Worldheritage Kinderdijk windmills

Last weekend I had the chance to visit the Worldheritage site Kinderdijk, worldfamous for its windmills in the Dutch landscape. We had friends visiting from Singapore and Abu Dhabi  and seeing windmills was on the top of their list to do when in the Netherlands. I proposed to visit Kinderdijk as there is no other place in the world where there are so many windmills as near this Dutch village.

In the Netherlands there are still about 1000 windmills of which 19 can be found near Kinderdijk. These are well preserved and one windmill is open as a little museum. The mills are located in the Alblasserwaard polders which are located below sea level. The mills drain the excess water from the polders to be sluiced into the river Lek. Nowadays power driven pumps are used to do this job including one of the largest water screw pumping stations in Western Europe.

With the mills also the area is preserved. When arriving in the area you come from a highway and enter an area of villages and industrial areas. My first thought was "how can the mills be in this area?". Because I know from pictures it looks like they are in a very isolated area. But then you drive next to the river and have some really nice houses on the other side. When looking between the houses we got a first glance of the windmills. The houses are built on the dyke, so the area behind is lower in the polders, with the windmills spread here and there. And indeed, it looks isolated although villages and even industrial areas are nearby.

The area is really beautiful. Quiet and green with a lot of water and all these windmills in the horizon. You may rent a bike or just go for a walk to explore the area. The windmill that can be visited is furnished with some typical dutch furniture such as the lamp and tablecloths. You will find some information on how people used to live in the windmill. Further you can go upstairs and peek your head above the stairs in the top of the mill to see the powerful construction.

If you have time you can take a 30 minute boat trip in the area to come nearer to the windmills without too much of walking. Another option which is nice if you have time is to take the boat in Rotterdam to Kinderdijk. You will then have about 1 hour to explore Kinderdijk before the boat will go back to Rotterdam. After enjoying the views of Kinderdijk you will then enjoy the view of the Rotterdam skyline.

Overall I liked the view of the windmills in the green area the most. Together with the possibility to see one mill from inside and a nice souvenir shop and restaurant this makes Kinderdijk a worthy half day trip when coming from Amsterdam.

Visitor information:

For more information visit the website http://www.kinderdijk.com/index.htm

Kinderdijk is about 1 hr by car from Amsterdam.

.

.

The Wadden Sea officially Worldheritage

Last week I wrote about the Unesco Worldheritage sites in the Netherlands. Since yesterday the Wadden Sea is officially appointed as a Worldheritage site too. This is the first nature site of Worldheritage in the Netherlands.

The Wadden Sea is a truly unique habitat in the world. There is no other place in the world with such a dynamic landscape which is so wide and with so much variety as a result of the changing tides. The landscape changes daily. An extensive system of channels and gullies are interspersed with tight sandbanks. You will find mussel beds, nutritious slikwad, vast salt marshes, beaches and dunes but also here and there some waving sea grass. This variation of landscapes is what makes the Wadden Sea a unique habitat. The Wadden Sea is a vital stopover for millions of birds during their trek and more than 10,000 rare plant and animal species find a home here.

"The Wadden Sea (Dutch: Waddenzee, German: Wattenmeer, Low German: Wattensee, Danish: Vadehavet, West Frisian: Waadsee) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern continental Europe and the range of Frisian Islands, forming a shallow body of water with tidal flats and wetlands. It is rich in biological diversity.

The Wadden Sea stretches from Den Helder in the Netherlands in the southwest, past the great river estuaries of Germany to its northern boundary at Skallingen north of Esbjerg in Denmark along a total length of some 500 km and a total area of about 10,000 km².

The islands in the Wadden Sea are called the Wadden Islands or Frisian Islands, named after the Frisians. However, on the westernmost Dutch island, Texel, the Frisian language has not been spoken for centuries. The Danish Wadden Sea Islands have never been inhabited by Frisians. The outlying German island of Heligoland, although ethnically one of the Frisian Islands, is not situated in the Wadden Sea." (Wikipedia)

The best and most spectacular way to explore this beautiful habitat is mudflat hiking (Dutch: Wadlopen). Although mudflat hiking is not dangerous you should only explore the habitat with an experienced guide on your side. They use a detailed tide table to be able to use a period of low water to walk on the watershed of the mudflats. The guide will bring a first aid kit, communication gear (satellite) and a long stick so he can feel how deep a gully is. The guide will explain about the Wadden Sea tides, the musselbanks, birds, seals, little living stuff in the sand and you can even taste some fresh sea grass.

When walking there you experience nature at its best. You have beautiful wide views, feel the sea breeze and if you are lucky you will see seals resting on the sand. Be prepared to cross some gullies through the water. The water will come at your waist or slightly above and you feel your legs being sucked into the mud. You feel the mud even above your knees. Because of the mud it is important to wear shoes which you cannot loss easily in the mud. The Converse All Stars type shoes are best for mudflat hiking. You can buy similar shoes for about 10 Euro when you go for the hike. Watch out you don't slip in the mud! But definately one of your group will do so as it's very slippery from time to time.

If you want to go by daytrip from Amsterdam I suggest you go to Pieterburen. It is a 1,5 hr drive to Pieterburen, you can spend the day there mudflat hiking, visite the seal rehabilitation and research centre and then relax with nice dinner before you go back to Amsterdam.

This is the website for mudflat hiking, which is in Dutch only: http://www.wadlopen-pieterburen.nl/

If you want more information you can contact them on number 0031 (0) 595-528 558 or via email info@beleef-Pieterburen.nl

Seal rehabilitation and research centre: http://www.zeehondencreche.nl/home/home_e.htm
.
.

Worldheritage days 19-20 June 2010

Since the early 1990s the Netherlands has been actively involved in the 1972 World Heritage Convention. The Dutch Lower House ratified the convention in 1992 upon which the Netherlands submitted a Tentative List.

The Dutch Tentative List centres on four topics: The Netherlands – Land of Water, the Republic in the 17th century, the Modern Movement, and Archaeology. The first World Heritage site in the Netherlands was designated in 1995. There are now six World Heritage sites in the Netherlands and one in the Netherlands Antilles.

When visiting the World Heritage sites during the World Heritage weekend you will see that special programs and activities are being organized. It is an excellent opportunity to explore the Dutch World Heritage sites.

For some general information on the Dutch World Heritage sites please go to http://www.werelderfgoed.nl/pages/en.php

Or go to the individual sites:

Schokland

http://www.schokland.nl/pageid=23/EN.html

The Defence line of Amsterdam

http://www.stelling-amsterdam.nl/english/index.html

The mill network of Kinderdijk

http://www.stichting-kinderdijk.nl/

Woudagemaal

http://www.woudagemaal.nl/

The Beemster

http://www.beemsterinfo.nl/

Rietveld-Schröder house

http://www.centraalmuseum.nl/page.ocl?pageid=69&mode=&version==

 

.