made.  We sampled several cheeses and bought some wooden shoes as gifts for families.

            Our last stop before leaving the village was to get some food.  We stopped at a roadside vendor to get hamburgers and fries.  Unfortunately, their version of a hamburger was really veggies and it was fried.  Yuck!

            We walked back to our bus and headed for our next excursion – Muidenslot.  This included riding all the way back to central station and trying to figure out what bus/train to take next.  We were instructed by the GVB office to get a strip card.  However, when we went to use it, we punched it wrong.  So we had to go back to the office and get a correction.  We almost cancelled the whole thing.

            I’m so glad we didn’t.  The ride wasn’t too far – once we figured out which bus to get on (3 different buses were told to us).  It was about a 15 min walk through a sweet little town.  We saw Muiden castle in the distance and it was beautiful.  Even though we were a little late in arriving, we still had time to tour both the castle and gardens.  We walked throughout the castle, up into the towers, around the railings, and into all sorts of neat rooms.  There was no English so we jut figured stuff out on our own.  We even got a picture in a king and queen costume.

            After seeing the inside, we walked all around the perimeter.  We got pictures from every angle.  The landscaping was beautiful and the setting was quite picturesque.  It was sitting at the edge of a harbor so we saw all sorts of neat boats pass by.

            When the castle closed we walked back to the bus stop and headed back to Amsterdam.  We stopped in from of the Rijksmuseum for more pictures and then headed over to Leidersplein for dinner.  We ate outside at a sport’s grill – Shawn had roasted chicken with potatoes.  I had a huge pancake with banana, pineapple, ice cream, and whipped cream.  I’ve been waiting to get a pancake here because they are popular, and this one was delicious.

            After dinner, we walked home to pack and prepare for our flight to Rome.  We stopped by a grocery store in case we needed to tape our bag for the flight.  We went to bed early because tomorrow morning our flight leaves at 7am.