The Netherlands | Telling the Truth

Tag: The Netherlands

March 10, 2017

Kinderdijk Favorites | Viking Cruise

It’s Friday and it’s snowing outside. Time for photos that catch my eye before we leave Kinderdijk. In no particular order, here they are, beginning with barge traffic. A reminder that these inland rivers are major highways. Not primarily for the tourist industry, but for transport of goods.

The distant tower isn’t an ancient lookout for detecting the enemy, but a water tower nicely disguised to blend in with the scenery. Up close on this side of the river are wildflowers and an empty dock waiting for another cruise ship to arrive.

Below is a more colorful barge than most. That’s the city of Kinderdijk across the river from the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Note the two automobiles on the back deck of the barge–transportation for barge personnel when docked.

Back to the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here’s another set of photos with beautiful colors. The first two are, I think, rental cabins for vacationers. The third is a bench outside a snack bar near the windmills we visited.

Speaking of color, how about these? Don’t miss the little sparrow on the grass. A little sense of proportion there.

Here’s a rare big bird not usually captured in photos! That’s my pocket watch peeking out from my magenta shirt. Note the wires going from my sunshirt pocket to my left ear. It’s my audio tour guide, so I can hear about stuff no matter where the real live guide is standing. I’m probably giving the photographer last-minute instructions too late. The sun was blazing hot, even though the air was comfortably cool.

Time for ducks and other water lovers hanging around the canal.

This roof caught my eye, as did the blooming plants that follow. Ordinary beauty waiting to be noticed.

Hoping all you beauties have a spectacular weekend! It’s still snowing here. Definitely a spectacle after an unusually warm winter.

Elouise ♥

© Elouise Renich Fraser, 10 March 2017
Photo credit: DAF, July 2016 in Kinderdijk

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February 28, 2017

Kinderdijk | Viking Cruise

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What’s missing from this picture? Wind! Not a breath of it while we were there. Still, the windmills were spectacular.

We sailed all night from Amsterdam, and arrived midmorning at Kinderdijk, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was constructed as an outdoor museum, with examples of old windmills. Though they aren’t now used to drain water from low-lying land, they are functional. Citizens apply to live in them, with or without children. It’s considered an honor, and requires daily attention to maintenance and to changing winds to keep super-heavy windmill blades in motion.

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Kinderdijk means “children’s dike.” According to legend, it’s all about a cat, a cradle, and a baby who survived a storm thanks to a dike and a cat’s faithful instincts! The site includes a system of 19 windmills and was built around 1740. This is the largest concentration of windmills in the Netherlands today.

It’s 1421. A humongous storm and flood have subsided. Only one polder in the area isn’t flooded. A polder is a piece of low-lying land reclaimed from the river or sea via pumping the water up, out beyond dikes.

A rescuer goes out, walking along the dike to see what might be salvaged. There floating on the water is a wooden cradle! As it gets closer, he sees a cat in the cradle jumping back and forth, keeping it afloat and dry. Then, when it’s closer to the dike, he sees a baby sleeping in the cradle. A survivor, thanks to kitty’s great balancing act!

This story is celebrated in a folktale, “The Cat and the Cradle.” The cradle below commemorates kitty and baby’s successful cruise.

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So how about a look at one windmill that allows us to get up close and personal?
Like most windmills on this site, it’s a grondzeiler, or ‘ground sail windmill,’
so called because the sails almost touch the ground as they turn.

First, a view from the outside, looking up.
Can’t help noticing how huge these things are
and how much human-power it takes to move the sails
when the wind changes direction.
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