Kinderdijk Windmills
Last leg of the Rhine journey on way to Amsterdam and a flight back, allowed for a stop in Kinderdijk in the Netherlands. In previous posts I have mentioned some of the windmills I’ve visited in Scotland and noted these in Part 110 and Part 135 of this blog series. This time I was able to go inside an actual, working windmill.
Kinderdijk is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has been since 1997, consisting of nineteen fully functioning windmills. These are no longer used for water management in the area, with the main water works relying on two electric pumping stations nearby. There is a museum detailing the history along with short workshops providing useful background on how the site operates. I tend to purchase fridge magnets of places I visit and couldn’t resist one of a windmill with moving sails.
The windmill is a real home, lived in and operated by its owners. Inside, it’s very colourful, very homely, with a fair number of wooden stairs. Life literally revolves around the mechanism that allows for the sails to operate. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen, and it was a real thrill to be able to spend a few minutes there. Only so many folk at a time can enter and you need to keep moving in a one-way system and mind be respectful that this is somebody’s home. I’ve visited many places, but I can’t recall ever seeing anything quite like this.
As a postscript to the final hours of the journey, I spied some wild horses roaming alongside the river, with several colourful hot air balloons hovering high overhead towards the horizon. I’m aware I’ve used the phrase before, but it was all very surreal, which sums up the journey along the Rhine.
The Fiction Factory 