Zaanse Schans

We've been meaning to visit Zaanse Schans for a while, so when we finally had a free Saturday when it wasn't raining we were happy to finally get there.  Zaanse Schans, about 45 minutes in the bus North of Amsterdam, is a preserved historic village that is particularly popular for it's functioning windmills.  It is quite beautiful and although it is touristy, it is a different type of touristy compared to the city of Amsterdam.  

We started our visit with a tour through the museum which contains items and displays from the Zaandam region's past- a little bit dry but there were a few interesting things to see, including the reconstruction of the Verkade chocolate and biscuit factory.

The windmills were the main attraction.  There was 6 or 7 big windmills along the edge of the river which were open for tours.  We visited a saw mill called Het Jonge Schaap (the young sheep) and saw it in action, sawing a large tree trunk.

The wooden shoe factory was mostly just a shop, but it had a display of unique clogs, both functional and novelty.

There was also a live demonstration of how they make wooden clogs these days- not by hand as in years gone by, but with these 3D copying machines that can use an existing wooden shoe as a template for a new shoe.

A video of the wooden shoe copying machine

There were different types of windmills including a saw mill, spice mill, a flour mill and an oil mill.  It was a really nice walk along the water past all the windmills.

Just for something a bit different, there was also a preserved Coopery- a barrel making workshop.  It was cool to have a quick look inside and see the kind of professions that were at one time well respected but now quite obsolete.

We had a nice lunch at a little cafe, and wandered around the area visiting some of the other attractions, including the Albert Heijn museum (the first Albert Heijn shop ever built), a cheese factory and a bunch of other touristy shops.  Overall it was a really nice place to visit and is definitely on the list to take visitors to who want to see Dutch things on their holiday.