Today we took the train to Zaandijk, a historic village in the Dutch countryside. It was an abrupt contrast going from the bustling city of Amsterdam to the quiet and quaint town. We were immersed in the picturesque views of beautiful rolling hills, dairy farms, and the highlight of the show, classically historic Dutch windmills. Our tour guide, Enno, explained the significance of windmills in Dutch industrial history, from milling paper to grinding imported spices. They also have played a vital role in water management landscape engineering and have allowed the Dutch to allocate land for dairy farms. Additionally, they were a factor in the Netherlands’ rise to naval domination as they were able to build powerful ships at a much faster rate than other countries.
Afterwards, we were able to watch a traditional Dutch wooden clog making demonstration. We got to learn about how the classic wooden clog came to be a staple of Dutch culture by its prevalence in farming villages. We also visited Henri Willig cheese shop and were able to sample over 15 different types of dutch cheese. In the Netherlands, dairy farming is so widespread that cheese is as common as a dietary staple as meat or bread. In fact, there is such an abundance of dairy farming that in many convenience stores, milk is commonly less expensive than water.
In our free time between activities, a group of us visited the Rijksmuseum. This was a must see for us as the Rijksmuseum is The Netherlands national museum and one of the most famous art collections in the world. The museum is especially famous for its Dutch Golden Age paintings. I really enjoyed seeing these paintings which were an interesting narrative of Dutch history and culture. They depicted trade, expire, naval power and other innovations of the Golden Age. My favorite part of visiting the museum was seeing Nightwatch by Rembrandt, which was in the middle of the restoration process. I would definitely like to come back to the museum with more time. In the afternoon, we visited the Anne Frank House. As someone who has always been interested in WWII history this was a cultural experience I was really looking forward to. It ended up being a meaningful experience, and an opportunity to face the consequences of anti-semitism and intolerance and reflect on the value of human rights.
