Saturday, May 10, 2014

Exploring Europe Part 10 || Volendam - Marken - Zaanse Schans - Keukenhof

I've booked a 1 day tour to Volendam, Marken, Zaanse Schans and finally to Keukenhof.. Be prepared.. this entry is full of pictures.. I just can't choose.. and not so much of a writing.. just pictures tell a thousand words..

early morning walk
 
 
 
along the way
1st glimpse of traditional windmill

1st stop is Volendam.. Volendam is a fishing village where they have lines of cafe selling fresh fish and chips.. here at Volendam we get to see how cheese are made.. and we get to taste all kind of cheese.. and I learn to love a new way to eat cheese.. with jam.. yupp! cheese and blueberry jam..

one of the houses with large window

 
 
beautiful houses

cheese factory

 
 
cheese making demo

 
 
 
 
 
 
in the cheese shop

tasting the cheese
smoked cheese

pretty tiles
 
 
 

If you notice, we walked in between houses.. and yes they are people living in it.. and they go about doing their daily business

 
one of the shop window
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
one of the food cart available

colourful waffles
 
 
fresh & hot poffertjes
fighting to eat with adam

bird feeding

beautiful sky
 
rows of cafe serving fresh seafoods
 

While everybody have their fish and chips, we walked to search for a bakery.. and we had coffee and croissant there.. ohh.. we did get to try their poffertjes.. it is a Dutch pancake.. and it sure is yummy to eat it while its hot..

the bakery
 
 
a cup of hot coffee on a chilly day

 
 
 
 
 
 

From Volendam we took a 20 minutes ferry ride to another town, Marken.. there we have to walk through lines of beautiful Dutch houses to go to clogs factory.. here we get to see on how clogs are made traditionally.. and here I get to see my first ever tulip plants.. all this while I only get to see a stalks of tulips..

boarding the ferry

the captain greeted us in bahasa

 
on board the ferry

 
 
nice smell

a stalk of tulip
 
 
marken
 
 
 
captivating view

 
 
 
 
 
 

excited seeing a row of tulips
 
 
 
clog factory

clog making demo
freshly made clog

clogs history

 
 
 
 
souvenirs

 
 
 
 
more tulips

clogs statue
 
 
 

After that, we were brought to another village, Zaanse Schans.. Here we get to see so many windmills.. and we can see how a peanut oil were made in a windmill.. and they only use the energy generated by the windmill.. no external energy whatsoever..

windmills from far
 
walking to the windmill

 
 
 
to get inside the windmill
peanut oil mill

demo of peanut oil making using wind power generated

us with a traditional windmill

windy
colour mill


With that, we ended our 5.5 hours tour.. and we were brought back to Amsterdam city where we have to catch  for another coach to Keukenhof.. I just can't wait to go there.. We were there until the park's closing time..

 
 
 
 
 
magenta

yellow & white
even he enjoy all the flowers

 
 
excited

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
tea break at one of the cafes

 
 
tulips buds

 
 
monster like tulips
 
rows of daffodils

cherry blossom

 
different from the ones in japan

selangor in lisse
 
selfie

enchanted garden

egg-like tulips
 
 
with swans

souvenir shop

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
vibrant colours

 
 
selamat datang

After that we went to the tulips field where thousands of tulips planted in thousands of rows.. so many colours ans so many types of tulips.. We get to take a couple of pictures before our call time to catch the coach back to the city.. Please be aware that keukenhof only open 3 months in a year between March till May.. So if you would like to see thousands of tulips blooming (like me) do plan your visit.. its every penny worth..

walking to the tulips field
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


I seriously love todays itinerary.. for me, these are the highlights of the whole trip.. and if I were asked for an advide, I would a must go place but maybe my 1 day itinerary can be separated to 2 days so that you will get more time at all the stops.. unlike mine, we had to rush for everything..


Volendam, Marken and Zaanse Schans plus Keukenhof tour (1 day) : €185.00




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