Nasty weather, but a good day

The forecast for today was for cold, and windy weather this morning - turning to cold, windy and wet in the afternoon. It sure lived up to that forecast!

Kinderdijk is one of those places that you just have to see, at least once. The principle of raising water to successive levels is not unusual, but doing it on such a large scale, and having the mills survive, is really a big deal. The temperatures were cold and it was very windy, but at least it wasn't raining!

As we were walking down to the entrance I was wondering how one might update the traditional windmill to do the same job without using electricity the way we do today. Direct wind power seems like it could be more efficient. Well, the first thing we saw may be part of the answer - a pair of modern archimedes screws, still actively in use to move water up and into a higher canal. These are driven by electric motors, but you can certainly get a feeling for how efficient they are as you watch the water move up the screw.

In the late 1800's and early 1900's the windmills were replaced with steam powered pumps like this. They certainly reduced the manpower requirement compared to the traditional mill. In the background is a model of a whipwatermolen, like de Trouwe Wachter in Tienhoven.

Even in nasty weather, the sight of so many identical mills is pretty impressive.

Looking our from near the top of one of the mills

This is the main gear at the bottom of the mill where it meets up with the gear on the screw to actually pump the water.

After Kinderdijk we headed for Leiden, where the weather went from cold and windy to cold, windy, and wet!

Ribbels is a great little yarn shop that is located on a narrow shopping street.

 

After leaving Ribbels, we headed off for Rijksmuseum van Oudheden to learn something about early and medieval Dutch history, but had to stop to consult the map in the phone. Fortunately, St. Pieterskerk was open and at just the right place to provide some shelter. A pretty impressive place that would have been neat to spend some additional time in.

The museum turned out to be right around the corner, but through an unmarked archway first! They have some very interesting displays on the things that have been found by archaeologists which tell the story of some of the earliest times. One of the things they highlight is how both Egypt and the Netherlands were part of the same empire, something I hadn't really considered before.

After the museum, it was time for coffee, pannenkoeken, more coffee, and tiramisu at the Oudt Leyden Pannenkoek restaurant. It's good for us that we can't take this place home with us. The scale would be showing us numbers that we don't like because we'd come here too often!

Inside the dining room of the Oudt Leyden Pannenkoek restaurant. A very friendly and cozy place, with a great staff, and the best pannenkoeken around!

After dinner, looking out at downtown Leiden as we waited for the shuttle back to the park & ride.

Today's beer report - Hertog Jan "Grand Prestige." 10% alcohol content. A very mellow, dark beer with a slight edge to it that makes it very tasty. I can tell already that I'm going to miss this one once the 5 bottles I'm bringing home are gone. It's a good thing it says I can store it a long time!

From the bottle: "Grand Prestige is also called 'Barley Wine', and not only because of the high alcohol content, but also because of the ripe, full flavored, sweet and bitter flavors which clearly distinguished it as a good wine. You can save it for quite a while, then enjoy Grande Prestige at your leisure."

Harm - you were absolutely right about this one! Definitely one to "sit and enjoy"! Thanks!