Zaanse Schans

We went to Zaanse Schans  about 40 minutes outside of Amsterdam.  It was named after the site of a fortification or entrenchment, built here in 1574.  Most of the period houses, buildings and windmills were re-located here piece by piece during 1961.  The houses are lived in and a variety of traditional Dutch crafts and trades are on display in old workshops, barns and warehouses.

The cheese maker

The baker

The chocolate maker (molds)

Funky chocolate made to look like rusted tools

and the pretty chocolate

and of course the wooden shoe maker.  It now takes about 5 minutes to make the initial shoe on new equipment (75 years old).  In the old days it would take a shoe maker about 3-4 hours to make a pair of shoes by hand.  They start with a chunk of Canadian Poplar grown in the Netherlands

Cut out the shoe shape and then bore out the foot bed of the shoe, a little paint

The wood is wet and he actually blew water out of it.  The shoes are then air dried and sealed with paint, etc.  He says they keep your feet both dry and warm in all weather

and walla you have the shoes

Sunday best and Wedding

Work in the peat bogs and on the ice

entertainment

Ready for replacement

but of course you must check for fit ( they should be loose and worn with heavy socks)

and the piece de resistance (for the princess in you)

This ancient peat district was named after the river Zaan.  Owing to the masive concentration of windmills in the 17th century this region became one of the foremost industrial areas in the world.  The people who lived along the river Zaan, built their first windmills in 1600.  Initially they used wind to keep their feet dry, but later on they used it to develop an entire industrial area.  Barley, rice, paper, wood, cooking oil, mustard, tobacco, hemp and many other products were processed in 1000 windmills in the Zaan area.  From 1850 on the work of the windmills was taken over by soot-spewing steam engines.  Only 13 windmills survived, as monuments of industry and technology.  They are fully functioning and they operate regularly.  

It is the wind that makes the windmills work (or not work as the case may be).  But they cannot work.  without the miller, who turns the sails, mounted on the 15-ton cap, into the face of the wind.  He also regulates the speed of the windmill by means of the sails and boards.

In this working village, there are 2 oil mills, 2 saw mills, a spice mill,  and a paint mill.  We visited the paint mill,  which processes chalk to produce antique paints and dyes.  It is probably the last wind-powered dye mill in the world.

You can see the blocks of chalk in the small building that are pounded and crushed inside

A steep climb inside, but a great view from the top

We walked around the village and visited several of the shops and gardens and had lunch

There was a museum that showed the history of the Verkade biscuit and chocolate factory that goes back a hundred years.  Most of the workers were women who were naturally called the Verkade girls.  Biscuits and chocolate were being made on these vintage machines.

A good day.  It was our warmest, actually pretty hot in the sun.  Weather forecast this day predicted rain.  Ha.  Weather forecasts are the same the world over.