Following breakfast in the breakfast bus, we headed to Amsterdam Centraal to catch our bus out to Zaanse Schans. As we got off the bus, we were bombarded by the smell of chocolate and biscuits wafting from the Verkade Paviljoen. Following our noses, we were admonished by the shop keeper for poking our noses in to the chocolate factory without a ticket. Undeterred, we rounded the corner and our breath was taken away by the sight.

This is where they brought most of the country’s remaining windmills in the 1970’s. It was rather stunning: seven working windmills creating oil and paint, sawing wood, and more. The *sound* of the wind in the fabric of the sails was something I will never forget.

The path from the entrance to the windmills was purposely routed through their cheese shop with tons of free samples (poor us!). Cow cheese, goat cheese, cheese with lavendar, cheese with garlic, cheese with vanilla. It was a great way to start our day!

The windmills each charged an entry fee, so we satisfied ourselves by enjoying the sights and sounds of the countryside and the river, reading about the mechanics of each mill as we passed. A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.

Next, we took the train to the town of Edam. I am in love.

Alighting from the bus, we walked down a cobblestone street among sweet little buildings and shops. The shop owners had strung umbrellas above the street which blew jauntily in the wind. We stopped in at a store advertising broodje (which Ray knew as little sandwiches from the Amsterdam Bar in St Paul). The shop was essentially a deli. Ray asked about broodje and the woman behind the counter (true to the way in which our tour guide yesterday described “authentic” shop keepers / wait staff would act) seemed annoyed and pointed out that she only had a few pieces of bread left. We loaded them up with salami and cheese and grabbed two Trappist beers (made by monks) and headed out to eat our lunch on a bench next to a canal. It was so quiet and peaceful and no one spoke English. This was everything I’d been wanting from a trip to the Netherlands.

After mingling with the ducks and birds for a while (or, more accurately, after they got wise to the fact that our sandwiches were gone), we strolled through the streets and over canals, peeking into the windows of these traditional looking homes. Large

picture windows on the street revealed equally large windows at the back overlooking fields of grazing cows or the sea, depending on the side of the street. I met so many smiles as we walked (including folks sitting on their couches as I so tactlessly peered into their houses!)

We made our way past all of these houses to the sea side and sat for ages admiring the limitless sky, the diving mallards, the ducks building nests in the reeds … we even got to see a heron catch a fish!

As the clouds became grayer and heavy with rain, we made our way back to our bus stop, ending our evening in our cute little trailer with meat,
cheese, strawberries and stroopwaffel.

-Jessie

Q & A: Responding to comments so far!

1. Our laundry is holding out just fine (thanks, Kaija!)

2. Our itinerary: London > Edinburgh > Glasgow > Amsterdam > Barcelona > Rome > Budapest > Stockholm

3. We are in Amsterdam for one more day

4. We wish you could be here with us too!