Day 3: "Can we go back to the cheese mill?"

Hello everyone! Yet another exciting day in Amsterdam has come and gone...
Due to weather changes, we made the executive decision that it would be best to do the windmills today instead of tomorrow, so we wouldn't have to walk through the rain. We all got about 12 hours of sleep and didn't get moving until around 8:30 Amsterdam time- very fortunate on our part. Breakfast for me and Abby was donuts from the Dunkin' Donuts across the street. We then made the 15 minute hike to the train station.
When we arrived at the train station, we purchased two-way tickets to a small suburb of Amsterdam near a lake, where we would get to see the windmills. After a couple train changes and general confusion, we made it successfully to the village to see what we came for- the windmills.
The first stop was the bakery. I had eaten donuts for breakfast so I was a little uncomfortable (the bakery was hot and stuffy), but the rest of my family was eager to purchase Stroopwaffels from inside. In the meantime, I made a few new friends- a duck and a couple of sheep! We then made a stop at the cheese mill, where we got to watch a demonstration on how cheese is made- and sample different types of cheese. In Amsterdam, cheese is traditionally eaten with mustard or cheese sauce, which was a new experience for us. We also explored quite the variety of cheeses- Sheep cheese?
After that, we made our way to the other mills in the area. The linseed mill was first. Linseed oil is used for leatherworking and paint, so it's quite common. The seeds were ground up by the mill into a fine powder, which was heated to the perfect temperature before being placed in a leather bag. The bag would go into the sides of a wedge, which was pushed down by the mill, squishing the linseed powder into the oil. We got to climb up the ladders and go to the second layer, and the third, which was outside of the mill so you could look over the river and see the blades. The mill could be turned to face any direction, depending on the wind.
Next we went to the color mill, which ground up materials for dyes. Not much to say about this one, it was a fairly simple design. After that, though, was the sawmill. The sawmill was one of the original mills in the village, but fell after industrialization began. The mill we saw today was a reconstruction from 2007 of the same mill that would have existed in the 1600s. The mill was extremely complicated and I don't understand entirely how everything works, but the mechanical knowledge that would be required to build it was amazing for the time.

After the windmills, we went back to the cheese mill for another round of samples. I met a goat! We took the train back to the main city and headed for Our Lord in the Attic, a 3 story church in the attics of two houses from the mid 1600s. During that time period, Protestants took over Amsterdam and Catholics were forbidden to worship in public. They were, however, free to practice their religion as long as it was done in private, so a wealthy merchant decided to construct a church in the attics of two houses. The church was extremely detailed, and even had an organ! I was amazed by the architecture and the small size. We also got to peek into what life was like for people during the 1600s.
Once we finished in the church, we decided to go get fries for lunch, or as the locals call them, "Frites." They were fantastic and quite filling, especially covered with cheese! We had a lot of water to fuel ourselves for the afternoon. We then strolled around and found a beautiful church to explore- it was under construction so the organ was missing, but it was still stunning. The stained glass was impressive, especially considering it was made in 1555. The church dated back to 1306, and painter Rembrandt's wife was buried there as well.

Abby and I ventured into a chocolate shop while Mom and Dad found a boat tour, and we soon found ourselves buying some chocolate covered cherries. We didn't realize, however, that when the lady said they were filled with alcohol, she meant actual liquid alcohol. Needless to say, I was quite surprised when I bit into the cherry and liquor came spilling out. The alcohol burned my mouth a little but the cherry tasted fabulous.
As planned, we went on a boat tour after. It was quite pleasant, getting to sit around in the boat while the tour was read to us from a headset. We saw a lucky bridge, a house with 6 heads on it, and a ton of different Canals.
After a break in the hotel room, we concluded our night at a pizza parlor run by a family from Italy. We spent a while there enjoying the pizza- cheese and pepperoni, of course- and a nice break from the chaos of our day. We trotted home in the rain, planning our day for tomorrow, which I'll update you on later. It was a pretty thrilling day, and I'm glad I got to spend it with my 3 favorite people.
Sarah Jackson