Kinderdijk

Kinderdijk has been one of the places I've been wanting to visit since I arrived in Holland two years ago. Holland is known for their windmills and good dike systems that's why this is one of the places that tourists go for in this country. 

It was my husband's birthday yesterday. Clueless me, they planned to surprise me by bringing me there. I never even a single moment felt they were upto something. It was funny inside the car they were trying to distract my attention by pointing some things to me at different directions so that I won't see anything that will give me an idea where we are actually going. Because what I know is we are only going to Amsterdam.

As we arrived there I was still clueless because I thought we were just passing by and then I saw the sign Kinderdijk. And then Jasper said: Surprise!! with a big smile. I was really shocked that their mom thought of that surprise for me. I was really touched and happy that finally I have been here and it was more memorable and worthwhile because they are with me  to experience this beautiful place and one of UNESCO's world heritage list. 

It was not really a good weather when we went, it rained almost the entire time we were there. Good thing Peter's mom was prepared and had raincoats for the four of us. So we decided to take the boat tour because of the rain and it was really nice to see the windmills from the boat.

Most of the windmills look the same and they are 19 in total but there was one windmill or Molen in dutch that is different from all. To tell you a little bit of what are there function is to prevent the water from overflowing that will cause flood in Holland. "The Netherlands means "the low lands". The land only rises, on average, 1 meter above the sea level. One third of the land is below sea level. As what they say : "God created the world but dutch created the Netherlands." So dutch people really made a great work which is known worldwide and copied how they make great dike systems.

I learned so much from the history of this place while we were in the boat because Jasper and Netty also knows a lot of facts of the windmills, the functions, symbols, what is it made of, etc.

Picture with the colorful umbrella :)

I noticed it seems like some people are living in the Molens already. What a unique kind of home it sure is to live in! :)

It took 30 minutes for the tour and luckily the rain stopped so we also walked towards the windmills. You can also tour the place by renting a bike for a day. 

This is our boat and below is where the main entrance and the port for the boat

The three spiral things replaced the function of the windmills 

Before we enter the molen I took some snapshots from outside :)

And then we went to see inside the molen. I think it's 6 euro per person plus you can watch a movie about Kinderdijk at a different building.

On our way to the Windmill :) getting closer and closer

Inside the Molen, big machines are operating and you can notice right away as you enter and there are little stairs going up and little rooms for kitchen and rooms. You can really see how simple people here lived before.

I was shocked how small the rooms are plus I didn't expect that even they have small space but the whole windmill has a lot of rooms and areas for the family and it was three floors and the 4th floor is where a major part of the machine to make the windmill work and it is off limits. There were a lot of very small stairs so it was hard to go up and down.

This is between the whole house to make the windmill spin

This is in the fourth floor

There are miniatures of the old windmill models also

The tiny stairs.

The view from outside was splendid also

This is found outside connected to the roofs of the Molen so that they can turn it for wind direction.

Lovely souvenirs :) And you can buy a lot more choices there

Mine is a cute coin

So after the tour of the Windmill we went to watch the movie and it was really informative and creative and you will know why when you go there. It reminded me of a N'SYNC concert. 

To know more facts of this place visit: http://www.kinderdijk.nl/

This place is really worth a visit. I would definitely come back here during winter time because I saw nice pictures during this season. I am really thankful for Netty for this wonderful surprise. It felt like it was my birthday! :)

Thank you for reading my blog. I wish you all a great day.