Zaanse Schans

The #1 iconic Holland village. The guide said it is home to 75 people, but they all must work in this tiny Disneyland.

There were examples of windmills, Dutch wooden shoe making, and cheese shops, all with demonstrations and all with gift shops.

My 6 person tour group arrived early, thankfully, and for a few brief minutes we had the place to ourselves. After that, huge tour buses came in and it was wall to wall people.

The windmills here turn, not to pull water, but for practical and economic reasons. One crushes natural herbs and minerals for very high end painting pigments, another crushes spices and a third just spins for the enjoyment of the tourists.

This is where I learned that in Holland, windmills are for drawing water out of the land, they basically keep the area dry. Almost 10 months of the year the wind is strong enough to keep the whole country afloat and “in-flooded”. Luckily the other non windy months are also the driest months of summer.

~ travels with PamLäs mer