All the Windmills
The Netherlands is stereotypically known for a few things: windmills, tulips and bags filled with free choices. It was winter, so we didn’t see any tulips and Amsterdam was filled with tourists enjoying the free will, so we decided to head to Rotterdam to experience the famous Kinderdijk windmills.
A huge proportion of Holland is actually 7 metres below sea level and it is thanks to the windmills that the country doesn’t flood. The 19 UNESCO protected windmills at Kinderdijk were built in 1738 and 1740. Although these mills aren’t used to keep the country dry today (we thank diesel and electricity for that now), people still live in some of them, and it is a major tourist attraction.
Being winter, there were only a few other tourists, but luckily for us the local man cooking poffertjes from a tiny cart was there. They were the best of their kind and enjoyed in the sunshine amongst the windmills, it was a superb (albeit contrived for tourists…) Dutch experience.
A couple of days the canals, a great walking tour, repeated trips to the brilliant Foodhallen, and an eye opening visit to the Body Worlds Museum, rounded out our relaxing time in Amsterdam.
