I must admit we were a little let down by this place. There really wasn't anything intriguing about it. Perhaps in tulip season it's more impressive. That being said it was more tourist shop than flower market anyway, with loads of windmill nick-nacks, marijuana paraphernalia, and heaps of clog slippers. Every shop seems to have the same stuff too. 
We then walked up the shopping street of central Amsterdam, Kalverstraat. Kind of felt similar to walking up Pitt street mall to be honest. We headed through Dam square and up Nieuwendijk shopping street to get another ice cream from Banketbakkerij van der Linde. So good this place. Sure, it's 11am but it's never too early for ice cream when it's this good.
We wait at the Victoria Hotel to join a tour to the windmills. It's taking us to Zaanse Shance, which is about 25-30 minutes drive north of the city centre. We take the bus under the river in the tunnel and out into the northern suburbs. It's quite industrial here. Our guide tells us that this area was the first industrialised area of Europe, hence why all the windmills are here. It also had a major part in the Golden Age of the Netherlands. Getting out into the country areas and you start to see the real Netherlands - the "low lands". We pass by large wetland marsh areas, with many canals, dikes and pumping machines. Such an interesting country in the way they have to constantly manage the water level. It's like they're constantly battling it. I guess it defines them as a place and people.
We arrive at Zaanse Schanns and it's quite crowded with tourists. In a small area on the river Zaanse we see about 6 windmills. We're told there's only 16 left from more than 600 original windmills back when the city was thriving. The windmills are another fascinating part of Dutch history and culture for me; an important part of the city's constant fight to regulate the water level, but also a key contributor to the prosperity and development of the city.
We start our visit here by checking out a clog making workshop. A young guy demonstrated how they're made. He starts off with the wet piece of poplar timber as if he's going to start doing it the old 3 hour hand crafted way, but then cheekily locks it in a vice and let's the machines take over. After its initially shaping into a rough block resembling a shoe based on a jig, he uses a template of another clog on another machine to further shape it. He repeats this again but with a different template to create the hollowed out section on a different machine. A quick hand cut of the stump at the front and it's ready for polish once completely dried of its inherent moisture. I was quite impressed at how quickly he produced one clog.
Our next stop was the cheese shop. Really nice cheese too, with lots to sample. Was nicely arranged so you could try them all. Quite like Dutch cheese. Apparently it's really good to cook with. Although you should never cut the cheese in a Dutch oven!
We then head into one of the windmills. The windmills were used for lots of purposes; spices, paints, timber, oil etc.
We checked out the spice mill. Inside was really interesting as you get to correlate the turning of the blades outside with the workings of the wheel over the mill stone below. It was windy too when we were there so it was really working hard.
After wandering the cute and slightly bizarre area some more, checking out the little green houses with their quaint gables and window detailing, we headed back on the bus and into town.
The most interesting part of visiting the windmills for me was seeing the landscape of the country. The windmills themselves are interesting, but at the same time they are kind of like a museum and a relic now, just a tourist attraction. The landscape however is still doing what it did all those years ago. Fascinating to see the low land levels being retained by the dikes. On leaving the Zaanse Shance I saw a large map, a sectional diagram really, that showed the levels of the city in relation to sea level. Crazily, the airport is nearly 5m below sea level.
Arriving back at Damrak we stroll along the harbourfront. We first check out another Amsterdam school building. This one is now the a hotel but it used to be a shipping house, Scheepvarthuis. I'm really enjoying discovering these Amsterdam School buildings. I like how they were intent on creating works that embodied the Gesamtkunstwerk concept.
We then check out the NEMO building by Renzo Piano from afar. It's a boat shaped building on the inner harbour with a huge stepped and trafficable roof terrace.
We head back for a bite to eat and a drink at the hotel lobby bar. I try the Dutch fried snack food of beef and butter balls known as bitterballen. It's ok, nice with the mustard. The Dutch seem to do s lot of this fried small snack stuff.
We have a rest for a while before heading out in the evening back up to Damrak. We take a 1 hour canal cruise around the town for €10. It's a slightly different perspective of both the city and the canals, but to be honest it doesn't allow you to see too much more than what you can see on the street level already. Nonetheless it's a nice boat ride. It is interesting however going under all the bridges. So low. The best part was heading out into the open harbour though. We hadn't as yet explored this part. Was an interesting view back at the town and getting a grasp of the city's relationship with the river.
Arriving back on dry land at 8pm we headed out for dinner. We wandered Centrum for a bit before finding a place on the eat street Nes. In keeping with the international culinary flavour of Amsterdam the place was called Cafe de Paris, but strangely served a lot of pasta and Italian food also. After a nice dinner we headed out for a drink at the nearby bar to watch the euro semi final between France and Germany. Was a good atmosphere, and the craft beers were great but sims wine was dreadful.
Another big day of exploring. It's starting to take its toll. Will we survive the next two days? I hope so.
mat + sim
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