360-degree photos are in Flickr.com (taken with my LG 360).
The night before, I saw my host Ken and he asked if I had gone yet to Zaanse Schans. So I decided to go since it wouldn't be convenient after I left Zaandam. And what's a Netherlands trip without seeing windmills?
The farmers market was on the same street where I last saw it. Since I was short on time, I decided to get something at the bakery stall. The seller and I communicated by gestures so I ended up with four chocolate croissants, instead of two. (€4) I got a bottle of water (€1) at another stall and I was set.
A line of windmills
I finally found the dock for the ZaansHopper by turning left at the Westzijde (I found that "ij" is pronounced like "eye"), and then I found the sign on the right side (water side) if the street. The garage attendant confirmed that the ZaansHopper stops at the far end of the dock.
But it looked like I already missed the 10am trip, but Google Maps recommended a bus, so I went across the bridge to the bus stop.
At the stop, three very friendly Australians (or Brits?) confirmed that it was the right stop for the Zaanse Schans bus. They were headed there too.
The bus fare was just €2.5.
When we arrived, it seemed like almost the entire bus got off. At the gate, a large tour bus unloaded too, so it was very crowded. At one point, I overheard someone speak in Tagalog behind me.
You could go up one of the windmills for €4. It was already noon, so I finally stopped just outside that windmill for my breakfast. Then I went up.
As I came out, someone was playing and accordion and he even started singing a Dutch folk song for my camera. So I gave him almost all my coins.
My own private cruise
I was heading out of the grounds when I noticed the signs for ZaansHopper! And there was a little boat on the dock.
The captain said that he had one more stop north before he would head south to Amsterdam Centraal. The wait would be about an hour. Thinking he was the next trip down, I said I would wait for him. I lied. :)
Another boat came by, soon after he left. I paid €8 to the first mate, who reminded me of Ralph Fiennes in the movie "In Bruges".
I was the only passenger, so he joked that it's a private VIP cruise. And for only €8! :D
It was a very long cruise. We had to wait for a bridge to go up and let some sailboats pass. Then there was another long wait but I didn't know why. I didn't mind; I love being on boats.
The first mate and the captain after I got off the boat. (The cute first mate, who has a sweet smile btw, reminds me of Colin Farrell in the movie "In Bruges".)
We finally arrived at Centraal Station. I took the pedestrian tunnel to the front of the station and caught the train to Rijksmuseum. I only had 1.5 hours. The cashier recommended going directly to Floor 2 and work my way down if I had time. I focused on Rembrandt's works. But there were so many people. Often times, you could only see the tops of the paintings.
After the warning announcements at the last half hour and the last 15 minutes, I was finally able to see the bottom parts of the pictures. So I stayed until the ushers were about to shepherd us out.
Outside, I rested at a little garden near the "I Amsterdam". Close to 6pm, I headed towards the train to get to the restaurant.
Dama and Kel
I arrived very early, but it was a good thing because it went from sunny to stormy within a minute. I later learned that Kel and Dama were about to walk out of their building when it suddenly poured.
I was sitting outside under the awning (the weather was very nice when I got there), but we moved inside when they arrived.
I had the fish-of-the-day, which the waiter said was called "weaver" in English. Dama and Kel each had steak.
The restaurant was quite noisy, but the conversation was very interesting. I learned a lot of tidbits, including patents on code and how 3D headsets work. Then we talked about rent rates, housing costs, and the high Dutch taxes.
Scroll left or right to see Dama and Kel sitting across the table from me.
We had to get going just before 11pm so I wouldn't miss the last bus/train. D&K walked me to the nearest bus stop while we continued talking, and they waited with me until I boarded the bus.
It was past midnight when I arrived at the Airbnb, with getting lost twice. And I had to get up very early the next day.
Insights
Kel's personality was close to what I imagined, but Dama was much more outgoing than I thought. He wasn't shy at all. He explained that he was mostly working even when logged in. And that was why he didn't chat much, even when he was inworld.
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