We woke up to a beautiful sunny day in Amsterdam once again on Day 3!
Noodermarkt
There was a weekly Saturday market held nearby at Noodermarkt so we decided to check it out before heading to Amsterdam Central Station. First up, say hello to our morning faces lol!
The Noodermarkt market is a great place to visit on Saturdays if you are staying around the Jordaan vicinity like us. Here are some photos of the place for your reference below!
There are antiques, used books, clothes, souvenirs and loads of knick knacks sold on one side of the market.
We bought these unique magnets below as Souvenirs!
And on the other side of the market, You can find local produce, flowers, food, bread, organic products and many more!
What caught our eyes was the amazing variety of freshly baked bread and pastries for sale!
Suffice to say that we had our breakfast here feasting on bread!
Strolling down Amsterdam Central Station
Dropped our loots back at our houseboat before heading out once again towards our original destination! Really love the whole feel of the city when in Amsterdam – peaceful, beautiful and clean! More photos of our surrounding as we strolled towards Amsterdam Central Station! (:
An interesting sight we spotted along the way!
Spotted a couple having their Photoshoot!(:
And we were back to Amsterdam Central!
Amsterdam Station to Zaanse Schans
Bought our tickets to Zaanse Schans to see the windmills of Amsterdam! To get there, You just need to purchase tickets to Koog-Zaandijk station which is a 15 minute ride away and walk from the station to reach!
Koog-Zaandijk Station
Pick up a guide map or refer to the walking map once you are out from the station!
Then make your way to Zaanse Schans by foot! Most guides tell you that it is a 10 minute walk but it feels longer.. maybe 20 minutes including photos stops hahahha!
You will pass by all these residential homes!
And this mini windmill!
You know you are KINDA reaching when you spot the bridge. Zaanse Schans is just beyond there(:
But first.. PHOTOS! Too pretty not to resist despite the incoming dark clouds 😂😂
Zaanse Schans
This is the entrance to Zaanse Schans! Entrance to the outdoor areas are free but you need to pay for ticket fees if you plan to head up to the windmill or visit the museums/attend the workshops available!
Map of Zaanse Schans! It’s a pretty big place and you will probably need to spend a couple of hours here!(:
Zaanse Schans is essentially a historical village that offers visitors a glimpse of what it’s like to live in the Netherlands in the 18th and 19th century. A MUST visit place when you visit Amsterdam(:
In case you were wondering what is there to do at Zaanse Schans, continue reading this super long post!(:
What to do at Zaanse Schans?
- Visit Bakery Museum from 1658 to try out traditional Dutch bakery products and confectionery and the duivekater(a popular sweet local bread). (Free bread making demonstration)
- Lunch at De Kraai Pancake Restaurant and have a Dutch Pancake or De Hoop op d’Swarte Walvis (normal food, no pancakes).
- Plenty of Dutch related souvenirs to purchase from many shops such as the Photography and Windmill Shop(can have your photos printed on a calendar)
- If interested, can also check out the Cheese Farm and Shop (Free cheese making demonstration) at Catherina Hoeve cheese factory and check out the first Albert Heijn grocery shop
- Enjoy the scenery and take plenty of photos!
Photos taken all around the picturesque town! Plenty of photo opportunities(:
Feed the animals!
See a working windmill and tour inside (3 euros). Can choose from 6 different working windmills!
Verfmolen “De Kat” windmill Visit
We visited the Verfmolen “De Kat” windmill with it’s own mascot kitty as seen above!
An entrance fee of 3 euros per person has to be paid before entering and here are the tickets!
The windmill machinery is in operation and you can see the general mechanics of how a traditional windmill is like on the inside!
For the more adventurous, head up to the 2nd level via this super crazy steep staircase. Please only attempt if you are in good physical condition as it’s not the easiest stairs to climb down. Do be very careful!
If you make it to the top, you will be rewarded with a lovely view of course and a nice closeup view of the turnstile of the windmill.
And here’s the difficult part in heading down the steep staircase as mentioned!
There is a mini souvenir shop also located at the windmill and we picked up a few here! Save your moolah to splurge at the other main souvenir shops though!(:
Cacao Lab
Visit Zaans Gedaan, Cocoa Lab and join the ‘mini workshop’ in chocolate-making (5 euro)
A great place to visit is the Cocoa Lab for some hot chocolate especially during the colder season!
Cocoa Lab sells a variety of chocolate related treats such as hot/cold chocolate, ice cream, handmade chocolate & truffles and many more!
Apparently there is a mini chocolate workshop for 5 euros that I was initially interested to participate but didn’t see anything going on though.
Instead we had our own DIY hot chocolate session!
Take a cup to start off!
A spoon of cocoa powder and sugar each!
And add milk as needed!(:
Take a stirrer and mix!
Make your payment at the counter and they will complete your hot chocolate as necessary!
And volia! Your very own cup of hot chocolate drink!(:
Bakery Museum
Visit Bakery Museum from 1658!
Our next stop was the Bakery Museum where you can pick up some traditional Dutch bakery products and confectionary including the duivekater – a popular sweet local bread.
Loads of baked goods and confectionary for sale!
And even baking equipment plus souvenirs!
They had waffles for sale and we ordered 1 each! Plenty of flavors to choose from!(:
If you have the opportunity, go try the Duyve-Kater as seen below. It’s a local sweet bread!
All our different variations of waffles!
Unfortunately I was eating my waffle halfway when a bee was attracted to the honey smeared liberally on top and landed on it LOL! 😂😂😂 Oh well!!
Zaanse Schans Clog Workshop
Check out the Zaanse Schans Clog Workshop (Free clog making demonstrations)
Next up was a visit to the Zaanse Schans clog workshop!
They have cute photo opportunities here with the giant clog!
Headed in to check it out and passed by a mini museum about the history of clog making!
It so happened that we managed to catch the live clog making workshop (free) whereby the guy demonstrated how each clog was created!
Very cool!
Diamond clog for you? 😂😂
You can purchase loads of different clogs with pretty/basic designs here!
Or just to try them on! Omg they were so hard and painful though lol!!
Plenty of cute clog related souvenirs can be found here and we bought loads of them back home!
De Kraai Pancake Restaurant
Lunch was an option between De Kraai Pancake Restaurant or De Hoop op d’Swarte Walvis and the Dutch pancakes restaurant won (the former)!
We were there on a non peak period so it was pretty empty and we got seats easily.
For your reference, here’s the menu below featuring their Dutch pancakes!
If I remember right, each order comes in a set with a cup of soup and bread including your Dutch pancakes.
Most of us ordered either the ham and cheese Dutch pancakes or the plain version! Note that they are pretty big so 2-3 people can share one!
Pancakes were pretty yummy 😊😊
Pick up Dutch Related Souvenirs!
We went to check out the different souvenir shops available to see if we could buy more Dutch related souvenirs! In general, most places we visited so far had their own souvenirs but there are also some dedicated shops solely focused on selling souvenirs only!
You will definitely be spoilt for choice in their souvenir shops!
Cheese Farm and Shop
Cheese Farm and Shop (Free cheese making demonstration) at Catherina Hoeve cheese factory
We also popped by Catherina Hoeve cheese factory to check it out. It also functions as a cheese farm and shop with a cheese making demonstration if you are interested!
Didn’t buy anything but it was an interesting place to visit if you have the time to spare.
Miffy Souvenir Shop
There is even a dedicated Miffy souvenir shop targeted at Miffy lovers. In case if you didnt know, the cute rabbit Miffy is one of the Netherlands icons!
They were all SO DAMN CUTE! Actually no photos were allowed but I managed to snap quite a few hahaha 😂 #badtourist
Miffy in the traditional Dutch costume!
They were all so.. cute! And expensive; which is the reason why we didn’t purchase anything by the way lol. But anyway, yea here’s a headsup for Miffy lovers!(:
1st Albert Heijn grocery shop
Pop by the first ever Albert Heijn grocery shop in the Netherlands!
Lastly, before we left Zaanse Schans, we passed by the first ever Albert Heijn grocery shop! Didn’t go in to visit as it was closing time already though!
Last few photos around Zaanse Schans before we left to head back to Amsterdam Central!(:
Overall, had a lovely visit to Zaanse Schans and I would highly recommend you to add it to your itinerary when you visit Amsterdam!(:
After our day trip to Zaanse Schans, we headed back to our houseboat first! Luckily despite the dark clouds, it didn’t rain at all and everywhere still looked bright and pretty!
As this post is getting wayyy too long, I’m breaking it into 2 posts! Stay tuned for the next as we went to explore Amsterdam’s night life and visited a prostitute museum! 😀
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Till later,
♥ mitsueki
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