Amsterdam/Sri Lanka Adventure Day 3

 Day 3: Biking to Windmills

We woke up to sun! This was a good thing because we had a 5 hour bike tour scheduled in the late morning. After a great breakfast - our hotel has a terrific one - we hopped the tram back to Centraal Station. We then made our way to the bike shop for the tour. We were issued nice electric bikes and then had to navigate through the busy streets of Amsterdam to get to the ferry. Our tour guide was Joanna and she is originally from Romania but grew up in the United States. She is a professional cellist but does touring to pay the bills. 

The ferry ride was only a few minutes and took us across the harbor to North (Noord) Amsterdam. Then we simply hopped on a bike path that took us into the countryside. This is actually a protected area where there are horses, cows, goats, and sheep but no farming. We went through a cute town called Landsmeer. Just outside of the town was our first windmill stop. The Twiskemolen windmill is still a working polder windmill built in the 1500’s to manage the water. It is also home to Dutch country goats who eat the woody vegetation keeping  the mill biotope free of tree wild shoots which then ensures the mill will catch enough wind. There are only about 1,000 windmills left in the Netherlands with only around 8 in Amsterdam. Modern windmills have taken over as well as the advance in industry. 

I think we biked about 13 miles to get to Zaanse Schans…with only one mishap. Dutch people do not wear bike helmets but we opted to wear one. In my case it was to protect myself from myself and I was right. At one point on our journey, our guide took us beside a line of cars stopped at a stoplight. I was nervous that I was going to scrape the side of a car, hit the curb and before I knew it I was tumbling (the consensus was 2 somersaults) down the hill. I wasn’t hurt because the grass and flowers were very soft. And I’m sure it was entertaining for all involved! A bonus was that my bike was then adorned by a flower that became attached during the fracas!

Zaanse Schans was a zoo…a people zoo! There were tour buses parked all over the place and swarms of tourists. It was picturesque with the windmills moved there for preservation. Also there was a wooden shoe shop where we learned how wooden shoes are made. Originally they were popular to wear if you were farming in wet weather or working with livestock to protect your feet from errant hooves. A few people still wear them. Don was adamant that we buy a pair as a souvenir so I bought them in my size just in case I have an occasion to wear them…

There was a cheese shop to show how cheese is made but the gift shop was a madhouse. We could also have gone into a windmill for 6 euros but after barely surviving the cheese shop, we declined. 

The bike ride back to the ferry took us through the town of Zaandam. Most of the houses are painted different shades of green because this is a plan to make a larger part of the inner city look green. A house that is not green in the Blue House which was the subject of Monet’s favorite painting. 

We eventually found our way back to the ferry which returned us to Amsterdam. The streets were now really packed with people and it was by sheer luck that I didn’t take any out on my way back to the shop. 

A superb day with the weather cooperating! Now time for a beer!

Waiting for the ferry 

Short ferry ride

Beautiful countryside

Cows who speak Dutch 

Today is Remembrance day where all those who perished in WWII are remembered. This is also a site where a British bomber crashed during the war.

Twiskemolen windmill

My bike flower which attached itself during the incident

Zaanse Shans

Our tour guide, Joanna

The Blue House once occupied and painted by 

Instead of marks in the doorway, Some Dutch families keep track of their children’s growth by displaying their wooden shoes.

The town of Zaandam

We had to stop at a draw bridge and wait for a boat to pass under

Time for a beer at Brouwerij DePrael

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