Zaandam, the walkabout

Province        : North Holland
Municipality : Zaanstad (stad means city)
Main City  : Zaandam (along with several others like Zaandijk, Wormeveer etc)

A river name Zaan, traversing thru the region which emptied into the lake Ij (sound like 'eye'). This region is also famous for its windmills in Zaan Schanse.

A tourist attraction map of Zaanstad, opposite the Stadhuis.
Note the location of Zaandam

Map of the Zaandam area.
Our hotel is at the left most of the map.

I just love maps and they have lots for free! Region map, city map, bus route map, tram map, bicycle route map, historical map and even Red Light District map!!!! I think Madam might have noticed my obsession with maps. Of course google map on the mobile comes in handy, but nothing beats the hard copy of a map in your hands navigating the place you're visiting. 

By the way, the city of Zaandam is 2 stops away from Amsterdam Centraal Railway Station. We opt to stay here instead of Amsterdam due to several reasons. One of it was, Madam, as a seasoned traveler to Amsterdam advised me to choose Zaandam because of the ambient noise of Amsterdam at night! She hardly got to sleep, she complained. So, Zaandam it is. Madam is da boss!

The ticket machine, can pay either with
coins, debit or credit card.

The standard train schedule, the numbers on the left are the time it operates (first train around 5am in the morning), along with day and stops info (some trains at certain hour, runs on specific day and stop at specific stations)

The train route map
Zaandam - Amsterdam Sloterdijk - Amsterdam Centraal

Zaandam!!!

The Stadhuis is the centre of the town. Attached to the side is  the Zaandam Train Station and a covered bus station underneath the Stadhuis....how convenient. There is also a bus to Amsterdam Centraal from Zaandam, but longer distance compared to the train ride.

The City Hall or Stadhuis with the coat of arms of all the city within the municipality

The clock tower beside the City Hall, it is also the train station

Do you noticed the pair of whales at the balcony? It is part of the municipality's coat of arms which also signifies that whaling business was important in the municipality, back in the 17th and 18th century, fyi.

Zaandam train platforms

The bus station below the Stadhuis

A few minutes walking in near freezing and the nail biting weather is the hotel. The Best Western Zaan Inn hotel, and it was a nice one. We booked a family suite (3 bedded room) with a kitchenette. Rating in Booking.com was quite good, scoring an 8. The only issue Madam had was, the amount of sugar and creamer sachet that was provided to us every day was insufficient. The Dutch is sooooo used of drinking coffee black or with creamer sans sugar. 

The daily walk to the station

The hotel

Oranje!

Children's bed

The kitchenette with microwave

Makan (eating) time

The children playing monopoly card, oh oh..Benjamin is about to send his sister to the cleaners..

Fifth floor, 512...

View of the station from the room

Once settled our bags in the room, it was time to explore Zaandam city centre. It was then we ACTUALLY realised why she wanted us to stay in Zaandam instead of the more convenient Amsterdam. Remember that we had a holiday in London before coming to Lagos? The Madam had a shopping fit which I had never seen in my life...all because of one particular  outlet. The outlet is in Zaandam!!! Already I can see the euros saying goodbye to me...all because of...

Primark!!!

I could almost see Madam salivating looking thru the window display...luckily it was already 5pm and most outlet in the Netherlands either close at 5pm or 6pm, on certain days. 

Tough luck Madam..but knowing her, I can second guess that we might need an additional bag when we fly back to Lagos. Trust me... The last time, we were in London..I literally had to carry Madam out of the store.. just kidding. Anyway, the items were reasonable priced and here and there you would see those hard to miss a bargain. 

Oh! Before that, this was the sight that greeted us in Zaandam. The famous Inntel Hotel. Really an eye catcher in the city centre. Dozens of houses as if built atop one another, each with one of the five distinct gables all in various hues of green colour. Except one.....in blue.

The Inntel Hotel

Various type of gable (triangle upper part of a wall). Note the single blue house!

The story of the blue house was this. In 1871, a famous French artist Claude Monet came to Zaandam and produced a number of paintings. One of it was the 'The Blue House'. The house is still in existence, but not in blue colour, but there are plans to change it to its original colour. So, the blue house on the hotel facade is a nod to the famous painting and honoring Monet that came to the Zaan region, inspiring him to paint no less than 20 paintings during his visit.

The Blue House by Monet

The Blue House (today, middle..note the window)

From the city map, an area called Gedempte Gracht (gracht = canal) which was once a filled-in canal that runs along the shopping street, now has been restored with the water from Zaan river. The banks are connected with seven different bridges. Along the canal are retail chains like H&M, Hema, Albert Heijn and specialist shop with a particular focus on clothing and shoes. 

The canal with shopping outlets on its bank. Note the blue sign of Albert Heijn store. Its their Tesco.

The children at the canal, with boat shape "bridge"

Poor Benjamin, waiting for his mother...lost her senses in Primark

But my favourite shop was the CeX. A second hand goods chain store specialising in game consoles, computers and video games. But not as big and the choices were limited,  (for me, at least) with limited budget...sigh.

CeX store

Past the shopping area along the canal, we arrived at the Dam. Outdoor cafe around the statue of Tsar Peter the Great on the site of a former harbour. He came in 1697 to learn about working as a shipwright or shipbuilding.  A house not far from the spot called Czaar Peterhuisje built in 1632 where he stayed now is a museum. 

Statue of Tsar Peter the Great 

Panoramic picture of the Dam

Lastly, a short stroll from the Dam is the historical Wilheminasluis gate or Wilhemina Sluice gate. Still in use. The sluice gate control the water level and flow rate of the canal or river. There were other historical structures nearby, but since the distance the children covers are proportional to the amount of food we feed...the distance traveled was quite limited, really. We had to back track to a halal restaurant where we had fried noodles.

The Wilheminasluis gate

Another view of the sluice with the wooden clad gate

All in all, it was a great day covering Zaandam. Halal food and restaurant are available so there's no issue on that. But the weather.... cold and windy (2-6 deg Celsius) was a challenge to us. London was colder, but the wind in Netherlands...phew...any stronger, I would just lie on the ground and let the wind blow me instead of walking around Zaandam.