Day 8: Mon 1 Oct - Amsterdam

Jane, Sylvain and I went on a bus and ferry tour of Amsterdam which incorporated the Windmills, Marken and Volendam. As Greg had been to Amsterdam before, he was not interested in this tour. We hopped on a bus near our favourite McDonalds and our first stop was the Windmills of the Zaanse Schans (Zaans Museum). The weather was not very kind to us, and it drizzled all day. However, we didn’t let that stop us. We were able to view the inside workings of one of the windmills, all of which are still active mills. The mills were all built sometime after 1574. We wandered the surrounding countryside which was very lush with plenty of sheep.

After a short walk it was back on the bus to Volendam (well known for its old fishing boats and the traditional clothing still worn by some residents) where we had an early but much wanted lunch in a lovely café/restaurant. After lunch we boarded a ferry for a ride across the Gouwzee to Marken.  This fairly large body of water is relatively shallow and frequently freezes over in the winter. 

We did a walking tour of Marken which is known for its wooden buildings. At the end of the walk we visited a cheese and clog making factory. The cheese was yummy and the way in which the clogs are made is very interesting. It was then back on the bus for the ride back to Amsterdam and we got back about 1400h.

As we were booked on the 1500h canal cruise it was not worth going back to the hotel. So we hung around the canal departure area and had a coffee. It was then time to take in the 100 highlights of Amsterdam on the canal cruise. As it was raining, it was not very exciting, but we did get to see some things, such as the 7 arches (of which only 5 are showing in the picture), the wonky houses, real ‘houseboats’ and canal cruise liners.

Dinner was had at the Turkish/Italian place just around the corner from the hotel.


Windmills of the Zaanse Schans



Traditional Dutch houses




Volendam

Cheese maker

Clogs before

Clogs after

Typical Marken backyard


Canal cruise ship

A 'houseboat'

7 Arches

Wonky buildings




















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