Day 50~ Monday August 19, 2019 Kinderdijk, The Netherlands on the Viking European River Cruise

Windmills, Windmills, Windmills a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 
 Kinderdijk, located 15 miles east of Rotterdam, is a UNESCO-listed site that boasts 19 pristinely preserved windmills. The windmills were erected in the 1600s to drain the Alblasserwaard polders, which had suffered floods since the 13th century. One such flood, the Saint Elizabeth Flood of 1421, is both the source of the name Kinderdijk and of the associated fairy tale, "The Cat and the Cradle": after the storm, a wooden cradle was spotted on the flood waters, in which a cat jumped to and from to keep the cradle afloat.
When the cradle approached the dry land of the dyke, the locals discovered a baby inside -- hence the name Kinderdijk, Dutch for "children's dyke. "
So a little bit of history of this region. 
As you cross the dike to the windmills, we notice that they in fact are at a lower elevation than our ship, as much of this part of The Netherlands is below sea level. Built in the mid-18th century, these 19 windmills, the largest concentration in The Netherlands, stand like sentinels on a hushed landscape. We also learned why they were built and see firsthand how they work, even stepping into a working windmill to observe its mechanics and living quarters. Families who live in these mills are required to keep them in working order. This excursion provided a revealing look at these marvelous buildings that helped shape the legendary Dutch landscape.  Great first tour Thanks Viking...

The first of many locks to come that we went thorough last night

 

It is said that "windmills built the Netherlands"  Without windmills water could not have been drained away from the flat marshy lands of Holland and farmers could not have grown fruit veggies or Tulips.  Now we are onto Cologne Germany.

 

Nautical term for today   Leeway ...

The "weather" side of a ship is the side from which the wind is blowing.  The "Lee" side is the side of the ship that is sheltered from the wind.  A "lee shore " is a shore that is downwind of a ship.  If a ship does not have enough "leeway" it is in danger of being driven onto shore.

Thanks for joining us on this River Cruise.  Bob & Leslee