day 8 - alkmaar, zaanse schans & red light

Today was a busy, busy day. By the time I fell asleep, my right thigh and left calf were both pretty shot... Sitting in the window sill watching evening foot & bike traffic with a glass of wine, I feel much better.
We started out by racing up North to catch a train out to Alkmaar to watch the traditional cheese market bartering / dance / ritual / parade... This is a pretty traditional event, and the town is very accommodating every Friday at 10AM to locals and tourists making their way to watch this thing. Kora found a little English friend to jump over the gate with and watch the crazyness.

We played tourists here, then did the same as we made our way to Zaanse Schans to see windmill country. We were pretty clumsy about trains and ended up on an inter-city train instead of a sprinter and we ended up far past our hook-up point. Big oops... We figured it out quickly and hiked from the train stop, to a ferry, then into windmill land. These things are fascinating by the way. Total custom machines, articulated, grease lubrication on wooden bearings and cloth sails to do no less than 4 independent operations inside each mill.

The place was again, ridiculously photogenic, and amazingly windy... (how appropriate). We had a great lunch in the town (similar to the day before), fed ducks & goats, then jumped back on the train. All the girls headed to an orchestra performance and dinner downtown while the guys took Kora out for Mexican food and ice cream just around the corner.






Aaron and I headed North for a while then walked back home. While weekdays are pretty busy in the hotspots, I can tell you first-hand that weekends are insane... Interesting also how one neighborhood is packed edge to edge, and around the next corner; just drifters. Sharp contrasts; you just need to know where you are going. Fun, fun.