Kinderdijk

The place with the windmills, and these are about water management. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site, which means they need to maintain the area and operate the windmills as they did in their original time. Also someone needs to live there.  There are 17 windmills in this area. 

The water is not managed by the government. Each citizen pays a 600€ tax that goes only to managing the water. There is 24/7 monitoring of the water levels. At least 50% of the country is below sea level.

 

The legend as to how Kinderdijk got its name: the dyke broke and the area was flooded. There was a baby (kinder) in a basket floating in the water.  This cat jumped in the basket and kept moving from side to side to keep the basket balanced. True? They tell us about 82% of what the guides say is true. That is also the case with our waiters! 😂. This statue marks the story. The bottom cat is not the actual cat; it belongs to the Miller of the Windmill we visited. 

When these were built in 1740, it was necessary for a Miller to live there to operate the windmill. They received 40€/year but got to live in the windmill free of rent. Today, the Miller may have another job but is still responsible to operate the windmill, according to the UNESCO contract. 

Looks like they’re ready for afternoon tea by the water. The bottom 2 pics show this Miller, Robert, manually starting the pump. It takes about 30 minutes to pump 40 tons of water. 

This is what the inside of the house looked like back in the 1700’s. The bed in the top right is short because they slept sitting up. They believed if they laid flat, their breath would leave them and they would die! 

These are the original beams. No nails, fitted with pegs. 

The kids usually slept on the second floor. There was not room for a kitchen and they believed it was too dangerous to have fire in the windmill, so they cooked in this little building (we thought it might be a playhouse…).

Wood for building was expensive so many of the other structures are made of wicker reeds. They had little storage huts, a barn and firewood storage and had a garden for growing their food. They raised rabbits, chicken and goats for food. (I’m ok with that kind of nature. It’s good to be at the top of the food chain….)

Robert wears traditional wooden shoes (heavy wool socks are necessary). Back in the day, leather was also expensive but they could afford wooden shoes. They collected them in the spring/summer and burned them for warmth in the winter. (Dave thinks this is a good plan for shoes. Thankfully I don’t currently have any wooden pairs!)

The barges were not used after WWI and Viking bought them for 1€ (it was BOGO day!). The top is the original barge. The bottom is the second one revamped as we see it today. Here we are on the barge. 

Look closely to see the windmills in the background!  (Chuck Wehde: please note that I’m representing Atlantic Beach CC!)

Sailing this afternoon, so we enjoyed an afternoon tea with waffle making demo. Here’s the secret: use sparkling water in the batter and beat the egg yolks separately from the whites (those are whipped almost to a meringue). 

Waffles were first introduced at the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels, known as Brussels Waffles. In the 1960’s, were renamed Belgian Waffles. 

Tomorrow, we’ll be in Hoorn, Netherlands.