An afternoon trip to Zaanse Schans to see the windmills. Not the best day for us as it was grey and windy, not unusual for the Netherlands at the time of year, autumn. It would’ve been nice if we had blue skies with the wind to run the windmills. Best time to visit is in spring (April) when the tulips are normally in bloom. This will add colour to any view.

Getting to Zaanse Schans is easy from Amsterdam. We caught the train from Amsterdam Sloterdijk where we were staying but you could easily do it from Amsterdam Centraal. It takes approximately 15 minutes from Sloterdijk to the Zaandijk Zaanse Schans railway station. Then a short walk of approximately 20 minutes to the historical village.

From the station head out along Stationstraat then turn left into Hoogstraat at the Bezoekerscentrum Cacao de Zaan – a small museum dedicated to cocoa and the production of chocolate – then onto Lagedijk, which is a continuation of Hoogstraat until you reach a windmill, the De Bleeke Dood on your right. From there turn right onto the Julianabrug, the bridge over the Zaan river. From here you can see the five windmills of Zaanse Schans. A further five miunutes or so you get to the entrance of the village and then onto the windmills that line the Zaan.

You can visit a bakery and try out some of the local cakes, a cheese factory and a clog manufacturer and of course the various windmills. The village showcases the typical wooden houses, mills, barns and workshops, all unique to this part of the Netherlands, the province of North Holland.

For more information on this charming place visit Zaanse Schans website.

All Photos © Carlo Irlitti

Ended up in the wrong town, city or country? Did you check the name and spelling of the place where you were suppose to go to? Did you board the wrong flight?

Well this can easily happen if you don’t research your travels as you should and check (possibly double check) your airticket/boarding pass. There have been many cases of travellers ending up at the wrong destination because placenames are either identical or sound the same but spelt differently. Sometimes at no fault of their own. Airlines and travel agents have also been known to make the mistake. In one case a couple ended up on the wrong continent over confusing airport codes. In other mix-ups people book same sounding place names like Guyana not Goiania by mistake.

An example of just a few places that can cause mix-ups:

• Guyana and Goiania, Brazil
• Grenada, Spain and Granada (Caribbean)
• Dakar, Senegal and Dhaka, Bangladesh
• San Jose, Costa Rica and San Jose, Puerto Rico
• Sydney, Canada and Sydney, Australia
• Lebanon, New Hampshire and Lebanon
• Oakland, California and Auckland, New Zealand
• La Paz, Bolivia and La Paz, Mexico
• Antigua, Guatemala and Antigua (Caribbean)
• Lisburn, Northern Ireland and Lisbon, Portugal
• Santiago, Chile and San Diego, USA
• Stratford-Upon-Avon and Stratford, London
• Turkey and Torquay, England
• Cartagena, Colombia and Cartagena, Spain
• Perth, Scotland and Perth, Australia
• Melbourne, USA and Melbourne, Australia

Mind you there are many, many more, and they are so easy to mix-up if you do not have a good knowledge of geography. Check your travel itinerary closely and if flying check your boarding pass and departure gate.

Cheers