One of the eye-catching sceneries in the Netherlands is a windmill. Green glass fields with windmills and goats/cows. It could be a Dutch traditional scene we would imagine.
From Amsterdam, we can go to a traditional village called Zaanse Schans; it takes 30 minutes or so by train from Amsterdam Central station. Well, on my Day 4, I decided to visit there.
But it wasn’t only me but also other foreign travelers to do so. Like a part of Kyoto, Zaanse Schans has been well developed for sightseeing purpose: there were souvenir shops, restaurants and attractions. The windmills, some of them were out of operation and we needed to pay an admissions for active ones. Of course, the active windmills were a lure for travelers. My first target was to experience the windmill but the clouded travelers staying in a long queue to admission made me skip the windmill first and re-route to the museum.
Zaandam, the history of Dutch Indusrialization
Zannse museum was not like the one in Amsterdam, where famous artistic masterpieces were exhibited. It was for introducing origin and industrial developments in Zaandam area, starting from flour and other powder foods which were ground in the windmill and then developed to pigments coming from griding rocks. People in the area has had cows and goats as livestock so dairy industry like milk and cheese were also active. Those industries were well industrialized for mass production to catch up with surging demands for foods with good balance between quality and price. Along with the dairy products, Albert Heijin, a Dutch supermarket chain was founded in Zaandam and now we can see many Albert Heijin stores across the nation. Zaandam is a heart for Dutch food industry and Zannse Schanse is a living history for modern industrial revolution in the Netherlands.
Pan Cake Again!
For lunch, I went to a restaurant specializing in Dutch Pan Cake. Reflecting on my mistake on Day 3, I ordered something sweet: a normal Dutch pan cake topped with melted chocolate and whipped cream coming from Zanndam’s traditional/industrialized industry.
Again, I had to embrace my mistake; too huge and sweet to finish. Tasty but heavy: this is my record for my tries for the Dutch pan cake for these two days.
After the lunch, I finally made it to the windmill. Only a small ladder was attached along side the pestle to go up to the blades part; too small but high, so it was a bit scary. Inside the mill, a male staff explained how they make the pigments. I wanted to ask a question but a lady (supposedly an American lady based on her English accent) kept talking to the man and I gave up. What I wanted to ask is if Dutch is famous for arts due to the pigments produced in the traditional windmills? Anyone has an answer?
On my way back to the station, the drawbridge between the station and village was broken so many people got stuck on the bridge. Later, the police came up to us saying the bridge will not be restored for another 4 hours and people getting back to Amsterdam can use bus connections instead. Following the instruction, I went back to the museum to catch the bus.
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