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VISITING ZAANSE SCHANS

2010-01-21

My husband and I visited Zaanse Schans a few weeks ago on a dark and foggy Autumn day. As we crossed the bridge leading to the village, the first sight we had was of several old windmills looming eerily in the mist. We then entered the village and it was like stepping back in time. There was the most fascinating museum of Dutch clocks, from exquisitely embelished grandfather clocks to complex mechanisms and atronomical instruments. There were several other museums - depicting the surprisingly fascinating history of the clog, an old bakery, a grocers shop and a mustard mill.

As it was just after Halloween, there were several pumpkins at the doors of some of the houses. The combination of the misty Autumn day, the sixteenth and seventeenth century wooden board houses and the pumpkins dotted around reminded me slightly of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and I found Zaanse Schans to be wonderfully atmospheric. It also brought to mind the early Dutch settlers in America, and their influence on some of the architecture there. I thoroughly recommend a trip to Zaanse Schans, and can confirm that it becomes even more atmospheric in bad weather!