Europe Trip - Amsterdam

Day 11: Didn't sleep much and woke up super early to catch our train to Amsterdam.Luckily this time,there is no need for transfer in between,it was a direct train to Amsterdam Central Station.

Reached Amsterdam at around 9 plus,we tried to ask the bus driver how long it will take to reach the hotel by tram,the driver said half an hour,so we got off cos we still need to go for a tour at 10.30am.Anyway we went to the tourist information agency to help us find a much nearer hotel and within our budget.We managed to get 1 nearby hotel which needs 15 mins walk from the train station.So we went to the tour agency first to check on our day tour package,it was a city tour 1st and windmill village later in the afternoon.Anyway we gave up the city tour and went to hotel instead.But the room was not ready yet,at least we can deposit our luggage there 1st.

So we went ahead with the 2nd tour,which was wonderful (since the start of the day was already so pek chey and like a disaster).First stop we went to Volendam Village,the guide took us for a walk around the village.We went to a chapel first,where there would be an old lady,wearing the traditional Dutch costume (which you can take photos with).Then we managed to go inside a real Marken House (whose the owner happened to be at home).Inside the house,all the traditional stuffs are kept and displayed (like a museum).Most of the houses are all painted in green color and from there we took a cruise (Marken Express) across the big river to Marken village.

After a 15 to 20 mins cruise ride,we reached the port of Marken village.The guide brought us to a shop where we watched a 10mins video on the village.After that,we had a 1 hour free time to ourselves where we did some shopping and walking around of the village.The village was famous for their fish n chips.Didn't try one there but did try the small pancakes (with butter & sugar).It was yummy!!Nice Nice!!Next time go back,must try again.

After that,we went to the cheese farm and clogs factory.They were next-door to each other,so we went for the cheese farm first.In there,we had a brief introduction on how cheese was made and preserved for long long time.There was a special plastic (which is mostly yellow color) to protect the cheese and you can keep for years.The young cheese are like 3 months,and they called those cheese kept for 1 years or more as old cheese.The host demonstrated 2 special knives which were used to cut/slice the cheese very smoothly.Anyway they are selling the knives there.Hohohooo...after the introduction,we got to taste the different kinds of cheese and they are mostly for sale.The cheese was not bad (not really a fan of cheese) and they came up with different flavor of cheese.They even had smoked cheese,the taste was a bit werid though.Lol

After this,we went over to the opposite house,which was the clogs factory.There,we saw a lot of clogs hanging up on the roof.Then the host gave a brief introduction of the clogs too.They made millions of clogs everyday,but the clogs are machine-made now.They made clogs for farmers,clogs for flower planting,clogs stick for their sports,they even made a Nike Air clog.Hohoho...the guy said later he will make an Adidas clog.Anyway he did demonstrated how a clog is made by using the machine and it was fast,like 5 mins.The shape of the clog is done,later he brought to their shops to buy their clogs.You can even buy a pair of clogs for yourself to wear.

After the clogs factory,we headed down to the windmill village ( "Zaanse Schans").But it was already around 5 plus to 6.So by the time we reached there,all the shops are closed and all the people had already went home.The village was like kind of dead,anyway we just went there to take some photos of the windmills.There was like only 3 or 4 windmills lining up in a row.Basically,nothing much there too.After this,the tour ended and were brought back to the starting point.We headed back to the hotel first to check our room.The room was big but the toilet again was very small.The toilet door was just a small cupboard size (if you see the picture,it is the white door just beside the desk).

Anyway,can't be bothered anyway,we went out to see if there is any good food for our dinner.We went to a small restaurant,where i had grilled chicken with potato.The baked potato was a big-sized and it was nice to eat with the sour cream (just tat there was no bacon).After a nice dinner,we went back to the hotel and watched Spiderman 1 on the tv.Then went to sleep to prepare for the next day to start.

Hotel stayed: Nadia Hotel
Places visited:
1. Volendam
2. Marken
3. Cheese Farm
4. Clogs Factory
5. "Zaanse Schans" (Windmill Village)