ULOG #3: I Drove 1200 Kms To See The Zaansee Schans Windmills In North Holland

THE ROAD TRIP

These windmills in Zaansee Schans have been in my bucket list for a long time, I had visited the old windmills in Holland but in a different fishermen´s village some 32 years ago. This time, when I decided to really go for it, I compromised myself to make the cross-country by driving the 1,200 Kms. It took us almost 15 hours to reach Holland with lotsof stops in between for some stretchings, lunch, snacks, dinner and walks with Lily (our chihuahua princess) as well as lots of comfort room visits that cost each time 0.70 Euro. Well, the 70 cents was worth it because the toilets were all clean.

Austrian and german highways are very good for cross-country driving, the roads are well planned and constructed. Except for some portion of the routes that are now undergoing road repairs as well as the truck-convoi (hundreds of truckers) on the slow lane, the route is manageable even if you drive in the night.

And because I really want to do this, it didn´t matter to me if I was driving this long. If I would have travelled by plane from Vienna, it would only take me about more than an hour to arrive at Schipol Airport. I would spent the same money for the air ticket if compared to the cost of the 4 diesel full tanks back and fort.

Some of the important and great deals in my driving were seeing the green areas of Bavarian countryside as well as the happy cows, goats and sheep at the border of Germany and The Netherlands. It occurred to me that I have seen the same sceneries when we visited Denmark via Hamburg some ten years back... The animals were on the farmland enjoying the grass and I could tell they were the happy ones not being confined to the barn with limited space and could not even lay on their hays. So I felt happy for those animals. I´m sure they produce good milk and dairies.

TRIP TO THE WINDMILLS

Going there , we took the express bus # 891 at the back of the Central Station and it took us 20 minutes passing the tunnel to reach the Zaanse Schanz. The bus # 391 also goes there but it takes 40 minutes to arrive at the place, I think they are picking passengers along the way. We paid 11.50 Euros for a return ticket below.

ZAANSTREEK BACKGROUND

The Zaanstreek is the region around the Zaan River in North Holland that is composed of three communities : the Zaanstad, Oostzaan and Wormerland. Zaanstad, being the biggest community has around 100K population. Being close to Amsterdam, the Windmills of Zaanse Schanz are one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Netherlands. It´s an open air Museum that is comprised of different houses that offer many workshops like cheese making, making wooden clogs, freshly baked cookies, copper works as well as dairy products offered to the public.

The Zaanse Shanz is actually more catered to the tourists , originally, the windmills came from different parts of the Zaanstreek regions and were transported to the present area between 1961 and 1974 where they rebuilt each original structures. The purpose of putting old windmills and old houses together in one area was to show to the tourists and public the dutch heritage and its culture.

It has been raining when we arrived at the Zaanse Schanz , my husband visited this area long time ago and did not want to go near the windmills because of the rain and Lily... so they stayed at the Museums´s Coffee shop and waited for me til I finish the inspection of each windmill. The rain did not deter me to go since my main purpose was really to see the place. I was just glad that I left Lily because the way to the mills were covered with broken shells and that would have an awful impact on her delicate paws.

I have fulfilled a dream and achieved what I wanted and I am already kind of checking-out my bucket list on what to see or do next.

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