SOLO EURO II: DAY 19 & 20 [AMSTERDAM & ZAANDAM]
the next morning i left the city limits to visit the zaanse schans neighborhood of zaandam, which was an easy train ride from the hostel. the area is known for its historic windmills surrounded by ditches & fields; a very pretty landscape. it is definitely a tourist attraction as you are able to experience a bit of the country without getting too far out of the city. the area loosely depicts life in the 18th to 19th century.
i think my favorite historical site to visit was the weaver house. it is small, but reflects how a weaver would have lived in this area; including a cupboard-like furniture you would sleep in (that's how beds were).
inside the weaver's house. i wanted to cross stitch & sleep here (see the cupboard bed?).
CHEESE
all the animals all together (including fuzzy chickens, not pictured).
admission into the museum also allows you access into the surrounding windmills, if open. luckily there were quite a few. some of the windmills are there more as a museum to visit, but others produce items/products (paint, wooden trinkets). you can even buy some of the goods made in the windmills.
my favorite windmill i saw is still functioning & cuts lumber. admire this man actually wearing functional wooden clogs; the first "steel" toe shoe!
the different workers clogs! i was very entertained by this detail.
my artsy windmill photo. i do recall this windmill is only preserved & not functional, but you are able to walk inside & see the mechanics.
along the land strips in between water ditches are shells. it looked like i was by the ocean, but i do not think i was (?).
at this point it ended up getting windy, so the babushka in me had to surface.
after seeing the windmills, i walked back to the train station (but first stopped for a slice of cake & espresso at a little bakery). i spent the rest of the day taking it easy & just walking central amsterdam.
of course i had to make a stop at primark & this was a fancy one.
i have never seen so many bikes in my life. definitely not america.
amsterdam centraal, the large & fancy train depot.
i ended up eating at a restaurant in the train station to get a nice warm german meal. i had schnitzel so many times when i was in germany in 2017 & knew i wanted this again. also, i had some fancy mint tea, with the leaves. i was not expecting that, but it was delicious.
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the next day was my last full day in amsterdam, and the day i would be leaving the hostel. luckily, the hostel let me keep my backpack in a locker until i would return in the afternoon (most hostels do this). i got up bright and early to go to the anne frank house, which required me to make reservations for a specific time far, far in advance. yes, the line was long, but once you are in the house during your time slot, the groups break off. no photos are allowed inside.
the anne frank house & memorial.
after, i decided to stop at a pancake house nearby. it started raining pretty hard, so i wanted shelter. i learned that pancakes are very different here. i think they are more delicious & taste more like a crepe.
a dutch pancake with strawberry jam & a latte. i am a pretty simple gal & just love some fruity jam.
next was the tulip museum. it is a pretty small & touristy site, but i did by a little cross-stitch sample.
i also visited the cheese museum, which is also very touristy & small, but i love cheese so i had to make a point. there were no good photos of this.
a fun little house with fun little details.
it was fun to see some halloween decorations out front. i saw a kid cry when his parents made him take a picture with the dummy. also, i did end up getting a latte here & work on some journaling.
i continued walking A LOT & ended my afternoon going to the rijksmuseum, the big art museum of the netherlands. it is the most known for have a pieces by van gogh (a self-portrait), rembrandt (the night watch), & goya.
a selfie of me & a human-size playskool person dressed as a member from rembrandt's the watch.
here are a few of my favorite things...
i then headed back to the hostel to pick up my pack. i decided to spend a little extra money & stay in a hotel "cabin" inside the airport my last night as i had an early morning flight (though my flight ended up getting delayed, twice) & the hostel was not close. a section of the airport (after going through security) is reserved to a hotel that looks like you are in kubrick's space odyssey (something definitely not from the future year of 2001). the room is only 1 room that has a bed, a sink, a toilet, & shower (see the picture below). i got the smallest room, but there was a bigger one with a bigger bed. for having such a small room, i ended up forgetting one of my shoe inserts in the room (and i did not figure it out until a few hours late on the plane).
me in my room. behind me is the door; to the left is the bed; in front is the mirror & folding table; & to the right is the shower, sink, & toilet.
i had an early flight, but found out after waking up at about 4 am that my flight was delayed. it ended up being delayed quite a few times. it was a bit stressful as this was only my connecting flight to london, i could not miss my main flight in london as the next day i was to be a bridesmaid in my cousin's wedding (a bit of a crazy decision i even would make). fortunately the flight was not cancelled & i did not miss my connecting flight, but i was stressed. i got home in the evening, slept in my bed, & left to the wedding about 1.5 hours away in the morning to get ready.
before leaving gatwick airport, i had the fortune of snacking at pret-a-manger & having a meal at nando's, even though these are both british, i discovered both of these establishments when i was living in washington dc. it was nice to have a blast from the past & enjoy a nice meal before my long flight home.
phew. i am done. this took way too long (just about 2 years from when i got back). i just got back from a 2 week roadtrip (car camping 1/2 the time) throughout the southwest. i am hoping to start working on that & get all of it posted sooner than later.