Netherlands: June 1st, 2013

Our first trip to the Netherlands with the boys included windmills, bikes, and cheese.   We stopped in Kinderdijk, an easy 2 hour 15 minute drive from our home.   Kinderdijk is not far from Rotterdam and is an UNESCO World Heritage Site.  There are 19 windmills in a relatively short span.  We spent this chilly morning riding bikes around them. 

KINDERDIJK

 

"There were two old men who lived in a shoe..."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ready to ride!

 

 

 

Pretty!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good thing we brought our helmets!  We had two kid crashes that included a crunched leg and another with a hill & a tree.  Luckily no one swerved off the path and into the water. 

All were ok in the end!  :)

 

 

 

There is no other place in Holland where you will see this many windmills clustered together.

 

 

 

 

 

The windmills have many levels.  The common rooms were on the main level with bedrooms above.  The beds were built-in and usually had 3 children in one bed.   

 

 

 

These windmills pumped the water out of the land. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GOUDA

 

 

From Kinderdijk, we drove (and took a car ferry) to Gouda.  Thirty minutes later, we were there.   Gouda is a quaint, canal town and most famous for their cheese.  We stopped for lunch, toured the Gouda Cheese Museum, and ventured in and out of shops. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty town

 

 

 

Ahh...Gouda is GOOD!

 

 

 

 

 

You know it~ bikes are everywhere!

 

 

 

Gouda's Markt & Weigh-house

(with a market coincidentally going on  ;)

 

The Markt was where the cheese was weighed.  This was essential in order for taxes to be levied on the cheese. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That night, we enjoyed 2 Gouda cheeses:  jeune (young) and an herb along with a fantastic Malbec!

 

 

 

 

This label proves that the cheese is from a local farmer.  Without it, you are probably sampling a commercial made cheese.