Travelog: D1 The Netherlands: Amsterdam city, Marken, Volendam, and Zaanse Schans Windmills

DESTINATION : AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS

Travel period : 27-29.04.2013

DAY 1

i) Arrival at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam.

after approximately 12 hours of flight finally we arrived to de destination.

mini stroopwafels and fresh fruit juice from Albert Heijn.

not exactly a good combination here.

train ticket to Amsterdam.

ii) Place to stay: Captain's House, Buiten Bantammerstraat 3 (Apartment)

has free WiFi (good reception)

minimum stay requirement: 2 nights

de apartment is centrally located and it is approximately 5 minutes walk from de Central Station. de first floor has 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and roof terrace whereas de second floor has living room, open kitchen, and dinning area. de apartment has all basic amenities we needed, including washing machine, and dishwasher which is essential as we spent most of our meal by cooking ourselves. we enjoyed staying here very much. things would be much more perfect if de WiFi did not gone off suddenly during de last night of our stay.

no elevator but typical steep staircase which literally resembles a ladder.

it is no wonder de Dutch word for stairs is trap! back in de days, canal houses were taxed on their width, meaning that de wider de house, de higher de taxes you have to pay. so in order to save a buck, they build very skinny tall houses which only require a narrow set of stairways.

iii) Amsterdam city.

at Damrak.

getting hungry in a beautiful day.

but it was just a very ordinary hot dog bun =P

you'll definitely bump into this giant wooden clog.

hook at de top is a typical characteristic of Dutch houses where they use it to pull up furniture and other heavy items that are not able to fit de narrow stairway.

iv) Things to eat.

basically there is nothing much interesting about Dutch food. some even say de bad food is indeed de main reason why Dutch people are almost never overweight. however, there is this one thing that you must try in Amsterdam- FEBO. it is a popular self-service eatery famous for selling Dutch fast food in a vending machine. remember, in order to make your FEBO experience a good one, make sure de location you visited is busy. this is to ensure that de turnover is fast enough and you are more likely to get food that is still pipping hot or warm but not cold. de selection is a mix of traditional Dutch food like croquettes and de normal fast food, such as hot dogs and burgers. there is also a counter available where you can order fried chicken, fries, and smoothies. btw their fried chicken is good too.

tasty croquettes.

spot de meat gravy goodness.

JOINING DE GUIDED TOUR BY TOURS & TICKETS: Volendam, Marken & Windmills at €36
(be sure that it is a sunny day before travelling)

meeting point was at de busiest street of Damrak. it was rather chaotic here as there was no room to accommodate a huge group of tourists along with thousands of other tourists and residents who needed to walk by de location. we were directed by de noticeable tall guide to another meeting point for our transport bus (a double-decker bus) across de road at less than 10 minutes walk. de trip was a guided tour that came with audio guide in de bus (a pre-recorded commentaries in chosen language). it covered a few languages but personally I feel that things would be much better if they could just focus on one language instead of repeating something (and de same thing) in different languages that might sound alien to others. we chose an English-speaking bus but unfortunately it was randomly mixed with Spanish at last minute. perhaps de tour group was too huge.

a picturesque shot of de countryside.

v) Volendam

Volendam is an old fishing village located not far from Amsterdam. we had a small walk around de village and eventually we arrived at de Volendam Cheese Factory. a small excursion was provided in explaining mainly about de cheese making process and how they made cheese back in time (no demonstration). here you will find fresh farm cheese from Volendam, and also a wide range of Dutch specialty cheeses and souvenirs for the real cheese lovers.

milkmaid with wrong outfit =P

on top of that, we were brought for a short stroll on de famous dike along de harbour. lunch was at own expenses. we were given some free time (20-30 minutes or so) to dine in any of de fishing restaurants located close to de water side while waiting to board de ferry to Marken. anyway, we had some snacks but not full meal. most importantly, we ate some fish!

de famous herring.. so rawww

it will never be my favourite, perhaps yours?

vi) Marken

we departed from Volendam to Marken via ferry which set sails every 30-45 minutes. Marken is another small town that still remains much of its fishing village past.

preparing to take off from Volendam with a short boat ride- to Marken.

hello Marken!

we visited Marken Clog Factory where de locals have demonstrated how wooden clogs were made. wooden clogs have been used in the Netherlands for centuries. de wearing of clogs is to keep de farmer's feet dry and provide protection when de cows stepped on their feet. also, wearing clogs provide convenience as he can easily kick them off when he walks into de house, and avoid tracking in mud (especially to prevent his wife's wrath while having an affair with another woman). on de other hand, according to traditional Dutch culture, clogs are also used by men as a marriage proposal. this is done by secretly leaving a pair of beautiful hand carved clogs by her doorstep in de evening. his proposal will be accepted if only he returned in de morning and find de wedding clogs worn by his future wife. hey but what if de wrong person took it? =P

randomly bumped into a flock of sheep.

so cute!

vii) Zaanse Schans Windmills

I personally think that this is de highlight of de tour. however, de downside was de timing as all de shops including de windmills were closed since we arrived late (washroom was still accessible at payment of €0.50). 

mom, I brought some beautiful postcards home =)

de excursions were fine but I felt it was kinda rushed. de tour group on de other hand, was huge and it was actually not easy to see much with so many people. best of Holland tour ain't that easy with just one day especially in a herded tour.. haha. weather was cold despite a sunny day, but overall we did enjoy ourselves.

continue to read at Travelog: D2 The Netherlands: Keukenhof, and Amsterdam City   

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