A Visit to the Country

Although it rained yesterday, today was beautiful and we joined a small day tour to visit the surrounding countryside to see the dikes, old towns and, of course, tulips.

It was interesting to learn the history of how they reclaimed the land and the ongoing management to this very day. We stopped at a working windmill to learn how they pump the water up multiple levels and eventually, the sea. A bit of trivia for you... if the windmill blades are stopped as a cross (+), then the windmill is still operational. If the blades are stopped as an x, the windmill is not in use.

There were originally 10,000 windmills in the Netherlands, but today there is less than 1,000. Interesting that despite their size, they windmills are easily dismantled and can be transported somewhere else where they're needed.Read more