1 VIKING TRAVELOG GRAND EUROPEAN RIVER CRUISE RHINE-MAIN-DANUBE RIVERS DAY 2 – KINDERDIJK (Windmills) Our Viking Vali Longship

VIKING TRAVELOG GRAND EUROPEAN RIVER CRUISE RHINE-MAIN-DANUBE RIVERS

Our Viking Vali longship docked alongside several sturdy posts where a long metal walkway was provided for tourists to disembark onto the elevated dike that formed a barrier for the river Lek. In the cruise documents booklet that we received in the mail, the two hour excursion to Kinderdijk was described this way:

“See the picturesque Dutch countryside and the original technological marvels of historic Kinderdijk, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You will walk with your guide into the serene polder lands of South Holland. As you cross the dike to the windmills, you will notice that they in fact are at a lower elevation than your 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. You will learn why they were built and see firsthand how they work, even stepping into a working windmill to observe its mechanics and living quarters.”

In the distance we could see several of the remarkably preserved 18th century windmills.

Along the river Lek we could see the village community of Kinderdijk.

A local guide named Jos (pronounced “Yos) met our designated group on the embankment and helped us cross the road to begin our tour of the windmills area on a paved path alongside a canal.

Our guide told us that “a polder is an area below sea level surrounded by dikes.” He led us to a building with a sign saying “De Overwaard”, an old pumping station. 3

Standing silently beside the glistening waters of the Kinderdijk basins, a monumental structure serves as the pivotal link between the historical windmills of ages past, and the twin modern pumping stations facing them along the river dike. This is the stately Wisboom pumping station, where once, the unique Kinderdijk approach to water management started to pick up steam to face the future. Its beating heart was originally made up of a wheezing, thumping steam engine. Later on, as technological insights advanced, this steam-powered heart was replaced by a whirring electrical engine. https://www.kinderdijk.com/activities/general/wisboom-visitors-centre/

the Canal

Inside the (De Overwaard) Wisboom Visitor’s center, our guide Jos told us some history of the windmills: “In the 1100’s, the first people settled here in the swamps, and they created a few hills, put a house on it, and kept animals. They made parallel ditches to get rid of the water, brought into canals, then into the river. Besides ditches, they built dikes. Some say the name Kinderdijk comes from the fact that there were lots of children. “In 1738 we created the windmills here, and in 1868 we started using steam power instead of wind power. Finally, in 1924 we converted into an electric pumping station. Windmills are not needed anymore for water management because we have pumping stations. There are two main canals which bring the water to Kinderdijk, where the pumping stations are located. The windmills are still functional, like a back-up system.”

Picture of a miller maintaining a windmill.

Our guide Jos showed us a cross-section of a typical windmill at Kinderdijk. The cross-section showed a cylindrical construction, where a cap can turn in a full circle according to wind direction. Inside there are wheels with gears, and a scoop wheel. The gears are made of wood, with about 44 teeth. The gears need to be replaced every seven years, but if you use the other side and then turn it upside down also, it would be about 30 years before replacement was necessary. The sail was like a big cross, with the amount of sail used being determined by the speed of the wind. Different species of hardwood were used to create the wheels, especially oak and spruce, which were imported. The miller had to maintain the big machine. The parents lived on the ground floor, and the children on the 1st or 2nd floor.

Two electric motors were located inside the visitors’ center.

The canal alongside which the 19 iconic windmills were built. The ancient windmills that are still intact today are used mostly to decorate the landscape (for tourists).

A short walk to a functional windmill, and a tour inside the different levels of the windmill.

The guide Jos points out a windmill without one sail, which needed to be repaired. He also pointed out the date below the cap – 1738 – the year the windmill was built. The size of the sail (from end to end) was about 28 meters (90 feet).

This was the windmill we would visit and go inside.

Welcome to Museum windmill Nederwaard. Find out what it is like to live in a windmill.

The 9 euros it cost to get inside the Museum Mill (Windmill) was already included in our tour.

We were shown the external gear (wheel) for windmill operation (at the back of the windmill).

The miller of the windmill (in yellow clogs) showed us how he operated the huge gear wheel to control the windmill blades (sails) similar to how a ship’s wheel steers a sailboat.

The inside of the windmill was like a museum, with the living quarters fully furnished.

We had to climb several steep steps to get to the levels above the ground floor. https://youtu.be/aMdiMhmhK1E

Fishing nets and traps.

Family portrait.

Scoop wheel. The wooden windmills of the Overwaard (1740) use a scoop wheel to pump water from the Lower Basin to the Upper Basin. Inside is enough space for a miller and his entire family. https://www.kinderdijk.com/discover/the- story/windmills-pumps/

“Tilting at windmills”? The expression 'tilting at windmills' derives from Cervantes' Don Quixote - first published in 1604, under the title The Ingenious Knight of La Mancha. The novel recounts the exploits of would-be knight 'Don Quixote' and his loyal servant Sancho Panza who propose to fight injustice through chivalry. In the book, which also gives us the adjective quixotic (striving for visionary ideals), the eponymous hero imagines himself to be fighting giants when he attacks windmills. https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/tilting-at-windmills.html

\ https://youtu.be/c-5n-xNgfUQ ( 0:19 ) The Windmills of Kinderdijk, with guide Jos

I pose with the tour guide Jos (pronounced “Yos”).

A family of ducks leisurely pass by us as we are enchanted by their presence.

On the way back to the Viking longship, someone asked a question about the boy and the dike story. Jos said it was an American fiction. However, another story seemed to have credence in Dutch folklore, and even possibly gave rise to the name Kinderdijk (Children dike).

During the Saint Elizabeth flood of 1421, the Grote Hollandse Waard flooded, but the Alblasserwaard polder stayed unflooded. It is often said that when the horrendous storm had subsided, a villager went to the dike between these two areas to inspect what could be salvaged. In the distance he saw a wooden cradle floating on the water. As it came nearer, some movement was noted, and upon closer investigation, a cat was found, trying to keep it in balance by leaping back and forth in such a manner that water couldn't flood the cradle. As the cradle eventually came close enough to the dike for a bystander to pick up the cradle, he saw that a baby was quietly sleeping inside it, nice and dry. The cat had kept the cradle balanced and afloat. This folktale and legend has been published as "The Cat and the Cradle" in English. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windmills_at_Kinderdijk

On our journey away from the town Kinderdijk (population 800-900 people), I noticed a Kinderdijk ferry taking cars and passengers across the river.

After the interesting excursion at the Kinderdijk windmills, we watched as the Viking longship continued on its journey to join the Rhine River.

When I checked the Ship Tracker, I saw that the Viking Vali was sailing past Dordrecht, and would soon join the Rhine River.

Lucas, the restaurant manager, had a fun time with our table during lunchtime. Somehow he managed to get into the picture that Elsa and I were saying cheers to the new beer that was brought to our table. When we asked for a good German beer, he brought us Gaffel Kolsch. Kolsch beer can only be brewed within the city of Cologne. As the best-known kolsch brewery, Gaffel’s flavor is derived from an ale yeast that is "lagered" (or aged) in cold cellars. Gaffel is pale, faintly fruity with a crisp, hop finish.

Throughout the rest of the afternoon I would run up to the top deck to take a photo of an interesting view, like a bridge or a picturesque village or town that we were passing by.

As part of the hospitality extended towards the cruise passengers, a tour of the Captain’s wheelhouse was given to those who were interested. I was interested in seeing where the captain steered the longship. We were shown the radar screens and the joystick that the captain used at his right hand to steer the boat. There was no wheel in the “Wheelhouse.”

Afterwards I took a picture with the first officer L. Dimitrov and the chief engineer Catalin Cimpeanu.

There were a lot of barges on the river. One interesting barge carrying new cars caught my eye.

We not only passed picturesque towns along the river; we also passed industrial cities and interesting buildings.

Towards evening, our program director Stephen Guy introduced us to the main people on the longship: The captain, Georgi Iliev; the hotel manager, Eddie Ropotan; the chief engineer, Catalin Cimpeanu; the executive chef, Tamas Szekszardi; the Maitre D’, Lukas Noskovic; the Housekeeper, Alexandra Ripa; and Guest Services, Costel Maracine. Afterwards, Stephen gave us a port report: we would cross the border into Germany sometime around 8pm. We would arrive in Cologne about 9:30am.

Evening entertainment was provided after dinner from 9:00pm until 11:00pm. I stayed for a while and listened to a man playing a piano and a lady singing with him. They were the resident musicians called “Jazz Bite.” However, I was anxious to get to sleep and be up early in the morning so that I could see the Viking Vali arriving in Cologne.

Resources: https://www.vikingrivercruises.com/cruise-destinations/europe/grand-european- tour/2020-budapest-amsterdam/index.html (Excursions) https://www.kinderdijk.com/latest-news/news/kinderdijk-unesco-world-heritage-fully- open-for-business-again/ (Kinderdijk, UNESCO world heritage center) http://www.texva.com/holland/The%20Dutch%20Windmill.htm (The Dutch Windmill, author Frederick Stokhuyzen (1891-1976) https://youtu.be/-zDauA9QEkQ (9:14) You Tube video HOLLAND: Kinderdijk -19 Dutch windmills [HD]

https://youtu.be/c-5n-xNgfUQ ( 0:19 ) The Windmills of Kinderdijk, with guide Jos