Zaanse Schanse (Part 3)

This quaint little village has all the trades of Holland, wooden shoes, cheese and windmills. As we got out of our cars we were overwhelmed with the smell of chocolate and later found out there is a cocoa factory within the village. Can you imagine smelling that wonderful scent everyday? Even the people are dressed in the 17th century clothes to give us a genuine feel for the way of life. We loved the little wooden shoe shop the best. See how they even made a wooden shoe as a bass guitar?! They were expecting us.



Here is a video of the making of a shoe, it is hard to see but if you look closely there is a shoe already completed to the side of the one being carved. It is used as a guide for the machine to know where to cut. The wood is so wet from being cut from the tree so soon that when the shoe is finished the shoemaker blew into the shoe and water came pouring out! Therefore the shoe must sit for days until it becomes dry.



Next we made our way to the cheese shop to learn how they make cheese. Of course we bought some to take home to eat later. The smell of the shop was spectacular!
Finally we toured a real working windmill. This particular one is making peanut butter and peanut oil from grinding peanuts. We were able to walk around the inside to see all the wheels in motion and then make our way to the top deck to get closer to the sails. Windmills are used for a variety of things like making paint; flour and oil from a variety of grains; spices to moving water to keep the water level even during seasons of rain.
Here is a picture of a pannenkoeken (Dutch pancake) and let me tell you they were delicious.
You could pick from savory (bacon or ham with cheese) to sweet (apples, cinnamon, chocolate and whipped cream). Boy what a treat! We finished our day in Zaanse Schanse by touring a small bread bakery to learn the ways of bread making in the 17th century, hard work but I'm sure it was delish!