Find your raincoats folks, this was a damp one. Today, we were headed to Zaanse Schans, a historic village, to learn all about clogs; cheese; and, of course; windmills. We started by catching the tram to the central station where we were going to get on a bus. The group got a little separated, but I was one of the lucky ones that was able to get on the first tram.
Yet again, I am in loveeee with the public transportation. We cut it very close with the train and had to do a little sprint but that’s the fun of it. The train was incredibly easy to use and very clean. I would highly recommend and would love to take it again.
After a lovely scenic walk through the Zaandam area and over a drawbridge, we arrived at Zaanse Schans. There was a very consistent drizzle throughout this entire day but this is some of my favorite type of weather so I really enjoyed the ambiance. I also got plenty of more Dutch bird encounters. This area reminded me a lot of different historic villages from back home. (Hale Farm iykyk). It was interesting to hear how tourism was very important to this area so I pestered our tour guide for the day, Felipe, on tourism in the Netherlands. I was trying to compare with other countries where tourism is an incredibly important part of their economy so I had a lovely conversation about the Netherland’s diverse economy. So tourism is not very crucial to the country’s overall economy and, in fact, Amsterdam actually loses money by trying to accommodate for all of the tourists. Naturally, though, dairy and cattle are very important exports and the economy is filled with tons of different types of businesses.
We watched a presentation on how clogs were made and I loved to see how they carved the clogs out of wood. The machine would follow the shape of an existing clog and then would cut out the same shape of a new piece of wood. My mech-e brain was immediately excited to this. I also did not realize that clogs are supposed to be oversize and are actually waterproof!
Then we headed over to the cheese. We also got a presentation on how they make their Dutch cheese and got to try and buy all of the different types. Typically, I am not one for cheese but they were very good.
Next, we went to a windmill. Yet again, seeing the physical system inside of the windmill was so fascinating because I have never looked at how windmills function, let along how they get applied to sawing wood. I also found an adorable sheep keychain that I later came back for as a little souvenir.
By this time, I was beyond damp and was approaching a more soaked state. Perfect timing to go inside and grab something to eat. We went to the pancake restaurant and, of course, got pancakes. They were just what I needed to keep going.
Overall, today was a great day of sightseeing and I’m ready to grab something delicious for dinner and get some rest. I am in much need for a goodnight of sleep especially for our early morning tomorrow. Until next time <3.
