Today the boat had to stay in Amsterdam through most of the morning. There was a bridge that was due for maintenance after several hundred years and so the boats had to wait to pass until they did what they needed to do. So they bused us through the countryside to Kinderdijk. This turned out to be very interesting, we got to see three of the largest cities and many homes and businesses. So many greenhouses here for all of the flower industry. Beautiful green fields with canal systems throughout. The country is over half reclaimed land (from the ocean). Many thatched roofs on the wealthier homes, it is very expensive to have this done and the roofs need to be redone every 35 years. At Kinderdijk we went into a working windmill and climbed up to the top. Quite a bit bigger on the inside than you would think. There is a kitchen, living area and bed down stairs, on the second level 3 beds tucked away in the corners, very small because they used to think that you shouldn't sleep with your head level with your body or you would die. Going up even higher you could see how the windmill worked as the scoops turned. They only have about 800 left across the country.
After we left Kinderdijk we headed to the city of Ustrecht to eat and catch the boat. We had a Dutch meal with meats, breads, cheeses, soup, cucumber salad ( the best part) and an egg omelet kind of thing that I thought was awful, but Bryan loved it. Even though this was a city of 300,000 people it was very quaint and pretty with its canals and shops. Back to the boat and we quickly left to head toward Germany. We sat on the deck and watched as we moved through the locks to the Rhine. Met some different folks at dinner and talked so long that every other table was sat for breakfast before we left. Tomorrow they have added a stop in Dusseldorf, so we are going to get to see another city that we didn't expect to see!
