We were up early in Leiden and hit the road for a very interesting day. First, we visited a huge windmill which was installed 7 years ago by a group of regular citizens. The windmill provides power for 1400 households in the area. It was fascinating to go inside the windmill and hear from an expert in the field, Denny Steenhorst. The windmill we saw cost the investors a total payment of 2.25 million Euro. It was also very interesting to learn that the energy it took to construct the windmill was recovered in 4 months of the windmill's operation. Denny expressed that the windmill, such as the one we saw, would be paid back in around 7 or 8 years.

Next, we visited a "local for local" supermarket called Landmarkt (Market). Our group met with General Manager Laurans who explained the concept of the market to us. The "local for local" concept of the market means that the local farmers mainly supply the store for its local consumers.  Once we learned about the intricacies of the business, we were treated to a tasty lunch at the market's restaurant.

The produce from the sales floor is also used in the restaurant which helps to minimize and nearly eliminate wasting produce that might go bad. The market's business strategy includes a "full service" concept while maintaining a theme of high quality and fresh produce. Since the farmers are able to sell to consumers without the use of a third party, the market's relationship with the local farmers is one of their top business priorities.  There were even farmers in the store who had dropped a load of their vegetables off and stayed for a few hours to help cook up recipes using their produce.  

Afterwards, we took in the beauty of Amsterdam while on a canal tour through the city. We saw where Anne Frank lived and admired all of the architecture. We were astounded to find out that people can actually live on the canals in permanent houseboats (for a very high cost of renting space). We really enjoyed being toured around the city throughout the hour-long boat tour.  Although we were only in Amsterdam for a few hours, we will have more time to explore tomorrow.

Lastly, we stopped at a large high-end supermarket chain where we compared and contrasted the differences from the market earlier in the day. It was interesting to see how the prices varied and noting that the overall ambiance was different. On the way home, we made a quick stop at the North Sea and stepped foot on the beach. It was a fantastic way to top off a very enjoyable day.