Freewheeling North in the Windmill Country

AMSTERDAM â€”  Mention the Netherlands and most experienced travelers picture Amsterdam. Some may know light-hearted Maastricht in the south or, if they are lovers of 17th-Century art, Haarlem in the west.

But very few American tourists explore the peaceful richness of the northern Netherlands, a treasure not to be missed.

A well-marked freeway makes it easy to drive out of Amsterdam to the province of Noord Holland. By the time you are ready for coffee and an apple pancake, there is Zaanse Schans, a charmingly reconstructed town that offers the first of many opportunities to photograph windmills.

In fact, nowhere else in the country are there quite as many varieties in one place. There are shops, including a cheese factory that sells picnic supplies, a wooden shoe maker and several restaurants.

Even taking the back-road route north through such small towns as Graft (with its medieval town hall) and Grootschermer (stop to photograph its triplet windmills), you can still be in Enkhuizen in time for a terrific meal at De Smederij. Four courses--fish appears in soup, appetizers and entrees--and wine, cost about $25 U.S. per person.

Although Enkhuizen, once a major port on the Ijsselmeer, has declined in size since its Golden Age in the 17th Century, many of its most significant buildings--and markets--remain.

If time permits, take a ferry to the Zuider Zee Museum, where more than 100 buildings, collected from villages around the old Zuiderzee, have been erected along the cobbled streets of this open air museum.

Give Enkhuizen a day or a day and a half, then follow the road along the outer dike to Medemblik, another port town. In addition to its Bakkerij Museum illustrating the history of commercial baking in the Netherlands, Medemblik is the terminus of an excursion that begins with a trip by steam railroad from Hoorn to Medemblik and ends in a sail back to Enkhuizen.

Restored Castle Radboud on the outskirts of Medemblik is worth a quick look, but like most Dutch castles it lacks the drama and antiquity of castles in England or Ireland.

On the other hand, “De Herder� could never be accused of being a pallid imitation of anything. Looming beside the road out of Medemblik, this is the ultimate Dutch windmill.

The divided highway that continues north runs along the top of the enclosure dam that divides the North Sea from the freshwater Ijsselmeer. Dismiss any apprehension about this ride. The road is four lanes wide, without a bump, and safer than any freeway.

On the other side waits the best of Friesland in such west coast towns as Maakum, Workum and Hindeloopen.

Although not as well known in America as the blue and white porcelain of Delft, the richly painted tiles and ceramics of Royal Maakum Pottery have been prized for 350 years.

A trip to the Tichelaars factory reveals the latest designs of the firm that has been doing business here for nine generations. The Frisian Ceramic Museum, De Waag (weigh house), displays much of the rich history of this craft. Buy tiles as gifts either at the factory or in shops around town.

Especially noteworthy is ‘t Skipe near Tichelaars. Everything there is handmade. Eye-catching Escher-like fabrics have been turned into jackets and vests. But there are also baby clothes and nice things for the kitchen.

Workum, to the south, boasts a gifted potter named Freerk Kunst. (Kunst, the German word for art, is a fitting last name.) Look for his shop, De Swanneblom, on the charming main street.

If you are lucky, his wife, who runs the shop, may be persuaded to sell you open stock pieces from her own collection of his work.

Hindeloopen, a fishing village further south, is the jewel in this necklace of Frisian towns. A Hanseatic port, Hindeloopen claims a number of distinctions: its own dialect, a traditional costume, distinctive architecture and, most specially, painted furniture. All of which can be explored during the course of a walk down the main street, Nieuwstad.

Chances are you will find Harmen Glashouwer in one or the other of his two stores: At Number 25 he displays the chairs, chests and other furniture he paints by hand, and at Number 40 he will be behind the counter selling colorful East Indian fabric.

Tall and enthusiastic, Glashouwer welcomes the chance to speak English, to describe the history of Hindeloopen and to tell the story of his family’s continuing involvement with furniture painting. His intricately decorated wares, including round, wheeled high chairs for babies, can be shipped anywhere in the world.

Further along Nieuwstad, be certain to enter the shop of Harmen and Janny Zweed. Harmen, who also paints in the old Hindeloopen style, has made the interior of his shop into a trompe l’oeil masterpiece.

Continue walking toward the impressive Dutch Reformed Church to the Hidde Nijland Museum, which not only displays furniture and costumes but the stuff of everyday living.

A few blocks beyond is a lovely little harbor with a coffee shop that serves a distinctive orange cake topped with whipped cream. Around the corner, past the 17th-Century liar’s bench--still usually occupied by pipe-smoking, tale-telling men--is Nieuwstad Street again.

Spend a few hours or even a day here, but don’t plan to stay overnight. Hindeloopen, population 800, has no hotel.

While there are modest hotels in larger nearby towns such as Bolsward and Sneek, for something modern with an extraordinary view, look to Baron Hotel Princenhof in Eernewoude.

A modern hotel, despite its thatched roof, the Princenhof has done its interiors in smart white, gray and red. Rooms come with television, telephone and luxurious baths. Best of all, deluxe rooms facing Lake Princenhof have broad decks on which guests sit and watch boats maneuver in and out of the marina.

Nearby Eernewoude has a comprehensive general store geared to the needs of sailors. Several restaurants on either side serve fast food and more leisurely meals.

Adventure travelers can rent a bungalow or camp on the edge of the lake opposite the hotel.

For accommodations comparable to those in Amsterdam, take a major road south to Zwolle, the capital of Overijssel. Founded in the 9th Century, this is another Hanseatic town with a colorful history. And, almost as importantly for the tourist, Zwolle is blessed with a first-class hotel, the Grand Hotel Wientjes. (Ask to see the Chinese room with its carved bed.)

Zwolle is also a good base from which to explore Zuider Zee towns such as Giethoorn, sometimes called the “Venice of the North,� and unique villages such as Staphorst.

The women and children of Staphorst still wear traditional costumes, and houses are painted in bright primary colors and roofed with thatch. Almost everyone bicycles and half the bikes wear cheerful crocheted guards on their back wheels to keep skirts out of the spokes.

Your camera may go berserk over the sights of Staphorst, but be careful not to photograph adults. Understandably, they resent being viewed as quaint.

Instead, visit the Staphorst Museum, a large dry goods store that’s a treasure trove of fabrics and discarded costumes, an antique shop and an open-air market on Wednesdays behind the supermarket on the main street.

From Staphorst, it takes less than an hour to drive north to Beetsterzwaag and the Lauswolt Hotel. This 45-room luxury resort with a nine-hole golf course and health spa is a well-kept secret.

We arrived in time for lunch and were urged to try chef Bert Hakken’s “surprise� menu. Surprise doesn’t begin to describe the meal.

While our table was being readied, we sat on the terrace overlooking the lawn and golf course, and consumed an appetizer of raw tuna marinated in a tart vinaigrette. Immediately we were ushered inside to a corner table and served three sublime courses.

White asparagus sprinkled with caviar, and tied with a band from the green part of a leek, rested beside scallops with their roe and a slice of salmon. A rich lobster sauce completed the dish.

Rare duck breast with chanterelle mushrooms and crisp-tender vegetables followed. Dessert--a cookie cup holding perfectly ripe berries--rested on a strawberry coulis that had been pulled into the shape of a star and outlined in a caramel sauce. Aromatic Dutch coffee with tuiles and chocolate bon bons were the final fillip. The bill, including a glass of wine, was $30 per person.

About an hour away, on the road south to Amsterdam, is another little-known treasure in the 15th-Century town of Bloksijl (pronounced block-zull). Dutch friends told us to be sure to stop at Kaatje bij de Sluis Hotel and Restaurant. The small hotel sits on one side of the sluice , or lock, and the restaurant on the other.

Both are named for Kaatje, the 18th-Century wife of a sea captain who brought her spices and recipes from the West Indies. Kaatje eventually opened a restaurant that became so successful a jealous rival tried to steal her recipes.

Kaatje was killed with her own chopping knife while trying to protect them. A statue of her stands by the lock which separates restaurant and eight-room hotel.

Each morning at breakfast, which is taken at the hotel, guests have a choice of traditional Dutch fare or a seven-course Petit Degustation du Matin. Lunch and dinner, served at the restaurant, range in price from $40 for the Alliance Gastronomique Heerlandaise to $50 for Le Grand Spectacle des Amuses Gueules.

Kaatje also serves a $50 meal that pairs minerals waters from different countries with each dish, and does it as ceremoniously as though the waters were fine wines.

But even if you don’t eat at Kaatje, take a coffee break at one of the outdoor cafes and enjoy the unspoiled views of harbor life.

From there, allow about two hours to drive south to Schiphol Airport outside Amsterdam. If you have a morning flight, it is much less stressful to get to the airport the night before.

There are hotels such as the Schiphol Hilton and Golden Tulip nearby that provide frequent shuttle service to the departure terminal. But allow plenty of time to explore the airport’s duty-free shops. They are the best in Europe.

Actually, shopping may turn out to be minimal. After a week or two in the Netherlands’ undiscovered north, the original Netherlands that few Americans see, you will already have a suitcase full of treasures and a mind full of memories.