During our visit to Amsterdam, we had the privilege to meet Gert and develop a friendship. On a Saturday afternoon, he took us to the country side to visit the windmills of Zaanse Schans. Zaanse Schans is a neighborhood of Zaandam, near Zaandijk, Netherlands. It is best known for its collection of well-preserved historic windmills and houses. We toured two of the windmills, De Kat and De Gekroonde Poelenburg. De Kat is the only remaining working windmill in the world which makes paint. The mill is in the Zaanse Schans, Zaanstad. The original mill ‘De Kat’ was built in 1646 as an oil mill. In 1782 the mill was destroyed by fire but the mill was rapidly rebuilt again. Learn more about this windmill here. De Gekroonde Poelenburg, or the Young Sheep, is a paltrok mill in Zaandam, North Holland, the Netherlands which has been restored to working order. As all Dutch paltrok mills, it is a wind-powered sawmill. If you visit Zaanse Schans, you have to make a stop by the cocoa shop where you can make hot chocolate from scratch. A nice treat on a cold day. Check out the video and pictures below.
Making hot cocoa
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