Netherlands
Gemeente Zaanstad

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    • Day 4

      Zaanse Schans

      June 5, 2022 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

      Haben das Museumsdorf Zaanse Schans besucht und alte, originale Windmühlen besichtigt.
      Die Farbstoffmühle - anno 1782, eine Kappenwindenmühle, ist vermutlich die letzte verbliebenen windbetriebene Farbstoffmühle der Welt.
      Die Sägemühle - auch eine Kappenwindmühle - wurde 1942 abgerissen und anhand von Zeichnungen und moderner Computertechnik wieder aufgebaut.
      Ölmühlen gab es ab 1600 und dienten zur Herstellung von Leinöl (für Farben und Lacke), Rapsöl (für Lampenöl und zum Kochen) und Hanföl (als Grundbestandteil von grüner Seife).
      Im 17. und 18. Jhd. erlebte die Region Zaanstreek ihre industrielle Blütezeit und es gab an die 1100 Windmühlen im ersten westeuropäischen Industriegebiet.
      Es gibt ein interaktives Windmühlenmuseum über die Entstehung und die Geschichte der Region und der Windmühlen. Weiters eine Käserei, ein Zeitmuseum, eine Küferei (Fasslbinder) und die Schokoladefabrik im Zaans Museum.
      Sehr interessant und wirklich toll organisiert. Wir haben viel erfahren und viel gesehen. Die Museen sind interaktiv und spannend gestaltet.
      Später haben wir unsere Leipziger Freunde getroffen, die heute in Amsterdam angekommen sind und mit denen wir ab morgen 8 Tage mit einer Motoryacht auf den Kanälen im Norden Hollands unterwegs sein werden.

      P.S. habe mir in Zaanse Schans einen "Friesennerz" gekauft und nachdem es heute so geschüttet hat, habe ich mit dieser Regenjacke einen Stresstest gemacht - Jacke war dicht, Sneakers nicht so....
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    • Day 96

      Another day in Amsterdam!

      June 25, 2022 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

      Miles: 5.1 Steps: 14191
      Flights stairs: 10

      So the weather has definitely not been as bad as forecasted here in Amsterdam. It has hardly rained at all, and actually it’s been beautiful blue sky for the most part.

      We keep seeing all different kinds of restaurants - so different than in the US. Today we saw a fast food place, where the food is kept in little cubbies and you access it yourself. Like a vending machine, but it was warm, and actually not half bad.

      We took a day trip out to the small town of Zaanse Schwans. Just a 20 min train ride out of town. It is a town of historic working windmills and houses that recreated an 18th century Dutch village. They had many demonstrations going on — cheese making, clog building, and we were able to go thru the last working dye windmill in the world. They create dyes for paints and chalks - most notably the chalk used to line futbol fields! It was a really relaxing time walking around the village. And an added plus … the whole town smelled of cooking chocolate, as there was a huge chocolate making factory right next door. Very odd and fun to constantly smell chocolate everywhere.

      After seeing the village we went into to town and saw “Jurassic World”. This is our third movie in Europe, and this theater was even different than the others. It had lamps at each big wonderful seat. Great experience, and pretty good movie. 😃
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    • Day 9

      Amsterdam (Pt 4 - Zaanse Schans)

      July 18, 2023 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

      On our second day in Amsterdam we took a half-day tour to Zaanse Schans, a historical town just outside of Amsterdam. Zaanse Schans has the greatest density of working windmills anywhere in the Netherlands as, when windmill use in industry began declining last century, many were relocated to the area alongside historical houses from across the region. It now houses chalk, timber, pigment, linseed and pepper mills, as well as traditional clog, cheese and chocolate factories. It was extremely interesting and very pretty!Read more

    • Day 4

      Full Day in AMS

      June 10, 2022 in the Netherlands ⋅ 🌬 15 °C

      It’s only 6:30 p.m. and today has been a DAY! We started out by being introduced to our IES staff (the program leading the study abroad) and being introduced to the area around. I have never seen such beautiful architecture and it is so fun how different it is than home! Next we took a tour to Zaanse Schans to see the history behind the windmills in Amsterdam. Here, us late arrivals got to meet the rest of the IES students and met up with a few at a borrel after our tour. Borrels - casual hangouts often involving a few drinks. After this, I made my first grocery trip and am officially stocked up on snacks! Although today was so very fun and eventful, I am so happy to be laying in my bed. 🤩 Bonus - Elena finally received her luggage ❤️Read more

    • Day 28

      Mulini e Utrecht

      August 12, 2023 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

      Oggi lasciamo l’Olanda con i suoi mulini e canali
      Piccola fermata a Utrecht per il pranzo
      A domanil
      Sirù: io ho continuato con le trasgressioni, oggi ho mangiato vietnamita, oramai non mi ferma più nessuno.
      Ah dimenticavo. La Baby oggi ha fatto i capricci perché aveva fame e dove voleva mangiare c’era troppa coda, non capiva gli ingredienti e quindi, immusonita, ha rinunciato e subito dopo, vedendomi mangiare, ha cominciato a brontolare perché non l’avevo aspettata. Io ridevo di gusto a bocca piena 😂
      Canzone del giorno: C. Consoli « mulini a vento »
      My POV (Baby): è mancato il gentleman 😂
      Comunque è vero, ero immusonita 😂😂😂
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    • Day 194

      Amsterdam, Netherlands

      November 18, 2022 in the Netherlands ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

      Goedemorgen vanuit Amsterdam!

      For most our trip, we've been pretty lucky from a weather perspective (unless you consider a heat wave in Italy and Switerland unlucky). Even Scotland was relatively clear skied. In this leg of our trip our luck caught up with us. As you will see from our pictures, Amsterdam was mostly rainy the entire time we were there.

      The name Amsterdam means Dam on the River Amstel (maybe that's common knowledge, but it was news to me). It's extensive canal system has garnered it the nickname the "Venice of the North." This canal system is also a UNESCO heritage site. Founded at the confluence of 3 Rivers, Amsterdam is naturally a swamp (before human intervention). Waking around you can spot a few buildings that are tilted. That tilt is not always from a bad foundation though. Many of the houses built along the canal were originally warehouses. Goods were never stored on the bottom floor for fear of floods. So most had a pulley system to raise goods to the top floor. Leaning the house forward made it easier to raise the goods without taking out a window by accident. However we did see a fair amount of homes tilted every which way which was referred to a bad tilt due to the unstable soil.

      Amsterdam was a beautiful city and one of our favorites.
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    • Day 194

      Windmills in Zaansee Schans, Netherlands

      November 18, 2022 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

      Today Dave and Emily went to Zansee Chans which has a handful of traditional windmills north of the Netherlands.

      First up, the windmills were quite interesting. The windmills were used by the Dutch for many things. First and probably most important, a lot of the northern Netherlands is swampland. See the picture of Holland. Anything in dark and light blue is below sea level. The windmills were used to pump water out of some land to make it workable. The Dutch would build a "polder" around an area of land (basically a dike), then put canals through that area of land. The windmills would control the flow of water inside the dam. In fact you can see the River in one picture is higher than the artificial canals. The canals concentrate the remaining water and draw it away from the land inside the polders. These canals run all over the Wetlands of the Netherlands.

      The mills were also used mill grain or make wooden boards. In fact, the Dutch East India Company was able to rise to its economic power in the 17th and 18th century due to the Dutch ability to mass produce boats faster than all competitors. They were producing 800 boats a year.

      Last fun fact, the top of the windmills can actually pivot to face the wind. One picture of the back of the windmill, should show how the head is on a cog attached to the wide base.
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    • Day 8

      8.Tag Zaanse Schans 1

      September 23, 2023 in the Netherlands ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

      Auf dem Weg zum nächsten Stellplatz haben wir beim Freiluftmuseum Zaanse Schans gehalten.
      Ungefähr 1.900.000 Besucher besichtigen jährlich dieses Freiluftmuseum, das mit dem Gedanken errichtet wurde, das historische Erbe dieses ältesten Industriegebiets der Niederlande zu zeigen. Viele Häuser des Ortsteils sind bewohnt, so dass nicht nur Touristen auf dem Gelände anzutreffem sind.Zwischen 1961 und 1974 wurden viele alte Gebäude aus der Zaanstreek zur Zaanse Schans transportiert, wieder aufgebaut und in ihren ursprünglichen Zustand versetzt. Die am Ort bestehenden Windmühlen wurden restauriert, weitere aus der Zaanstreek dazugestellt. Es gibt eine unter Denkmalschutz gestellte Farbmühle " De Kat " Die Mühle ist auch heute noch jeden Sommer in Betrieb.

      Es gibt viel zu besichtigen , aber viel zu teuer.Parken 15€, Museum 30€ p.P .Das gilt nur für das Museum.Mühlen und Häuser würden noch extra kosten. Wir sind nur spazieren gegangen..War kostenlos 😁
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    • Day 5

      Windmills, windmills, windmills

      April 10, 2022 in the Netherlands ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

      Goedemorgen family and friends, another day, another adventure! It is Sunday and we take a little slower and don’t leave the hotel until 10! It is beautiful out, not to much wind, sunshine blue skies and still a little cool.
      So a tram ride to Central station and then with tickets in hand to hop on a bus for Zaanse Schans! The bus is full as others have the same idea! A half hour ride and we see windmills!
      There are 20 in the area (there used to be 1000 in the Zaan district). Windmills all do a specific job. Some saw wood, others milled oilseed, others made paint. It goes on from there.
      This area reminds me of Heritage park with its quaint shops and old world feel.
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    • Day 8

      First Week Mastered!

      May 9, 2023 in the Netherlands ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

      With more than 1200 miles and more than 1000 photos on the SD card, we mastered the first week of the EV PHOTO TOUR 2023!
      My charging experience summary so far:

      🔌ITALY - SWITZERLAND:
      enough fast chargers along the motorway to easily and relaxed drive through the countries, but especially in Italy it could be still improved.

      🔌🔌GERMANY:
      Along the motorway ok, on the countryside still room for improvement, especially in the reliability of the charging stations.
      They have very strict rules how long one can charge, sometimes a bit too strict (2 hours at a 11kW station for example in MONSCHAU might not be enough).

      🔌🔌🔌 NETHERLANDS:
      Big bravo and a deep curtsey how the Dutch implemented EVs into their everyday life without any drama, discussions or riots against it. Even the coaches and busses are running on e-juice. And you basically find everywhere a charging station, never more than 10 minutes walk (rather less) from where you want to go, be it countryside, be it city.

      👎 BIGGEST LOSER: COCHEM in GERMANY 👎
      Sorry council COCHEM, you are a big loser.
      You have 10 charging stations, very convenient close to the historic center, at the train station. But only 2 are working!
      And to make it even worse - 6 out of the 8 out of order stations are marked as working and even the hotline does not know about the problem (which exists already more than 3 months as locals told me). Desperate EV drivers trying to charge and getting aggressive and annoyed is a common sight in Cochem and that should not be the case. Big 👎 👎 👎 👎 👎
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Gemeente Zaanstad, Zaanstad

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