Tuesday 15 April 2014

Dutch romance in Zaanse Schans

When you think of Netherlands, clogs and windmills come to one's mind instantly. Not sure whether it's about how rare windmills are these days or the mesmerizing spinning of their sails - there is a great deal of romance in it all, well, at least for me personally.

Dutch clogs in Zaanse Schans
Having visited the wonderful 'clogland' in Marken and spotting a random windmill in the distance on the way back to Amsterdam brought great excitement, so it totally made sense to try and find some place full of windmills. Zaanse Schans, just a little over 20km north of Amsterdam, was the place we were looking for.

at the Amsterdam train station




It was the last day of our visit to Netherlands. I remember it was another beautiful sunny day - just right for exploring outdoors. We dropped our big backpacks at the train station storage services and after a bit of confusion with which platform we need to get the train to Zaanse Schans and a bit of 'angry birds' game while waiting we quickly reached the destination.


the first windmill to spot in Zaanse Schans
The first time you get off the train it looks like a regular residential neighbourhood but once you make it to the first turn with a big old windmill on the side of the street it becomes clear that you're in a very special place of Dutch heritage.

historic windmills in Zaanse Schans (names from left: ''the sheep'', ''the seeker'', ''the black cat'', ''the crowned poelenburg'' and ''the houseman'')
Windmill after windmill was popping up in the distance on the far bank of the river Zaan. Apparently each historic windmill has an interesting name as well. You can take a nice walk to visit them all and get to know what they were and some still are being used for.

''the black cat'' windmill where you can watch the production of flour live
a lovely green walk across the heritage site in Zaanse Schans
kiss goodbye from a cute local farm goat

Zaanse Schans is a perfect destination for a day trip where you can get to know and feel the local history, take great pictures of authentic Dutch buildings or just lie down and relax in the company of sheep and other animals of the farm that is part of the site.

3 comments:

  1. Great memories beautifully written! x

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  2. I love what you've captured about the country with your pictures, Lina!

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    1. oh, thank you Bree! glad you've enjoyed it. great to be connected too ;]

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