Zaanse Schans

Around the Town
Across the Water Windmills
Birds
Cheese

Photos of Us
Clogs
Goats
Eddie

Inside a Working Windmill
Pottery
Sheep Grazing
Windmills

We took the 20 minute train ride from Amsterdam to Zaanse Schans. When arriving by train, it is about a 15 minute walk to the area. This is a typical residential area along the river Zaan with green wooden houses and windmills dating from the 17th and 18th century. This area is both a museum and a living and working area preserving the traditional Dutch way of life.

This area is very touristy of course, but is well worth the trip. We spent a half day here walking around and visiting all the shops. This is also a wonderful place to take photos as you will see below. We had a great time here and would definitely return. This would be a nice place to bring friends who want to experience the traditional Dutch life.

Around the Town: Some photos of the small village.

Windmills Across the Water: Photos of the windmills taken from the bridge before crossing to Zaanse Schans.

Birds: An interesting looking bird. We have also seen this bird in Windsor in the Thames river.

Cheese Shop: Ball shaped cheeses are wrapped in wax, red for export and yellow for local consumption.

Photos of Us: We had so many pictures we liked in this area that we could not decide which ones to put on the website, so we put them all.

Clogs: The is the clog shop. Clogs are made by machines one at a time, using a existing pair as a template. One photo shows some old shoes in different styles. There is even a pair of high heel shoes.

Goats: Some goats in the farm area.

Eddie: A photo of Eddie when he was in Holland as a child.

Inside a Working Windmill: This windmill is used to grind chalk. It's the type of chalk that is used to line sports fields. There was also other windmill that was being used to grind peanuts for peanut oil. There were others as well.