9.23.22

Todays adventures took us on a little tour outside the city with our Airbnb experience host, Chris. I had booked this tour early on and for some reason thought we’d be riding bikes. That was not the case and I’m glad it wasn’t as this was our rainiest day yet. Of course it was because Nick told me it wasn’t going to rain until the afternoon so I left my raincoat behind only to have it start sprinkling as we stepped off the tram. We met Chris and the other three members of our group at a small cafe near the Central Station and drove 20 mins out of town to Zaanse, a small town where there used to be six hundred windmills, but now just a handful left but all still working – not just for show. The town is also where they produce cocoa butter. Exiting the cab was a nice treat, as the town in fact smelled of cocoa.

We walked through the little shops in the town, seeing where the cotton paper was produced for The Declaration of Independence, a cocoa shop where we were able to make our own hot cocoa drink, the paint mill, where we climbed up to stand atop the working windmill. Cool, but not my favorite experience as you could see through the wood planks, but it did give you a remarkable view of the town and all the other windmills. 

We then made our way to the local bakery where we enjoyed an almond pastry (my favorite) and an apple pastry while Chris educated us about the small homes and how the parents and children slept in what looked like tiny cupboards to stay warm and they believed your loving space should be the biggest in your home, but your bedroom. We also leaned about “tinder” and dating back then and how you’d present your desired date with a cookie made by your mother.  Your suitor either accepted or rejected your cookie (and date) by breaking it in half and giving you back the upper half or bottom half.

Our final stops on the tour was the cheese shop, where we were able to sample 30 different styles of cheese (Nick’s favorite was the farmers cheese, which is not able to be brought back to the US). This was the most popular and certainly crowded, I was waiting for fist fights to break out over he cheese samples. And finally our last stop was the wooden clog shop, my favorite. After all the ridiculous photos that I asked Nick to take of me around town, I finally was able to try a pair on that were my size – and they actually were pretty comfy. Sadly Nick didn’t think I had room in my bag, so I won’t be coming home with any.

Chris returned us to Amsterdam around 1:30 pm, so we enjoyed a little lunch at the cafe we started out at before hopping on a train to Haarlem. I had Haarlem marked on my list to possibly do an afternoon trip but a few days before saw they had a “spa”. I emailed them for a Friday night reservation, and we were in. We boarded our train to Haarlem arriving around 3 pm walked around, grabbing a coffee and hot chocolate (my final one 😭) but got plenty to bring back home.

We went to the Haarlem museum, a room with a movie about Haarlem’s growth and with plenty of time made our way out to our appointment. Nick proudly told me it was only a mile and we could do it as we had plenty of time. Well this walk would have proved to have been a great time to have that raincoat on hand. It rained our entire way out, arriving early and soaked (me less than Nick as he kindly gave me his raincoat) we asked to check in early and enjoy a drink at their bar. Well they apparently have strict rules about early check in and since we booked the evening, discounted entry we had to wait until 5:00 pm. She was kind enough to grab us beers and we sat on the small wood bench in the tiny reception area.

Five o clock came around and we were issued our keys to the downstairs locker, changed into our robes and made our way to the bar to ask the bartender for our tour. 

During our time in this bathing suits are NOT optional spa, we enjoyed the various saunas, steam rooms, color therapy, swimming pool and in between enjoyed beverages and some nachos in the restaurant where thankfully, bath robes were required. 

Sorry dear readers, no photos of this experience.

Relaxed prior to our return back to the US, I convinced Nick to allow us to take the bus back to the Haarlem Central train station for our trip back to Amsterdam. We debated on seeking out the windmill brewery where we had drinks last time, but will a 10 am flight and being told to be at the airport 3-4 hours before as it’s currently a nightmare we made our way back to the hotel for a 5:30 am wake up call for 6:00 am taxi.

Spoiler alert, we arrived at the airport at 6:20 am and we’re through security and to the Aspire lounge by 7:00 am. Sounds like if you don’t check bags you’re in better shape, but we did get to witness the big white tent outside where our taxi driver told us yesterday was full. Several Americans who’ve flown out of here recently accounted for the new normal 3-4 hour wait, so sounds like we got lucky and had a good day. Back to the US we go!!!