Kinderdijk. Home to Windmills windmills windmills!
Today is the last excursion for this cruise. Tomorrow the Viking Vidar ends its voyage in Amsterdam. Yesterday was sunny and warm in Germany- today we crossed the border into the Netherlands and cold,wind and rain greeted us.
Our tour today is on a vintage barge along the canals looking at windmills. Happy we have a roof over our heads and window to stop the wind.
And water everywhere!
This mill had a paddle wheel along the side to help with pumping water. There are still millers who live in each of the thirty mills here. They must continue to mill 60,000 rotations of their windmills yearly to remain able to life in their mill. Our guide lives in a mill thirty miles away but was raised in a windmill and has spent her life qualifying to be a miller. It is a 2-3 year process and has testing all along the way. Milling is a skill handed down from parent to child. Each windmill had a smaller model sitting in the yard that would be used to teach each child in the family ( like homeschooling 😀)
Many families from the 18th century on have lived in these mills- often consisting of more than five children! In at least one instance there were 13 children in a family
After looking inside the mill, I think that would be the definition of togetherness!
Parent’s bed
Parents bedroom
Living space
Kitchen
Child’s bed
Living space
Front entry
This mill was built in 1700’s. All the mills here were built in a two year period so that water could be pumped over a dike into a larger area and land could be reclaimed for farming. The entire country is two meters below sea level!
A nice old boat
Goats were for milk and cheese- only ate when old
Storage shed made of willow
The gardens
The kitchen was outside in its own building because of the fire risk.
the story of how the area got named: a miller had a cat, miller got married and had a child. There was a flood- miller and wife got safely out- baby floated in its basket and the cat jumped on to balance the basket so baby didn’t drown till floated to safety- hence name
KinderdijkClassic picture for the travel guide
Happy cold travelers
And water everywhere!
Parents bedroom
Living space
Kitchen
Child’s bed
Living space 
Front entry
A nice old boat
Goats were for milk and cheese- only ate when old
Storage shed made of willow
The gardens
The kitchen was outside in its own building because of the fire risk.
the story of how the area got named: a miller had a cat, miller got married and had a child. There was a flood- miller and wife got safely out- baby floated in its basket and the cat jumped on to balance the basket so baby didn’t drown till floated to safety- hence name Kinderdijk
Happy cold travelers
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