Windmills and a Noddy house on steroids...

14.05.2015

After a grey and cold morning this afternoon saw the sun make an appearance, so I grabbed my warmest hoodie and caught a bus to a place called Zaanse Schans. It's just on the outskirts of Zaandam where I am staying and is a put together traditional Dutch village next to a handful of working windmills on the banks of the Zaandam river. It is a stunning location and showcases all that is quintessentially Dutch. Coachloads of smiling tourists turn up everyday to take photos and today was no exception, the place was crowded. I walked around for about an hour enjoying the beautiful views and then decided to try and take a few photos of Zaandam town centre on the way home. The sun stayed out and I got a few shots of the quirky buildings that have been built recently to attract people to the township, which is only 20 minutes by bus into the centre of Amsterdam. Finding accommodation here was a bonus because otherwise I may never have got to see this ridiculously quaint little town. Yesterday I spent five hours walking around and occasionally getting lost in the winding streets of Amsterdam, but I thought that it would be nice to showcase the area close to where I am staying first....

Working windmills on Zaandam river