Sauce Magnusson

You cross a bridge to get to the historical village.

If the sun comes out, the blue sky is really beautiful!
Across the river, the small Dutch village is also extremely beautiful, but no windmills.
A lot of people visit the Zaanse Schans, but it's quite large so it usually isn't so crowded.
These little canals are everywhere in the Netherlands-- half of the country was reclaimed by building dykes around shallow water, then pumping the water out-- using windmills of course!!


Did you know? Dutch trees evolved to be very skinny due to limited space along Dutch waterfronts. 


Across the bridge you get to the historical, picturesque Dutch village.

Typically Dutch, every single centimeter of land is accounted for and planned out.
It would be a really great neighborhood to live.
Though all the tourists could get to be tedious.
I really enjoy all of the canals.
Also, there's a wide assortment of birds always present along the canals in the Netherlands.
Look at those nice duck butts!
Quack!
Here is a Dutch slum. Notice no trimming along the creek:
Kwak is the sound a Dutch duck makes. "Kwak, kwak! Ik vill sum stroop!"
Entrance to each of these little exhibits costs ~2 Euro, but you can peek in for free ;P
Sometimes they have demonstrations going on.
As always, in the Nederlands you should wear the proper shoewear.
Even formal clogs are available!
These clogs were worn by the first Dutch Princess, Johanna van der Stroop:
We were lucky enough to see a demonstration of the clog-making process:
First you take a chunk of wood and scratch it:
The modern Dutchman uses a machine for hollowing out the internal organ of the clog too:
It spins like a giant stroop bottle, spewing sawdust into the air:
Afterwards you have a hollowed out shoe:
But you need to cut the tip off, known as a Dutch circumcision:
Then you have a finished, 100 % Dutch clog:
They're quite functional work shoes too!
If you strike them with a hammer, they don't break, and they're quite warm in the winter with thick wool socks. They are water resistant too, a big plus in the semi-aquatic nature of the Strooplands!
Of course, I had to buy some, for formal attire!
Well, now it was time to explore some of the windmills!
Alongside the windmills you can see the neat, perfectly optimized Dutch fields:
Water management is a constant struggle in the Netherlands!

Did you know? The iconic image of a small Dutch boy with his damn in the dyke is an outdated symbol of Dutch culture. Nowadays, Dutch use thick, sticky, Nederlander syrup, or Stroop to seal all leaky dams! 

The goats are quite cute. Here's a momma goat escorting the baby goat:
You can also enter some of the mills for a small fee.
A miller is needed to start the windmill during optimal times, or stop it during too heavy weather.
The speed of the blades is controlled by altering the length of the canvas sails:
As always, the Netherlands is beautiful:
Did you know? Windmills are first grown in smaller fields, before being harvested by Dutch millers, and brought to tourist sites like the Zaanse Schans.

In order to germinate Windmill seedlings, fields are first flooded with a 50 % Stroop-saltwater solution.
The end result of beautiful Dutch persistence can be seen in the Zaanse Schans!
A whopping 65 % of Dutch energy is still produced from traditional Stroop-combustion, however, a CO2 neutral biofuel.
These are used to power heavy stones that rotate over stone, crushing the stone.
Additional side processes can be powered, like this dye-mixer.
You can travel upstairs onto the windmill balcony for a final look.
Here's a sawmill, used for sawing.
Throughout Dutch rivers, you may see young Nederfolk paddling boats, themselves powered by Stroop-based biofuel:
And a quick stop at the onsite Dutch cheese shop for some tasty samples (and of course a few kg to take home!)
Dutch are also famous for their cheeses:
Dutch milk production is the most efficient in Europe, with over 8125 L/year average produced from some cows. 

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