Our top priority in the Netherlands wasn't Amsterdam, but a tiny village in the middle of nowhere. Many tourists to the Netherlands have seen its photo on brochures without knowing it. Few know its name, and sadly even fewer come to visit this UNESCO World Heritage Site known as Kinderdijk. We arrived here on Day 3 of our journey, on a moving day from Amsterdam towards Brussels.
Finding our way there proved slightly confusing -- the official website suggests either taking Bus 90 from Rotterdam Zuidplein, or the Waterbus from Rotterdam Erasmusbrug ending with a 30-minute walk at the end of the boat trip. We chose the Waterbus, partly for the bonus of a scenic cruise alongside Rotterdam’s renowned waterfront architecture, and partly because a Day Ticket (12.5 Euros at time of writing) already includes admission into Kinderdijk (regularly 6 Euros).
The confusing part -- and the fun part -- was that we didn't need to walk 30 minutes as there's a more efficient connection on weekdays. Long story short, we got off the boat at Ridderkerk at the advice of the Waterbus staff, took a quick connection ferry known as the Driehoeksveer (free with the Waterbus Day Ticket) and ended up a mere 7-minute walk from the windmills. Given such convenient public transport it's a wonder why this place isn't more popular with independent travelers. On this day we were the only non-locals on the connecting ferry.
No brochure or photo album was enough to prepare me for that stunning first sight -- we're suddenly ambushed on all sides by the largest ensemble of 18th Century windmills in the world. I still vividly remember the sheep manure in the air, the dilapidated medieval canals, the waving of long grasses in the gust, and giants windmills virtually everywhere we turned. One would be hard pressed to find a more representatively Dutch landscape than this.
Frankly I didn’t fully appreciate how ginormous these historic windmills stood until arriving at their feet -- close to 20m in height with the tips of the sails spanning about 30m. Visitors were few on this chilly Monday in early September and we shared the Museum Windmill with only a few independent travelers. This was a good thing as the multi-national groups of organized tours would start to show up a little later in the afternoon.
Even after 300 years of storms, floods and human-caused fires the windmill remains in working condition, though the chore of draining the polders has been delegated to the nearby pumping station. The living quarters are exactly how the last inhabitant left it, barely 60 years in the past. Breathtaking views (after climbing 4 levels to the top!) of the neighboring windmills amid lush green fields and grazing sheep awaits the visitor at the top floor.
Up to this point the miller, in his dirty overalls and bright yellow clogs, had been quietly sitting on his little bench outside his mill. Suddenly he got up and climbed on top of this gigantic wooden frame at the side of the mill and started tightening the wheel with his feet. It wasn’t apparent at first what he was doing until we looked up and realized ... the windmill had stopped.
At first I thought it was some sort of scheduled demonstration, but the miller proceeded to chain the wooden frame onto the ground anchors and strip off all the sailcloth. It was then clear that windmill would be immobilized for the rest of the day.
Within 5 minutes came the heavy rain, with increasing intensity and raging gusty winds at times for the rest of the afternoon. While we stood by and admired the miller's wisdom, the lady at the neighboring ticket booth smile at us and said, "He knows," pointing at the head.
The rained came down hard as the miller had anticipated. We took the half-hour boat cruise down the middle canal just to hide from the downpour, popping up to the deck at times to snap a quick picture before going back down to wipe the camera lens. It certainly wasn't the weather we expected.
Note that the windmills are scattered along a long dyke with the farthest windmill being 2km away from the entrance, and you won't find any food aside from a little souvenir stand/cafe at the entrance. The closest restaurants in the adjacent village (Buena Vista and De Klok) are about 10 minutes walk outside of the entrance. As we didn't want to waste time walking back and forth, our lunch on this day were the typical Dutch fast food -- Kroket Broodje and some organic cherry tomatoes we picked up at the Albert Heijn at Rotterdam Centraal.
Our trusty Waterbus returned us to Rotterdam Erasmusbrug, and back to the 21st Century, by 16:00. With nearly 3 hours left before our reserved Thalys train to Brussels, there was still time to visit another one of Rotterdam's most recognizable landmarks.
It's impossible to miss the forest of yellow cubist houses stepping out of the Blaak metro station. The Kubuswoning is one of those rare pieces of architecture that still looks absolutely cutting edge even after three decades of use. Most of the cubes are still occupied by families and small shops, and one section has even been converted into a youth hostel.
We made it to the show room before the closing time of 17:00. The hexagonal trunks and tilted cube may look cute, but one can understand why it never reached the level of popular adoption that Piet Blom intended ... what buyer would give up 25% of usable living space and spend extra money and effort on custom-made furniture for every room?
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