Windmills and Cheese Wheels

Thursday morning, we were up bright and early as we had important touring to do.  The groom's father (B's uncle) had planned a full-day excursion for our side of the family and friends to see some iconic sites just outside of Amsterdam.  With a deadline of being back in the city and ready for a cocktail party thrown by the bride's side of the family at 7 pm, we needed to get an early start.  And getting 80+ people to meet up before 8 am, in a foreign city where no one knows the directions, can be a bit of a chore.  But we managed, and our bus was on the road just a few minutes late.

Our first stop - the UNESCO protected village of Kinderdijk. 

With over 40% of all land in the Netherlands below sea level, the Dutch have become experts at battling the encroaching sea that keeps trying to put them under.  Over the millennia, they have devised environmentally friendly dikes, windmills, and sluices to keep water at bay and their feet dry.  And their expertise is never more apparent than at the Kinderdijk, and you won't find anything like it anywhere else in the world (literally).

Construction in the area began in the Middle ages, and by 1740 all 19 of the present windmills were completed.  But that doesn't mean the work was done; not by a long shot.  Construction continues to this day, as it has uninterruptedly since the very first day.  Today, the site allows visitors to experience all of the features of technology the Dutch have perfected over thousands of years and includes reservoirs, pumping stations, administrative buildings and, of course, the windmills. 

As Dutch as Dutch can get.

We were a reasonably large group!

 We all stopped for a dutch treat - Poffertjes are like a fluffy pancake served sprinkled with powdered sugar.  And Beto, as always, had ice cream.

Photo ops with the cousins, the bride and groom and we stopped to learn a few things along the way before we got to climb to the top of one of the windmills.

We piled back into the bus and headed off to our second destination - the city of Gouda.  Yep, just like the cheese.  Nope, not pronounced like that though (I am assuming you are not Dutch - if you are, you probably got it right).  Turns out I (and probably you) have been pronouncing it wrong all of these years.  It is in fact pronounced gHOW-duh (click here for a sampling of how to do it right).  Now that we all know how to pronounce it, we might still want to go back to saying goo-da, so people will understand what we are talking about.

We didn't have much time to explore the city since we had lunch reservations and then had to hightail it back to Amsterdam since we still had that cocktail party to get ready for.  But I did get to snap some pictures and learn a bit of history as we walked to lunch.

Cheese wheel decorations!

The old City Hall.  Back in the day, cities could be granted the rights to weighing and selling a type of cheese.  Gouda was one of them.  You can still bring your giant wheels of Gouda to the town square on Thursday afternoon for weighing and then try to sell it to the passersby.  We just missed them as they were packing up as we came by.

The older cousins.

After a fabulous lunch, which of course included lots of Gouda, we all napped on the bus ride back to town.  All of that fresh air and cultural learning can really wear you out.  Which was just fine with all of us because we had another round ahead of us in just over an hour.