Tag: kinderdijk

Amy & Andy’s Excellent Adventure 2026 Part 1 – In Search Of Tulips & Windmills: May 1, 2026

Where We Succeed At Our Second Goal Of Visiting A Working Windmill in Kinderdijk

Today was a weird and confusing day. We had some scenic sailing down a waterway that Google Maps labeled “Waal” on our way to Kinderdijk, where we arrived at 1:00 p.m. We had booked an optional excursion to take a barge down a canal to visit a working windmill. We had done this exact excursion before on the Rhine river cruise a couple of years ago, so we knew what to expect.

Windmill in Gorichem
Gorichem

This was the view from our veranda for the short time we were in Kinderdijk

The green mound across the water from the ship is the dike.

We had a short walk from the ship to the Viking-owned barge that would take us to the windmill.

I don’t remember the story behind this weird thing. That’s a cat standing on the front edge (not a real one)
Functioning windmills along the canal

The windmills pump water from the canal with a higher level of water into the canal with a lower water level.

A draw bridge opened for our barge on our way down the canal.

This is the windmill we visited. The blades have steel edges to allow them to spin faster and more efficiently. The miller said the blades can spin as fast as 140 revolutions/hour, but the most efficient speed is about 100 revolutions/hour. Faster than that and the water starts coming back into the waterwheel.

The miller demonstrated stopping the blades, turning the top of the windmill in case the wind changes direction, and changing the covering on the blades – the more the blades are covered, the faster they will spin.

In this photo, the blade is covered.

Fully covered blade

Andy took these photos inside the windmill:

Teeny sleeping space
The interior is very small
One part of the mill machinery
The dark shadow in the window is the windmill blade swooping by

This visit was just as amazing as the last time a few years ago. Windmills are fascinating.

We had issues with my transport chair on the way back – one of the back wheels keeps falling off. It’s been an issue for a few days now. But I was able to walk all the way back to the ship and Andy carried the transport chair. Emily, our Program Director, met me with a ship’s wheelchair when she saw me heading in the wrong direction! And once back on board and we had set sail for Rotterdam, one of the ship’s engineers fixed the wheel!

We arrived in Rotterdam at 4:30. There was only one excursion available and we hadn’t signed up for it. Andy went for a run, but took no photos – he said Rotterdam is a big city with tall buildings. If there’s an old city center, he didn’t get that far.

We’ll be leaving Rotterdam in about 30 minutes to head to our next port.

Tomorrow: Antwerp (and Brussels, and hopefully CHOCOLATE).