Amsterdam - Cascadian Abroad

Day 25: Zaanse Schans

February 24, 2016 by Robert Haddan

When I think of Holland, the image of wooden shoes and windmills come to mind. Amsterdam hints at it through its many souvenir stands, but there are places where the idyllic scenery of old Holland still exists.

One such place is Zaanse Schans, a neighborhood in the Amsterdam suburb of Zaandam. A short train ride from Amsterdam Centraal, the river town has worked hard to retain some of 17th century Holland, even as it is surrounded by modernity.

While everyone headed across the bridge to the village created specifically for tourists, we stayed on the near side of the Zaan River and walked through the old neighborhood. Restored homes proudly display their original construction dates from the 1600-1700s. Very few of the buildings had been taken over by commerce as usually happens in these kinds of places. These houses are still homes.

We stopped into a chocolate shop called Chocolaterie de Boom and had a glass of hot chocolate. The city was once home to 15 cocoa mills and, although only two large cocoa mills remain today, the neighborhood still smells like chocolate. It’s literally in the air.

On the opposite side of the river, most of the city’s eight remaining windmills invite visitors to see what life looked like pre-Industrial Revolution. With names like The Cat, The Ox and The Spotted Hen, some of the mills even perform the same function as they did nearly 500 years ago. Het Jong Schaap (The Young Sheep) is an active sawmill that offers tours for just a few euros.

We ended our day at the tourist village, which had mostly closed down for the day. Here visitors can see chocolate being made or watch a craftsman make the aforementioned wooden clogs. But the real charm of Zaanse Schans comes by walking along the river and imagining life in old Holland.

De Bleeke Dood, or The Pale Death is the first mill you come to from the train station, marking the bridge over the Zaan River.

Hot chocolate at Chocolaterie de Boom. Pieces of dark chocolate were placed in the glass with hot milk poured over them. When we were ready, we mixed the chocolate in with a teaspoon. Wonderful!

The Young Sheep, a sawmill, as seen from the opposite side of the Zaan River.

The old homes of Zaanse Schans date back to the 1600s.

From right to left, The Young Sheep (sawmill), The Seeker (oil mill), The Houseman (mustard mill), The Cat (dye mill) and The Crowned Poelenburg (sawmill).

A bike path runs along the east side of the Zaan River, offering a convenient way to view the windmills.

The old houses in the tourist village have mostly been imported from around the area beginning in the 1960s.

More Photo of the Day posts from our January-March 2016 trip to Europe

Day 24: Anne Frank Huis

February 23, 2016 by Robert Haddan

Front door of the Anne Frank Huis in Amsterdam.

Our second day in Amsterdam was also Viktoria’s birthday! The clear, crisp weather from the day before gave way to steady showers. Nothing to do but bundle up and enjoy the day!

We started with a quick walk through the Albert Cuyp Market. Although it was a Thursday morning, the market was much busier than the previous afternoon. Albert Cuyp is a great place to find local specialties like stroopwafle—two thin layers of dough baked on a waffle iron with syrup in between—or gevulde koek, two cookies with almond paste baked in between. It’s the Dutch cultural equivalent of the American chocolate chip cookie.

A short walk away is Amsterdam’s main flower market. From the street, Bloemenmarkt looks like a long row of stalls with a ton of tulip bulbs and other more tourist-targeted products (wooden shoes, marijuana seeds and Venus fly-traps for starters). But the 150-year-old market is actually set on platforms floating on the canal behind the shops and is the only floating flower market in the world

In the afternoon, we visited the Anne Frank Huis. The museum is inside the office building where Frank and her family hid from the Nazis during World War II. While light on information, the effect of walking through the building is powerful. You climb the “leg-breaking stairs” that Anne describes in her journal. You enter the secret annex from behind the same bookcase that covered the opening in the 1940s.

Pro tip: Skip the line and get your Anne Frank Haus tickets online. Only a handful of tickets are made available online for each day, so book several days in advance.

Anne’s father, Otto, was the only member of the family to survive the concentration camps. A secretary who helped the family hide kept Anne’s journals and gave them to Otto when they confirmed Anne’s death at Auschwitz. She had rewritten many parts of her journals before the family was captured, which would become the basis for the international best-seller The Diary of Anne Frank. Her original journals are on display as well as excerpts of the rewritten portions.

We finished the day with a birthday drink at Arendsnest, a craft beer pub near the Jordaan neighborhood. The pub features a large selection of only Dutch beers and a knowledgeable staff who encourages sampling until you find just the right choice.

One of the many houseboats lining the canals in Amsterdam.

The Heineken Brewery makes its home in Amsterdam. The beer itself isn't any better here than it is in the US... — The Heineken Brewery makes its home in Amsterdam. The beer itself isn’t any better here than it is in the US…

The stalls of Bloemenmarkt floating on the canal near the city center. Opened in 1862, it's the world's only floating flower market. — The stalls of Bloemenmarkt floating on the canal near the city center. Opened in 1862, it’s the world’s only floating flower market.

Four portraits of Anne Frank. Photos were prohibited inside the museum. — Four portraits of Anne Frank. Photos were prohibited inside the museum, but we were able to get a few snaps in the exhibition near the exit.

A quote from Anne's journals. The story of the museum was told through short excerpts from her writing. — A quote from Anne’s journals. The story of the museum was told through short excerpts from her writing.

Our beers at Arendsnest, a Zakkendragger Imperial Porter and a Smokey Au Vin sour Belgian ale. Delicious!

More Photo of the Day posts from our January-March 2016 trip to Europe

Day 23: Amsterdam

February 21, 2016 by Robert Haddan

“The Queen ate here,” says Bob of Bob’s Vlaamse Frituur, a french fry stand in Amsterdam’s famous Albert Cuyp Market.

He nodded toward a photo hanging in his booth. We expected to see the instantly-recognizable Queen Elizabeth of England, but this is The Netherlands and they have their own royal family. He proudly recalled the time she visited and we tried to keep our enthusiasm at Queen of England levels.

We arrived in Amsterdam late afternoon and immediately headed for the market, which was only 20 minutes away from closing for the day. Many of the stalls were still open and the market would become a daily starting point for our adventures into the streets of Holland’s capital city.

Amsterdam may be best known for its Red Light District and legalized drug use, but these sordid details make up a very small part of the city. The public areas—parks, plazas and markets—are vast and lively. There’s a charm to the bicycle traffic, which easily outnumbers the automobiles. Dodging the bikes and the trams is an art form all its own.

The architecture is brilliant. The old-world charm hasn’t been lost, even as modern-day life takes place in and around. Cafes dating to the 1600s are still in operation. Many of the narrow brick buildings have sinking foundations, their forward-list apparent next to their tightly-packed neighbors.

We continued to explore the streets, eventually stumbling upon Museumplein. The large park is flanked by the definitive Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum with its collection of Rembrandt and Chagal works. But the most popular draw that night was the frozen-over pond being used as an ice skating rink. Nearby, tourists posed for photos on and around the “Iamsterdam” sign (I am Amsterdam… Get it?).

After the sun went down, we wandered up and down the canals that separate the city’s neighborhoods. Tourist boats were few and far between. Instead, houseboats were anchored along the banks. Small rowboats were tethered nearby. The canels aren’t just part of Amsterdam’s neighborhoods, they are the neighborhoods.