We've become used to the sight of windmills once again. They turn up in many different locations around the world, as they quietly turn the breeze into energy. You can find them everywhere from mountains to seas.
Kinderdijk has windmills, a bunch of them. But this is a different story, because they are old. Ancient, even, as in 1740 or so. Older than the United States of America is as a country.
The Netherlands is something of the swampland of Europe, since a lot of water drains down into the region. That's given the Dutch a problem over the years - the land tends to get wet. In Kinderdijk, the solution was to use windmills to pump the water away in order for the land to stay dry. There are 19 of them.
It's a different sort of tourist attraction. People do live in the windmills, although the little chores like going to the grocery store take on something of a different meaning since it's a little tough to get around. A boat tour usually starts the visit, and it concludes with a stop at an actual working windmill. The facility is a little cramped for those bigger than a 10-year-old, but it's still worth the effort to see one from the inside. By the way, keep an eye out for birds that are perched on one of the blades. They can be spaced out evenly, like the stereotyped "birds on a wire" concept but with a twist.
One photo doesn't get the point of the place across.
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