Zaanse Schans, Edam, Zandijk, Spaarndam, Sanpoort, Ijmuiden.
Yes, indeed, I have seen them all now dear friends.
As a part of staff orientation, we had a day (last Thursday to be exact) where we hopped into cars and discovered life outside the Amsterdam world=VERY different from average
Dutch life.
I will give you a short overview of the highlights from the trip:
Edam--easy, the cheese comes from here. Not much else to say about this town other than that it is quaint, beautiful, and peaceful. Shocker=I tried the cheese and did not despise it!
Zandijk/Zaanse Schans--modern area next to traditional area (Zaanse Schans is the traditional area). Saw how the wooden clogs are manufactured. They are still worn by the Dutch today-whoa. Went to a pewter jewelry making shop and bought some really lovely earrrings. Visited a cheese farm that looked more like a small pond and duck farm.
Ijmuiden--visited a castle which was really a mansion and had overpriced tea (3,50 euros!)
Sanpoort--visited the ruins of a castle. It was closed for the day for visitors so we just admired it from afar. Went inside a real, working windmill (grain grinder) and saw how they are run. Quite interesting-I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Spaarndam--the proposed town where Hans Brinker is from-the boy who stuck his finger into the dike to save the town from flooding. Amazingly, the Dutch do not know this story-it is American! ha!
But they accommodate us well by having a statue erected in town of Hans with his hand in the dike...that's very nice of them. thank you, Spaarndam.
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