The Netherlands is famous for tulips, cheese, clogs and . . . ? Why windmills, of course! Windmills and the Netherlands go hand in hand. We expected to step off the train in Amsterdam and immediately see all those iconic Dutch windmills as part of the landscape. Not so! Most of the windmills have come under the threat of urban development and have all but disappeared. Not getting our “windmill fix” while we are in Amsterdam would be like going to Paris and not visiting the Eiffel Tower or visiting New York City without seeing the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building. On Saturday, we set out to bike to Zaanse Schans which has a display of working windmills and is one of the top tourist attractions in the entire country.
Rather than the most direct bike route to Zaanse Schans, which would take us about an hour, we took a far more circuitous route to capture more photo-ops of the lovely Dutch countryside. Whether you are in the countryside or city, just about every corner of this country has detailed bike signage with a fail-safe numbering system.(not for us!) The arrows on the signs were not always clear as to the exact direction; so, we managed to get lost numerous times. Thanks to the kind offers of directional help by the locals, we finally arrived in Zaanse Schans 2 1/2 hours later.
Zaanse Schans is a totally Disneyesque “make-believe” Dutch village that is crowded with tourists. It is truly the ultimate in cheesy tourist sites. Needless to say, we were so disappointed; as, this place got rave reviews on the internet. This staged village is dotted with little green houses. Some houses have craftsmans workshops such as clog and cheese making; other houses are filled with kitschy souvenir shops. Dutch cliches abound here. Tulip motifs proliferate, pedestrians clutch their cones of French fries with mayo (yuk!) and the Asian tourist are ecstatic finding the perfect photo-op inside an oversized wooden shoe. It is an ideal place to bring youngsters, not old ones like us. Our mediocre lunch was also insanely overpriced, too. What did we expect?
Rather than the most direct bike route to Zaanse Schans, which would take us about an hour, we took a far more circuitous route to capture more photo-ops of the lovely Dutch countryside. Whether you are in the countryside or city, just about every corner of this country has detailed bike signage with a fail-safe numbering system.(not for us!) The arrows on the signs were not always clear as to the exact direction; so, we managed to get lost numerous times. Thanks to the kind offers of directional help by the locals, we finally arrived in Zaanse Schans 2 1/2 hours later.
Zaanse Schans is a totally Disneyesque “make-believe” Dutch village that is crowded with tourists. It is truly the ultimate in cheesy tourist sites. Needless to say, we were so disappointed; as, this place got rave reviews on the internet. This staged village is dotted with little green houses. Some houses have craftsmans workshops such as clog and cheese making; other houses are filled with kitschy souvenir shops. Dutch cliches abound here. Tulip motifs proliferate, pedestrians clutch their cones of French fries with mayo (yuk!) and the Asian tourist are ecstatic finding the perfect photo-op inside an oversized wooden shoe. It is an ideal place to bring youngsters, not old ones like us. Our mediocre lunch was also insanely overpriced, too. What did we expect?
There are 8 windmills within the “park” that are lined up along the Zaan River. These windmills have silly names like The Cat, The Spotted Hen, etc. Not all of these windmills started out in Zaanse Schans. Many of them were moved here from other regions within the Netherlands. These 8 windmills are all working mills and perform various functions, including a saw mill, a paint mill and and oil mill. Windmills were an integral part of Dutch life for centuries and were used for industrial purposes such as draining the lowlands of excess water. We read that many years ago there were more than 10,000 windmills dotting the Dutch landscape. Very few remain, and even fewer are operational today; as they have been replaced by those big,ugly wind turbines.
We took another “non-direct” route back to Amsterdam and once again got hopelessly lost several times. By the time we got back into the city, we had ridden our bikes for about 6 hours straight with a half-hour break for lunch. Lesley was exhausated, David was not. I guess he is the “fittest” of the bunch!
On Sunday, we head to Helsinki for a couple of days before visiting Estonia & Lesley’s relatives.
We took another “non-direct” route back to Amsterdam and once again got hopelessly lost several times. By the time we got back into the city, we had ridden our bikes for about 6 hours straight with a half-hour break for lunch. Lesley was exhausated, David was not. I guess he is the “fittest” of the bunch!
On Sunday, we head to Helsinki for a couple of days before visiting Estonia & Lesley’s relatives.
