Netherlands Tidbits

Things I learned on my tour.

First lesson, Nether Lands means low lands. Most of the country is either below sea level or at sea level.

Road tax is high and based on the size of the car and the type of fuel. Roads are nice and smooth and open.

Windmills are used to lift and remove water. Unlike some other places where wind is used to turn mills or crush grain.

After August the wind starts up, it is a very windy country most of the year.

I never realized that the blades of a windmill actually have material on them to help them catch the wind, and they are scooped like a sale, further increasing their wind resistance. Most windmills in the Netherlands are for lifting and removing water, some, like the colorful windmill in these photos, it’s actually used for grinding pigment for paint. According to the sign view, windmills are used today for this purpose, but it was the same purpose, and created the same paint, used by the Dutch Masters. One of the other things I like about these images, is the man trimming the grass, with the mechanical trimmer. He doesn’t even need to bend down, and he’s even wearing clogs.

And you can make beer from cheese whey. Whey is the floating water that comes during the cheese making process. The curds sink and become cheese, the whey floats and can become beer. It didn’t taste like cheese but was a bit tart.

~travels with PamRead more