Zaanse Schans: Wind’s Queen

When we heard about Zaanse Schans windmills,
we thought at Don Chisciotte e Sancio Panza!
We didn’t have a horse or a donkey so we took a bus in the back of Amsterdam Central Station (n. 391) that carried us in a fairy tale.
The road toward Zaanse Schans crosses an Holland different from the Amsterdam’s one, less city and more tradition.
Houses with wonderful gardens and big windows full of decorations, flowers and coloured curtains, brought us in a village suspended in time (and from the wind).

We tried traditional cheese, walked through the little bridges and find a protection from the wind in operant windmills.
The wood’s scent, the sound of blades moved from
the wind and the light through the chinks:  
no need to close eyes in order to feel the magic of this place.
Here is a little taste: Zaanse Schans Oil Mill

Walking in the village and distancing from the tourist road, 
we found a little building that looked like coming from Alice in Wonderland,
inside there’s a lady working tin.
She was really happy to show us how to make a little spoon and there we discovered the legend of the wedding cup.

Kunigunde, the daughter of a knight, was in love with a goldsmith and her fahter threw him in a dungeon.
She couldn’t live without him so her father said:
“If the goldsmith is able to make me a cup that enables two people to drink out of it at the same time, he will be free and you shall become his wife”.
And here is the double-cup: the man drinks from Kunigunde’s skirt and the woman from the little turning cup that she takes in her hands.
Here are other tips for your trip to Amsterdam:
– Our feasts
– Amsterdam evergreens

If you need help to plan your holiday we can help you here!