欲望都市 - 荷兰风车村 *Zaanse Schans - The Windmill Cottage (30 May 08)

Zaanse Schans是个风车村。我只能用一个字形容这地方 - 赞！这里的景色很美，喜欢悠闲的乡村生活的人不妨可以到这里来参观。

原本我还以为风车是很大的，亲眼目睹过后，才知道原来风车并非我想象中的那么巨大。我们先去参观乳酪工厂，再去参观木屐工厂。原来，制造乳酪的过程并不简单，一定要先用适合的温度把牛奶煮了去菌，当牛奶达到了相当的温度后，Cheesemaker就会把乳酸等东西加入牛奶内，过后牛奶就会凝结。当然凝结了的牛奶还不算是乳酪，cheesemaker还得把多余的水分挤出来，没记错的活该挤压4天才能完全的把水多给挤出来吧！没有了水分的牛奶，就会照着本来的模变成一大块一大块的乳酪。当然cheesemaker还在乳酪里加了盐分，就因为这样乳酪才可以收藏得那么久。一切完工之后，cheesemaker会在整粒乳酪的外边涂上一层的腊，所以朋友们，别忘了先把腊切掉才吃哦！

到了木屐工厂我才晓得原来以往的荷兰人在不同的节日里有不同的木屐穿。结婚穿的木屐是双木头上雕满了花纹的鞋子，手工很细致，很漂亮。看了工厂木屐为游客们表演的制造木屐过程，才知道为什么他们能大量的出产木屐。原本我还以为是他们一双双慢慢的从木头削成鞋子的，后来才知道原来什么都是使用机器完成的了。看了以下的video你就晓得木屐是怎么来的了。一个普通的木屐可以承担一辆小车的重量，所以你可以买一双穿上，然后挑战kancil轧过，哈！工厂里的人也解释买木屐一定要买两根手指可以伸进去的size, 而且穿木屐时一定要穿上很厚的袜子才不会伤脚。穿木屐的好处是它可以帮助身体维持正确的posture，保护我们的脊椎。

我们也进去风车内参观花生油的厂。很可惜进去的时候是蛮迟的了，磨花生的工作停止了。最难忘的就是爬上那斜斜的梯子上风车里面的第二楼。哗！那梯子更本就是差不多75度，爬上去时好恐怖哦，下来时更恐怖！梯子不只很斜，还很窄，也很小。


Zaanse Schans is a windmill cottage in Holland. Basically, this place is well known for it's cheese factories and clog factories. I learnt how cheese is made via attending their educational program. Firstly cheese makers will have to cook fresh milk under a certain temperature, followed by adding yis and waiting for the milk to get clogged. Later on, it takes 4-5 days for cheese makers to compress cheese and abstract all water/moisture before adding salt into it. The last stage will be packing cheese with wax coat. The youngest cheese will be kept for around 6 months before sending to the market to sell. More mature cheese may be kept for more than 5 years before selling in the market, some take even longer.

I liked to see how clog was done. If you are interested to know how it is made, please check out the short video below. Different clogs meant for different occasion. The shop owner told us Dutch clog could help to protect their feet while working in the farm/windmill. It could protect our feet from being run over by a small vehicle such like kancil (Malaysia National Car - about 660cc). Wearing Dutch clog could also help to correct our posture while walking. How to find a clog that suits to yourself? Make sure when you try on the clog, you could still slip in 2 fingers behind your feet, then that shall be the right size for you. One shall not forget to wear thick sock while wearing Dutch clog.

Went to visit one o the windmill as well (must pay admission fee). Unfortunately we went late and the windmill had stopped working. The ledder in windmill was set as 75 degree slope, I was almost scared to death while climbing up and down the ledder!

We were on our way taking a water transport to reach the other side of the land.

Demo of how cheeses are made.

This is the biggest Dutch clog I have ever seen! :P

This finely crafted clog is made for the bride and bridegroom.

Is this violin or clog??

Cool....

This is where we saw how Dutch clog is produced.

This short video shows how Dutch crog is made.

Another short video about clog making process.

Various designs, sizes and colors of Dutch clogs for sale.

Hubby complained the clog is too hard for him!

Fridge magnets.

Key chains.

Hubby was scoping real peanuts.... it was heavy!!