The Netherlands 2 - Kinderdijk & Amsterdam 1

 

We visited Kinderdijk in the morning of Day 2. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Kinderdijk is a Dutch village best known for its 19 perfectly preserved windmills that date back to the mid-1700s. The network of the historic windmills represents a centuries-old water management system built to pump water out of the polders using the power of wind and prevent floods. Controlling water has been the regional mission over a thousand years. The region was a low-lying peat bog, caught between major rivers. In the 11th century, farmers settled the region, working to make the wet landscape habitable and fertile. During the 1300s, a powerful local lord united the region's residents to maintain the entire ring of dikes, laying the foundations for effective local water management. 

Two of the mills, which require a ticket to enter, are preserved as museums to show how millers and their families used to live. Many of the other mills are still privately inhabited. While the modern pumping station has been installed and being in operation, the windmills still work as backups to the water management system. 

We visited one of the museum mills. Climbing up and down the narrow, steep wooden staircases was challenging, but seeing the mill's structure and layout was very interesting.

We walked the dyke paths around the site for a while, which was enjoyable. Being surrounded by a beautiful landscape of water and windmills made me feel at peace. 

We noticed that someone was stretching white canvases over the sails of the windmill down there. All of the four sails were covered with canvases one by one, and began to rotate steadily. We were so lucky to happen to be close to the windmill to watch the moment!

As if under a spell, I could not take my eyes off the rotating windmill although it was simply rotating... 

Kinderdijk was huge. We didn't intend to spend an entire day covering the whole site on foot, so we headed toward the entrance/exit after taking a nice long walk and plenty of great photos.

We were lucky again to see a traditional wooden drawbridge being raised to allow a tour boat to pass through. 

After leaving Kinderdijk, we arrived in Amsterdam. Even more water views awaited us! 

Amsterdam’s iconic 17th-century canal ring (Grachtengordel) features 165 waterways spanning over 100 kilometers, 90 islands, and over 1,200 bridges. Seeing the canals alongside rows of the city's symbolic, tall, and narrow canal houses let me know exactly where we were.

It was time for lunch! I think we missed breakfast, so it was actually brunch. We visited Stamppot Amsterdam, a restaurant that specializes in stamppot, as the name says. Stamppot is a traditional Dutch dish consisting of potatoes mashed with one or more vegetables and typically topped with smoked sausage.

For appetizers, we shared two Dutch specialties. One was Bitterballen - deep-fried, crispy breaded balls, filled with a thick, savory meat ragu and served with sharp mustard. The texture of the filling was soft, almost gooey, which was unexpected. They were a completely new kind of meatballs for me. The other was Erwtensoep - a thick, hearty split pea soup, packed with pork, celery, and onions, served with a slice of rye bread and bacon. It was similar to a classic American split pea soup.  

We both ordered Stamppot Saurkraut, a classic stamppot - mashed potatoes mixed with sauerkraut, served with smoked sausage from Van Hees, a catering butcher based in Amsterdam founded in 1930. The dish looked and tasted just as described - very rich and hearty. We were completely stuffed. By the way, other options of vegetable in mashed potatoes were kale, endive, spinach, broccoli, and leek; other meat toppings were meatball and chuck steak. I would like to try Stamppot Endive with a homemade meatball next time.

We needed to walk around after our heavy meaty lunch so that we could have dessert later.  

There was a miffy store! Hello, miffy!

The clock tower standing at the busy intersection was the Munttoren or the Mint Tower. It was originally built in the 15th century as part of a city gate for the Medieval city walls. In the 17th century, the city gate was destroyed by fire and only one tower was rebuilt and used as a mint, where coins were made. 

A lesson learned in Amsterdam: Pay attention to cyclists zooming down every street - even more than cars - while walking around the city! 

We happened to be walking in front of Hans Egstorf, a historic Stroopwafel bakery, so we checked it out, of course. 

There were dozens of waffle doughs. Two waffle machines were fully active making fresh waffles. The small shop was full of the sweet smell of Stroopwafel!

We bought one to share and the lady at the store kindly halved it for us. It was literally freshly baked and filled with caramel sauce. The waffle was still warm and soft; the caramel was runny. So delicious!  

We went to see the 17th-century canal house where the Frank family hid from 1942 to 1944. Today, the house is a biographical museum and historic site that preserves the empty rooms of the hiding place and displays personal effects, documents, and historical objects from that period, including Anne's original diary along with other notebooks. The museum is one of the most-visited museums in the city. We didn't have a chance to enter the museum this time, hoping we do next time.

The large red brick building was Amsterdam Central Station. The exterior of the station, built in the late-19th century, was designed in Neo-Renaissance and Gothic Revival styles, making it famous for its palace or cathedral-like appearance. The building reminded me of Tokyo Station. Built in the early 20th century, it is widely noted for its striking resemblance to Amsterdam Central Station, although the Japanese architect never clearly stated that Tokyo Station was a direct replica. 

To be continued...