A small house in Zaandam

Zaandam

Night falls over Amsterdam, and it's time to go deep into the bar culture of the city. The inhabitants of this place have a unique sense of conversation and sharing moments around a good old gin (oude jenever) or a full bodied beer. Here they are not exclusive. Everything's fair if the goal is to have a nice chat. We have a sort of circles; clubber culture, rockers (our favorite), mature establishments who have seen Amsterdam grow up in hard and not so hard times like Hoppe (Spui, 18-120). The no-hangover-morning rises and invites us to join an almost-deserted island in the middle of the metropolis. A place of mythical tranquility where silence is just a pleasure and welfare is in the air. It's Begijnhof, a community of devotee women that emerged at the end of the Middle Ages who are isolated from the worldly noise. A must if you want to temper the spirit before setting out on your journey.

We followed the path of improvisation and we ended out in a magical place outisde Amsterdam. We were told about Zaandam, Zaansche Schaans, its history, its windmills, its landscapes. We arrived at the Central Station and, immediately after, we wanted to stay and live there, forever. Beautiful town, quiet but lively. Gleaming streets, mellow cafés and soothing conversations. We followed some footprints on the floor until we disvered a house. A special and small house. At first, we did not want to go in, we did not want to be nosy, but the curiosity killed us (and not the cat).

We arrived at The Tsar Peter House (Czar PeterHuisie), built while he was visiting the town of Zaandam in 1697 in order to learn the techniques of naval construction. This was his plan: replicate the model of those techniques in Russia to build the biggest military fleet ever made. The tsar stayed there for a while, living in that house. He left such a trace among the town that the house still remains today. Distinguised visitors went through the house, such as Napoleon or Isabel II of Spain. Still can be felt the human warmth in the walls of the house of those of wandered inside. Today it is the information booth of an important and incidental episode of the Russian Empire history. Farida Guseynova is the name of the lady who takes care of the visitors and explains all details of the house with great pleasure. A gleaming surprise, an outstanding stay. Do not miss the opportunity of visiting Zaandam.

Details from the house

The wind on our faces, the wonderful marrige between water and earth, the windmills move their blades rhythmically and we realize how hard it will be to leave all these things behind.

Gallery