It’s our last day in Amsterdam and we had a tour booked to take us out to a traditional Dutch village with windmills. We met the tour guide near our hotel and then headed out of Amsterdam. We visited a town called Zaanse Schans which was created as a tourist destination. They transported traditional windmills from all over the country to this location. Some of the windmills were over 400 years old and were operational till only about 50 years ago. As part of the tour we were able to enter and climb a working windmill that was used to grind wheat and rocks. It was quite impressive to see first hand the size and post of these traditional machines.

The township also includes other tourist interests like a clog factory where we also got a demonstration on how it is made. We visited a cheese factory where they have been making cheeses since the kids 70s and it’s still family run. We sampled a range of their creations including cheese made with goat, sheep and cows milk.

We spent the rest of the afternoon, after the tour ended just walking around the township. We tried some local chocolates, ice cream and Thomas even found a little play area. We then caught the train back into the main Amsterdam station. While its nothing compared to Antwerp station, it was still a sight to behold.

de Biertuin is a local restaurant that is famous their signature Spit-Roasted Farm Chickens (marinated for 24 hours, slow-roasted on the spit, and served with home-made applesauce and double-fried frites), as well as massive, juicy classic burgers and loaded nachos. We got a collection of items and their roast chicken was absolutely delicious. It was a great way to end our visit to Holland.