Zaanse Schans - is another picture perfect neighbourhood in the town of Zaandam which is about an hours drive from Amsterdam Central station. we got here by taking the local bus and there are busses every hour that drive here. 

the first thing you notice here are the windmills, several hundred years old but in pristine condition and each windmill has a unique history of its own. the most famous one being "The Cat" . the weather was again pretty gloomy at the beginning and it was drizzling which was a complete turn off, but thankfully it stopped and when the sun came out, the landscape changed completely. colourful and vibrant all of a sudden. 

there are a lot of gift shops here and so many of them selling chocolates and coffee. we also made it a point to visit Henry Willig's cheese museum and picked up quite a lot of cheese from their flagship store here. and not to forget another museum dedicated to wooden clogs. footwear made from wood and the gift shop that had everything from keychains to mugs, all in the shape of the clogs. 

sept 7, 2018 Zaanse Schans, The Netherlands