This morning we didn't have a city walk because we visited 19 famous windmills that were built along the river in Kinderdijk in approximately 1740. We are six feet below sea level. These canals drain the city and these windmills pump the water from these canals into huge holding basins which you can't see in this photo. The basins are then released into the rivers outside the levees when the sea tides are low.(gravity flow through huge gates)
This is the oldest of the windmills whose style is older than that of the others. It is supported by Grand Circle Foundation, created by the company we traveled with.
We were able to tour one of the windmills. Close quarters, especially for the families who live in them!
We are standing in front of the windmill we toured. The blades on these mills are steel but the canvass is put down or rolled up like a "sail" to make it turn.
Big shoes to fill!.
Then we cruised to Willemstad, where we boarded another bus for the Delta Works, a restoration project known worldwide for its hydro-engineering, begun after flooding devastated Holland in 1953. What was once a collection of islands are now connected and protected by a series of dams, dikes and bridges.
We are walking under the roadway which is used as a museum explaining how the Delta Works were built.
We were then able to walk along the outside of the works, along the underside of the road. This picture is looking to the North Sea.
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