August 8, 2015

Yesterday was a great day;  we got out of town and went on a day trip out to the countryside.  Wow…talk about a beautiful place!  We started the day in Zaans Schans where we visited a windmill that was built in 1607 and is still in use today.  The windmill started out as a water pumping mill, but was converted to an oil processing windmill in the later 1600s.  It is still used today to make peanut oil.  The miller who works in/owns the windmill was there to do a demonstration of how it works.  Really cool…but a LOT of work!  In a year, he can process about 6,000 liters of peanut oil, but a large manufacturing plant today would make that much in 10 minutes!  Luckily, with tourism money coming in, they are able to keep these windmills active and still working.  The town was beautiful and had quite a few different active windmills;  some were still water pumps and others made different grains.

The town itself was very quaint and nice.  We only had a short time to walk around, but I definitely could have spent at least another hour or two walking around the shops and other windmills.  There were tons of sheep along the walkways, which Hayden loved!  He even got to reach through the fence and pet one that was right on the side.  He did learn that sheep are stinky, which he thought was pretty funny.

After Zaans Schans, we got back on the tour bus and went to Volendam where we went to a cheese factory.  It was cool to see the cheese being made and even better to do some taste-testing.  At one point during the demonstration, they asked for a volunteer and Hayden was picked.  He got to be the cheese tester…his favorite job!

After all of the cheese testing, we stopped for lunch at a stand near the pier.  We got the local fish and chips, which were great!  The weather was great, so it was nice to sit outside next to the water and enjoy our lunch.  Of course a meal isn’t complete without dessert, so we found some Dutch Pancakes (tiny, sweet pancakes with butter and powdered sugar) for dessert.  They were really good and I am going to make an attempt to make them when we get home.

After lunch, we took a ferry across the water to the island of Markam, where they make wooden shoes.  The boat ride had great views of the water and the villages.  When we arrived in Markam, we walked through the town for about 30 minutes.  It is exactly what you would think of as a Dutch village…really beautiful!

We went to a wooden shoe factory/store that is still in use today.  The lady showed us how they make the shoes by hand…lots of work!  They have machines that make it easier, but no production lines or anything, they still do them individually.  They had tons of shoes and we all got to try them on.  We had a good time!

We are on our way to Belgium next where we are going to Gent to see a Medieval castle!