The Classic Windmills of Kinderdijk / 经典的荷兰风车村

Windmills of Kinderdijk

Whenever one thinks of Holland, it would not be far fetched to assume gorgeous meadows of windmills may come to mind. So whilst in Rotterdam, our good friend @bkdbkd suggested taking us to see the windmills of Kinderdijk. I am so grateful for that idea of hers as it turned out to be totally worth it.

It wasn’t a particular sunny day or anything, but at least it didn’t rain. @exyle drove us from his home, where we soon took a short ferry ride across the river. No traffic along the way too which is always a big plus point (in comparison to how clogged London can be, lol).

We arrived at the beautiful heritage site in the village of Kinderdijk and it was amazing! This is the largest concentration of old, traditional windmills in the Netherlands and also one of the best known Dutch tourist sites.

Many of you may already know this, but historically windmills in Holland were used for pumping water out of the lowlands and back into the river beyond the dikes so that the land could be farmed. It is such a scenic and calming iconic representation of Dutch water management and control.

A collection of 19 conventional windmills set in an authentic Dutch landscape, was really eye-catching. There was a souvenir shop on-site as well as river cruise boat excursions which began right along side where we were. It is also possible to hire a tour guide if you really want to learn about the history behind this fascinating place. Though I did find out that apparently most of those windmills are still working today and some have even been converted into private residences!

A few people rode bikes along the dirt trails beside us. But we did enjoy the walk next to the stretching canal, even though their was quite a strong wind beating against us. You are guaranteed to fill your camera with pictures of this beautiful and idyllic spot. So far, a great day out and lots of fun!

(@exyle and @ezzy - these two giants looked so small in front of the windmills behind them, lol.)

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Unfortunately, during the walk it started to rain very heavily in addition to the wind and cold picking up. We had no choice but to go running back to the car!

It would have been nice to see the architectural designs on the inside of the windmills to learn more about their history. But there is always next time and I am sure we will be back soon!

Kinderdijk is a must visit, consisting of beautiful windmills with that "classic" Dutch" flare.

Eetcafe Plus Breeka

We drove back to Rotterdam and stopped off at a lovely café on the road between Krimpen and Schoonhoven. The place is called Eetcafe Plus Breeka. From the outside it looks more like a truckers stop-over, but is really nice and cosy once inside. It was interesting to see all those miniature ornamental pieces scattered around.

It was a cool surprise that there were English menu's available, lol. In fact, pretty much everyone we bumped into in Rotterdam spoke English. What a relief, just in case we got lost or anything, lol! The service was quick, the staff friendly and they served up a great tasting coffee.

The food was suitably presented and exceedingly delicious. Another great idea from @bkdbkd and @exyle. In particular, my Flamkuchen with ham, onion and cheese. So yummy!

Cinema and Gaming

Come the late afternoon and we all went to check out the new movie just released “Justice League”. Of course, it was our first time watching a movie in the Netherlands and the cinema itself was easily up to par with anything we had back in London!

The popcorn and drinks are all self-service so we obviously picked by the largest options on offer, lol. You can even buy beer to take with you into the screening too! That would never be allowed in London, lol.

(Me and @ezzy)

(Us posing with a few menacing Stormtroopers)

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The movie was actually really good, as was the general consensus went we all discussed it afterwards.

Though the fun times of the day were not over by a long shot. The boys then decided to go to the Arcade centre “Game Store”, just across the street. They had an awesome time and brought the day to a close with pixelated explosions, lol! Even I enjoyed playing a basketball game in a corner of the arcade. Loads of fun for everybody! :)

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小孩堤防风车村

说起荷兰，大家一定会联想到风车吧。趁我们还在鹿特丹，好朋友@ bkdbkd建议带我们去看看小孩堤防风车村(Kinderdijk)。真是个好提议！

一大早我们就出发了，天气还好虽然不是阳光灿烂但起码不下雨。小孩堤防位于鹿特丹东南10公里处，我们一行四人由@exyle开车，一路基本上都没有堵塞，比伦敦的交通情况好多了！我们乘渡轮过了河就来到了目的地。

小孩堤防风车村是荷兰最知名的景点之一。这里保存着19座建于1740年代的荷兰最古老的传统风车，可以说是荷兰风景的典型版本，因此吸引了世界各地众多的游客。

也许大家都知道， 传统的荷兰风车是将风力转为水车的动力，抽取过多的水并导入堤坝之外的河流，以便耕种的土地免受水灾。现在，这里成为了荷兰水管理的标志性地点。

在入口处有一个纪念品商店和河边停泊的观光游船，还有导游服务为游客介绍风车建造的历史。乘上小船游览也别有风味哦！

在小孩堤防风车村，视野宽广，看到不远处有19座风车沿相反的方向摆成两排，一派壮观！虽然风车的功用已被现代化的科技所取代，但小孩堤防所遗留壮观的风车美景，仍然为来此观光的游客完整地保存着，而这里大部分的风车还能正常运作，甚至还有村民居住着！

除了像我们这样在河边漫步游览，也有不少游客租了自行车来参观。其实我挺喜欢边散步边欣赏美景，抓起相机铺捉最美瞬间。只是当天风有点儿强劲。

天越发阴沉，我们还没有走到风车群的时候就下起了大雨，加上冷飕飕的风，大家都有点儿招架不住了，于是纷纷往回跑。虽然这次没能看到风车内部的建筑设计有点遗憾，但下次总有机会的，相信不久我们会再来的，呵呵。

大家想看荷兰风车的话，小孩堤防风车村是最佳观赏地。这里景观迷人，让你充分体验经典的荷兰风车是如何运作的以及当地村民的生活风貌。

可爱餐馆Eetcafe Plus Breeka

我们开车返回鹿特丹，来到了 Krimpen 附近的一家可爱的餐馆叫做Eetcafe Plus Breeka 。 从外面看，它像是高速公路上的一间快餐店，但里面的环境却让我很刮目相看。室内装饰很别致，颜色协调而不张扬，给人非常舒适的感觉。

看到这里竟然有英文餐牌，我好高兴哦。事实上，我们在鹿特丹碰到的人几乎都会讲英文，所以在这里丢不了，哈哈。侍应生很友好，服务也挺周到的，很快就给我们送来了饮品。外加说一下，这里的咖啡好喝！

端上来的食物卖相相当不错，味道也很好。特别是我的烤薄饼，很薄很脆的一层配上火腿肉，洋葱和奶酪，美味之极！

电影和游戏中心

这是我们在鹿特丹的最后一天，傍晚的时候我们决定去看电影院看新片“正义联盟”。这可是我们第一次在荷兰看电影哦！

电影院里的爆米花和饮料都是自助服务，到柜台付钱。我和@ezzy当然选了最大型号的爆米花，呵呵。 你甚至可以买了啤酒带进去边喝边看电影，好酷哦！这在伦敦是绝对不会允许的。

这部电影蛮好看的，我喜欢这类型的超级英雄片，呵呵。

我们随后又去了影院对面的游戏中心玩，延续我们的快乐时光。@exyle 和@ezzy 玩得非常尽兴，一个接着一个游戏，如同小孩一般，呵呵。我也特别喜欢商超角落的一个投篮游戏，大家度过了一个非常愉快的夜晚！