Openluchtmuseum, The Netherlands, Part III

After visiting the playground in the Openluchtmuseum we went to the village square, Zaan Square, which is surrounded by shops of all sorts, as well as a few homes. Naturally the first place the children wanted to stop was the candy shop, where we bought some treats for J and L.

Walking into Zaan Square with candy straight ahead

The lintel of the candy shop

There's also a bakery right across the street, where we bought some treats for Mommy and Daddy.

The bakery

The interesting random decor

Nearby is the Marken fisherman's cottage, which has the quintessential shoe rack inside.

Fisherman's cottage on right!

Front view of the cottage

Typical Dutch shoes!

Across the water are a trio of windmills. Inside one, we saw the machinery drawing up water for some mysterious use, like drinking or washing!

The Three Windmills would be a good name for a pub

The windmill turns an Archimedes screw!

A nearby farm house from Zuid has a ditch with water surrounding it. We couldn't find our way into the house, though we did discover a neighboring house's fabulous garden.

A good shot of the Zuid house

A good shot of the Zuid moat

The garden next door!

We did spot bridge nearby. The double-leaf bascule bridge is a type of drawbridge common in The Netherlands. When a tall boat came, the bridgeman would pull on some chains to raise each side of the bridge. To put the bridge back down, the bridgeman walked up the bridge. They took the chains off this bridge, so we couldn't try it out.

Bascule bridge or drawbridge

Across from the bridge is a yellow windmill which didn't have any sign explaining it, though some sheep were wandering around. The sheep were too shy to let us pet them, alas.

The yellow windmill

Not afraid of cameras, just people

In the distance we saw the platform mill from Delft which was to be our final stop at the museum, and which will be our final post tomorrow!

Big windmill in the distance!