Kinderdijk

 June 22, 2026

When the Kinderdijk polder flooded in 1421, baby Beatrijs floated away in her cradle. The family cat balanced the floating cradle until she was rescued.

Steam powered water mills helping keep the polder dry

Windwill circa 1700 rotating counter clockwise in the northwest wind

Iconic view from the boat

Inside one of the mills

The cogwork mechanism 

Dimunitive bedstead

The wheel in the fireground was used as a pivot point to point the sails into the wind 

The boat to Rotterdam

Along the Schie waterway in Rotterdam l.

Bike path drawbridge over a side canal

Biking through Oberschie

Originally a small creek, the Schie was straightened and made navigable over the years by digging. The town of Delft, which the Delftse Schie bisects, is named after the digging (Delft in Dutch). Note that the Schie is higher than the surrounding land

In Zweth

Baarboot on the Delft Schie

View of Delft

Mowing the Lilly pads

Polder Tienweg, Holland

July 21, 2026

At Gouda

Start of the Tienweg to the polder

Swan on the Polder

Whimsical display 

Tienweg path

Small sluice

Cows grazing

Pausing to let a tractor pass at sheep pasture

Along the Hollandse Ijssell, higher than the surrounding countryside.

At Ouderkerk aan den IJssel

Krimpen and der Lek was historically a whaling town, as reflected on the church steeple

Across the Lek to Kinderdijk 

On the way to the grocery 

At the B&B, we stayed in the former wooden shoe makers workshop.