The Netherlands "Countryside"

On our last full day in Amsterdam, we decided to do a bus tour out into the countryside. We visited Zaanse Schans (picturesque windmill village), Volendam (fishing village), and had a short boat trip to Marken (got to see a wooden clog "factory" and a cheese factory here). Had lunch in Volendam. The entire trip was only 6 hours total so we had plenty of time afterwards back at the hotel to pack for the trip home.

In Zaanse Schans they still have working windmills. The mills are kept operating partly for tourists. However, the large manufacturing plants that produce things like linseed oil help pay to prevent the loss of the traditional methods.  A windmill society was formed in 1925 to preserve the mills. The Society now owns about a dozen windmills and keeps them in good condition. They are operated regularly. We got a demonstration at a windmill but the windmill wasn't working because there was no wind. This was unusual. The area is known for its constant breezes.

Zaanse Schans
This is what you are supposed to see when visiting Zaanse Schans:

 This is what we actually saw:

The guide said she hadn't seen anything like this in at least 3 years. It was pretty cold the night before so that probably explains it. As we were leaving the area, the fog began to lift.

Volendam
So many cows in the Netherlands.

At the cheese factory we enjoyed a lecture on cheese making and got to taste many types of cheese. OMG- fabulous Gouda that had been aged 2 years. Yummy!

Marken 
We took a short boat trip over to Marken.

Visited a wooden clog making factory. There is equipment to assist, but there is a lot of hands-on to create the clogs made this way. I was excited to try clogs but you need to wear them with heavy wool socks (or similar) and that's just not possible here. Also, the neighbors downstairs might object. No clogs were purchased but we got a nice artsy photo.  My Dutch friend says the wooden clogs are still worn on farms and for gardening, etc. Your feet stay dry. Even on ice they work great apparently. You just rough up the bottom and they keep you from slipping.

During our trip we passed Lake Ijsselmeer. Ijsselmeer is the biggest lake in Holland. What is special about the lake is that it used to be the Zuiderzee (South Sea) and was closed off by a man-made dyke, The ecological implications of changing a body of water from saltwater to freshwater boggles the mind.