Off to Kinderdijk

This was one of Pete's ideas of things to see while we are in Netherlands. I remember he was telling me every time we talked about the places we want to visit in Europe times that we have to go to Kinderdijk. Honestly I wasn't keen of doing that, because I thought it was just array of windmills and  that we will not even spend an entire day there.

The drive going there is beautiful, usual Europe flat green fields that is somewhat breath of fresh air for us, since back home we are surrounded by mountains and hills. It takes about 1 hour and 15mins at the most to get to Kinderdijk by car. Train from Amsterdam or Eindhoven to Kinderdijk is almost 3 hours.

Hedge Farm

Very Dutch street in Kinderdijk

One of the towns in the Kinderdijk area.

Maybe he is a member of a marching band.

Parking at Kinderdijk cost 5 Euros for the whole day and the ticket will get you a free coffee in the Tourist Information Office. The information office is located around the other side of the canal from the parking lot where you can watch a 15 minute video about Kinderdjik.  I would suggest you see that, as it has some cool stuff about Holland and it is not a boring presentation at all. You can skip all of that and just head to small kiosk in front of the parking lot if you prefer. They sell tickets for the two museums and for canal cruise. We bought a ticket at the Museum and it got us a discounted price for the canal boat ride.

Our ¨National Geographic¨ photo

Picnic tables outside the Tourist Information Center

Workshop

 Blue Print of the windmill

Windmill Prototype

Prototype closer view

Orion and Dad looking goofy

We thought at first that it was a grain mill and they use water to power it. They actual are used to pump water out the area. Without the dikes most of the Netherlands will flood because majority of the country is situated more than 3 meters below sea level. Yep, we wouldn't have guessed it either. These dikes have helped to prevent Holland from being submerged in the water since 1750.

Excited to see Kinderdijk

Kinerdijk is for all.

The Kinderdjik in Dutch means Childrens dike. One of the stories is that people saw a cat balancing on  a basket with a baby in it during a flood. Another story is that the dikes were built with child labor. 

Orion and Mom. Love.

Later that day we took a boat ride which we were glad that we did because it was rather relaxing and the view up close to the windmills is beautiful. 

We learned that some of the windmills are family owned and passed on one generation to another. 

All the windmills we saw had people living in them. They are well maintained and still working. You can see that most of them have an outbuilding built beside them. Imagine living in one of the windmills and waking up with a peaceful view every morning.

That would be a nice place to hang out and read your book all day.

Happy Family..mmh Orion maybe not.

This is one of those chill kinda days for us. It's a tourist spot but when we were there it wasn't crazy like some other places we've been to. We recommend that you bring some snacks or go crazy and bring  a picnic bag since they have tables and chairs in the area. There is a caffeteria near the parking lot but they only sell snacks. The Information office has two vending machines with snacks bars and drinks. See you in our next adventure. 

P.S. We will post another blog about what's inside a windmill soon.

St.Catherine Church, Eindhoven NL

One of the things that we do while we are in Europe is to visit churches. The first thing on our list is St. Catherine it is located in the middle of the town. The church is open to the public not only for services but for their exhibits too. You don't have to pay to get in just make take note that they are close on Mondays.

Inside the building you'll see some archaeological artifacts that they found during a excavation in 2002.

They found out through DNA test that this skull belongs to a little boy that lived near the old church.

Children's toys during that time

                                                 

A 13th century french gothic inspired church was built after old church was demolished by Pierre Cuypres a famous dutch architect who designed the Amsterdam Central Station.

 Pete told me that the windows are actually made with individual pieces colored glass that are glued together into a picture. All the windows are built like a puzzle.

The south tower symbolises Maria's purity. While the northern tower symbolises David's power.

The funny thing is that going inside the church scared the crap out of me when I was a kid. I realized that I still have a bit of that creepy feeling whenever I enter a  Catholic church, specifically if I look at those images. Anyway I think it is a touristy thing to do. My husband and I enjoy things like going inside an old church or any building and seeing the artistic details of it.

Roofs and Walls of Amsterdam

 We decided to put another post to show the beauty of these exquisite Amsterdam buildings.

Royal Palace of Amsterdam

Beurs Van Berlage. Home for exhibits and concerts.

De Bijenkorf is a high end department store.

Nieuwe Kerk

   

                   

The building at the back with a sphere is still part of the whole Neo Gothic style of church.

Magna Plaza. This gorgeous building was used to be the Main Post Office.

    

  The usual Amsterdam houses. 

They are mostly tall and leaning forward

They were built the way they are because the houses have narrow and small staircase they use a hook which is attached on top of the house and rope to haul big items into their house.

A castle turned into a restaurant.

Till our next adventure
The Taylors

Amsterdam

   

   It was a lovely morning in Eindhoven. Then when we drove to Amsterdam the sky began getting darker and as we got to Schipol Airport the rain started to pour. We parked our car in the airport because we learned that it is hard to get a parking spot in Amsterdam on the weekend.  The parking spot at Schipol ranged from 17 Euros and more for 24 hours, so it depends on how long you intend to park and where. From Schipol Airport we took a Sprinter Train to Amsterdam Central. The ticket cost 5 euros each. There are two cabins to choose if you are riding a train in Netherlands. The First class costs more and is less crowded and has more leg room.  On the other hand Second class is cheaper, and opposite of what I described on the first one. Both has WiFi and Air-conditioning. Unlike in Singapore, you can eat and drink inside the train, they even have table and a trash bin under it. People here use public transportation quite frequently since its not really spread out and it is really a pain to drive in a small street (especially in Centrum) with bus and bike lanes that you have to be mindful about. The gas cost more here than back home.

2nd class Cabin

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    They have toilets/restrooms inside the train too. It is obvious that they really plan and design it well. The restroom in Holland train station has this sign. It is abbreviation for "water closet". Dames is for Women and Herren is for Men. I swear you'll get confuse cuz I sure did. I entered twice in the wrong door. You have to pay 50 cents to use the restroom.


    After an hour and half we finally set our foot in Amsterdam. I couldn't believe that my childhood dream had just come true. It's been my sister and I's dream to live and have our own clothing business here. And now I am here with my own family. I still hope to bring my sister and my parents here. We came out the train station and this lovely building greeted us.

                  

Part of Amsterdam Central Station

                                         

   You would thought that a gloomy and rainy day will make people stay home and we would have the city all to our self. But we were wrong! We forgot that the Dutch are good at handling water as well. I imagine that many tourists had their itinerary planned as well, which means it includes rain or shine.  My advice is ask your hotel's receptionist if they have Amsterdam Central map so you dont have to buy them.

 

     

    

There was a carnival the day we went there. It was rather crazy fun. There were booths and street foods around. There were couple of very scary rides. 

     




  We had some very delicious apple donut and cronuts at this stall. 

   Our main goal that day was to go and see Anne Frank House and Van Gogh Museum but there was a lot of people who lined to go inside

The lane going to Anne Frank house and the line of people waiting to get into the museum.

                                                    

                   He won´t remember that we came here but I have this picture to show him. 

                                                   Front view of Anne Frankś actual house.

     Amsterdam might be a little intimidating at first because like any other capital it can be really crowded with quite a bit of stuff are going. But I think when you further inside of the city out of the main street, you will find some little cool shops and cafeteria that are really cozy.