Adventure in Koog Zaandijk

May 12 - Today we took the train to Koog Zaandijk. No, that's not true. The train took us .... to several different towns and burgs and train stations, none of them our intended destination. On the train, off the train, reverse direction, get back on, get off, turn around, try it again. The Dutch on each train were understanding and helpful (not to mention amused), and finally we arrived in this little town of restored windmills from the 1600's: The town of Koog Zaandijk, where we had lunch after our endless ride on the rails:

To get to the restored area, our helpful Dutch boatmen had to ferry us across a bay. They were delightful, spoke only a little English and entertained us on the 3 minute ride:
The canal in front of the row of windmills - so Dutch: wildflowers, water canal and windy breeze:
We went inside one windmill that had been rebuilt from scratch, using only hand tools and 1600's technology. Fascinating! These are not quaint little decorative windmills; this rebuilt one was massive, with enough windpower to drive three sawblades to cut lumber from tree trunks:


The windmills are thatched. At one time there were 1,000 of these wind power mills all over the Zaandam area, but steam and electricity replaced them by the 1940s.

Jim's favorite Holland cow: