It's Windmill Time

There is a place in South Holland where there is the largest concentration of old windmills in the world, 19 total, along the canals and you can rent bikes by the hour to tour the land and even go inside one of these windmills. On Sunday, we went to such a place: the village of Kinderdijk ("Children Dike"). In 1740, these windmills were built to solve the problem of flooding in the village. They helped pump excess water from the polders (land surrounded by canals) and into a reservoir to use when the water level lowers. Today they rely on the diesel pumps nearby, but in times of emergency (like in WWII when oil was limited), these windmills are fully functional.

Again, because I couldn't fit in the car, I had the pleasure of figuring out a way to get to the village of Kinderdijk. In theory, I was supposed to take a 'sprinter' train to Rotterdam (a 25min ride south of Delft), walk 3 minutes to the bus stop, and catch a bus to Kinderdijk (30 min ride). But, long story short, I turned an hour long commute into a two hour commute because of some missteps. But I made it there, just the same, and was greeted at the first windmill by two very excited boys. (pictured right)

After having a lunch of cheese, bread, and a banana on the blade of a windmill (detached and laying on the ground), I held Oliver's hand as he eagerly led me into the old windmill. The windmill had been converted into a museum, and was decorated like it would have been in the 1700s, when families would live inside the windmills, with the addition of audio and visual descriptions narrating along the way. Stairs were as steep as ladders, and beds were as tiny as if meant for large dogs. Pictured is the family watching a video inside the windmill.

It was an overcast, blustery day, but the scenery still beckoned to be photographed. Commence sequence of windmill shots...

Where we had lunch (benches are old windmill blades)

Probably insensitive of me to capture this on film, and then to post online...

but what's a day without J&O colliding into each other while playing,

having a good cry,

and earning snuggles from their muma and dada?

It's cool, we all got ice cream in the end.

In case you didn't get enough windmills...

After two hours of snapping pictures of windmills, it was time to make the journey home (in half the time). Oh, I keep forgetting to document this - what I should be taking pictures of every time I see it, is the equally amazing high concentration of bicycles parked at train stations. It's a true test of patience to try and find a safe place to park your bike for the day without getting it tangled up with a million other bikes. I admit that I say my fair share of swear words as I hoist my bike up and try and lock it safely to the bar. No one's that patient :).