Monday – September 13th
Yes, it rained last night, but the weather was clearing quickly in the morning. After another good breakfast at the Hampshire Hotel, we checked out and put our luggage in the car. We wanted to walk into Delft to pick up some last minute souvenirs to take home tomorrow. Workers were clearing the bleachers from the Markt square, but otherwise the town was very quiet. One of the shop owners told us that they would be setting up later for a carnival for next weekend.
We walked back to the car, said our good-byes to Delft and drove out of town. Our next destination was the Zaanse Schans, about 20 minutes north of Amsterdam. This is a living history museum showing how the Dutch people lived and worked in the past.
One of the written guides had said that it was very commercial, which it was, but still worth visiting. There was a modern museum building which we did not visit, and a long path which went between a dyke and the sheep field. Along the path were a line of windmills which were open to the public. The windmills and other small buildings had been moved to Zaanse Schans and re-assembled to create the museum.
Each of the windmills demonstrated a different trade and use for the mill. tourists could visit each mill to see them making oil from a variety of seeds, or grinding grains for flour, or making a coarse-grain mustard. One of the mills demonstrated how a post-mill saws wood, and another mill showed how to grind raw materials such as tropical woods into pigments for paints. Entrance to the grounds was free with a seven Euro charge for the car. Each mill charged three Euros per person to watch the gears do their work.
The windmills were made of different materials and were different. Most had their sails unfurled and were actually working. Jeff and I walked the distance of the path and took lots of “windmill photos”, as the sun flirted with the clouds. Many of the buildings seemed to be closed, but the Cheese Shop was open and we visited for a whiff….
Besides the meadow of grazing sheep, there was a pen for goats. There was a restaurant on the site and a snack bar for tourists. All in all, Zaanse Schans was a pleasant place to visit. There was a lot to see and it was a good place to take photographs. I think my granddaughters would enjoy visiting and learning about the early life of the Dutch.
Later in the afternoon, we drove to the Marriott Courtyard outside Schiphol Airport where we had a reservation for our last night in the Netherlands. Our plan was to be near the airport so we would not have any traffic hassles and arrive at the airport in plenty of time for our 10:20 AM flight on Tuesday. The Marriott was outrageously priced because there was a hugh conference in Amsterdam and all the hotels were fully booked. You could walk to the airport from the Hilton or the Sheraton, and they were cheaper, so these would have been our first choices. It pays to make reservations as early as possible to get better rates. Oh well, live and learn…… :-)
