We set out for Zaanse Schans before sunrise, while the village is still quiet and the crowds have not yet arrived. As the first light touches the mills, the atmosphere is soft, calm and unmistakably Dutch, with reflections, mist and delicate colour in the sky. After our sunrise session, we return to the hotel for breakfast before heading back to Zaanse Schans for a deeper look at the traditional crafts behind the image of Old Holland. We take three hours for two carefully chosen visits: the Catharina Hoeve Cheese Farm and the Wooden Shoe Workshop. At the Catharina Hoeve Cheese Farm, Dutch cheese-making is presented in a traditional farm setting, with cheese makers in traditional Dutch costumes explaining the process and offering a taste of one of the Netherlands’ most iconic products. This adds a beautiful cultural and documentary layer to the morning: hands at work, cheese wheels, wooden interiors, traditional clothing, colours, textures and small storytelling details. We then continue to the Wooden Shoe Workshop, where we see how Dutch clogs are made using traditional techniques and antique machines. The setting offers strong visual opportunities, from blocks of wood and carving tools to rows of painted clogs, workshop details and the rhythm of a craft that is closely connected to Dutch rural life. Together, these two visits give us more than just a classic view of Zaanse Schans. They allow us to photograph the Netherlands through its traditions: windmills, wood, cheese, craft, costume, texture and human stories. After this cultural morning, we continue towards Volendam, one of the most recognizable old fishing villages in the Netherlands. With its harbour, boats, waterfront houses and lively Dutch character, Volendam adds a completely different layer to the day. Here we focus on harbour scenes, details of fishing life, reflections, people, façades and the atmosphere of a place deeply connected to the water. From Volendam, we continue to nearby Edam, a quieter and more elegant historic town known for its canals, small bridges, old façades and cheese-town heritage. Edam offers a slower kind of photography, where the strongest images often come from patience: waiting for the right reflection, the right person in the frame, or a small detail that tells the story of Old Holland. By combining Zaanse Schans, Volendam and Edam, this day moves naturally through three different faces of the Netherlands: windmills and traditional crafts, harbour life and fishing-village atmosphere, and the refined calm of a historic cheese town. Later in the day, we continue towards the region around Schagen, our base for the tulip fields.