Rhine Getaway Viking River Cruise
Day 5: Thursday, November 04, 2021 - Kinderdijk, The Netherlands
The day's statistics:
- Weather: low 50s, cloudy
- Steps: 8,909 Linda; 10,632 Steve
- Miles traveled (approximately): 15
We were told this town is pronounced "kinder-dike".
We dropped out PCR saliva sample off at the front desk on the way to the restaurant.
Our first onboard breakfast. The breakfast menu doesn't change, unlike the top half the lunch, and the right side of dinner menus.
But for breakfast, they also had a buffet everyday. MOST of the items on the buffet didn't change either, but there were a couple
minor adjustments here and there. For example, the roasted potatoes were changed to roasted potatoes with ham once, and to small
round hashbrowns (not tater tot size, but 5 Swiss Franc size [a little larger than an Eisenhower US dollar coin]).
The buffet included Muesli (tasted like oatmeal soup) with toppings, oatmeal, breads and muffins, made to order eggs and
omlettes, scrambled eggs, cereal, lox, and more.
Did you read the review of our last cruise? Want to guess what Linda ordered for breakfast? While the breakfast menu didn't
change, neither did Linda's preference. If you guessed "egg benedict", you'd've been right. And the fresh mixed berries.
I had some buffet items. Only one plate, though. I made the mistake of eating too much breakfast during the last cruise...
We also both had coffee; and Steve also had pinapple juice.
These will be the only photos of cruise ship breakfasts since "if you've seen one egg benedict, you've seen them all."
You get the idea. Plus, what we ate didn't really change either.
During and after breakfast, we were still underway and not quite at our next destination.
Here are some sights.
A replica of Noah's Ark. Notice the giraffe toward the stern.
We were finally in proximity to... windmills!
It started off as overcast. It even rained a little. But then it cleared up!
We learned that these windmills were used to pump water out from this area. It may be a little hard to tell, but if
you look at the rightmost picture above (as dark and low quality as it is), you may notice that you cannot see the entire
windmill. That's because it is on ground lower than the water level - yes, this is known as below sea level. The road is
on a dike that separates that land from the river. Way back when, the windmills were constructed to pump the water out of
the area. Now there are new pumps that move water at a rate of 1 million - MILLION! - liters per minute, at peak.
(For the metric challenged, that's over a quater-million gallons per minute.)
Our guide for this excursion was Dirk.
Each guide scans a card with their device, and then each tour participant does the same thing. As the devices synchronize, the guide's
voice can be heard. One participant kept saying they couldn't hear the guide talking. After a couple minutes, it was determined that the
participant neglected to actually put in their earpiece. Into their ear. This won't be the last time someone makes this mistake...
Windmills turn in a counter-clockwise direction (wind turbines turn clockwise). And the blades have a 27 meter span
(again, for the metric challenged, that would be 89 feet).
We walked across a walkway from the main land to the other side.
And closer now.
This angle, though there is some grass in the way, shows the curvature to the blades.
You can also see some of the curvature here, but also the material that is rolled up when not in use.
This is supposed to be the oldest windmill in this section.
I am 10 inches taller than Linda, so selfies can be a challenge sometimes...
This section of waterway has a current, generated by the pump in the blueish building in the distance.
This is the back of a windmill. The two poles sticking out of the top are used as the braking system for the
spinning blades because there are times when, while there is wind, there may be a desire to NOT run the windmill.
This is the water intake of this one windmill.
We went into one of the windmills. These are essentially three stories tall.
Some of the living quaters, which were on the first floor. The second floor was a work area, and the third was where
the windmill works are.
Here are some shots out the windows.
The works of the windmill. The wheel at the angle is turned by the blades, that one interlocks with the flat wheel which is attached
to a large, probably three-foot diamter drive shaft that turns more works at the base (though there are no pictures of the base).
The top of the windmill is essentially a dome. The dome has to be rotated in order to direct the blades into the wind. The chains are
used to restrict unwanted turning. The chain away from the direction of rotation is removed from the white anchor in the ground, the
wheel is turned, and the system is secured again. The works used to be made of wood, but that didn't last as long as metal - though
metal rusts too...
There are anchors all the way around the structure.
Ever wonder what happens if the blades stop turning? With one blade pointing down? And the blade is in front of the door?
Yea, there's a back door...
We were also told that the blades are locked in various positions to signify certain things, such as a death in the family.
These are real and worn wooden shoes (and no, we didn't get any
information or a story as to why the Dutch wear wooden shoes - Google it if you want more info... :-) ).
This was a lawn ornament, an oversized pair of wooden shoes.
We finished the tour of and inside the windmills. We approached the pumping station which has corkscrew style pumps that,
as mentioned before, each pump up to 1 million liters per minute at peak.
As we walked toward the workshop, Dirk told us a story about a previous passenger that seemed rather learned, and was talking about
fowl. One comment the passenger made was "When geese fly in a 'v' formation, do you know why one side of the 'v' is longer than the
other?" Dirk said "No." The passenger replied "Because there more geese on one side than the other." Ba-dum-bump tss.
We had a brief demonstration showing some drawings of how the works worked, and actual parts - like old cogs - that were replaced.
Then we ventured into the "museum" and gift shop. They had some of the old pumps on display (obviously the LED monitors
were not part of the old equipment...).
At about 12:45, it was time for the safety drill.
As we were aboard the ship, and not eating or drinking, masks were required.
We were told that our ship set a record for fastest assembly. But then again, there were only 61 of us...
Lunch time! Our first on this trip.
One of the menu appetizers is Assorted Crudite Platter. (I actually had this three or four times). Here they are being
set-up.
On our last cruise, the Market Fare was served buffet style, help yourself. This year, due to COVID, the waiters brought
sample plates to the table with three different items on it, and we get to choose what we want.
We each took one, usually different too, as an appetizer to the appetizer. I'm sure we could have had all
three if we really wanted, but with the three additioanl courses to follow, there really was no need. If we were lucky, we'd
be able to finish our dish before the real appetizer [from the menu] arrived. But that hardly ever happened...
Linda had the Ratatouille salad, and Steve had the barley salad; pictured here with a slice of artisian bread.
Linda had the lentil and coconut milk soup, shrimp salad, and the caramel sundae for dessert.
I had the crudite platter, Pappardelle au Ragu, and rice pudding for dessert.
We contnued along the Rhine toward Cologne. And continued to capture pictures of the local sights from the lounge (so
there are some reflections_.
A John Deere or two... (OK, we assume they are JD's)
We saw a number of boats that were carrying cars. But not as "cargo", but on the back. Mostly one or two, but as many
as about five. Supposedly, these boat owners haul goods up and down the river, earning an income, living on the boats,
and use the cars at some ports to travel around. Some boats also had smaller personal boats they were carrying too.
At about 6:30, we gathered in the lounge for the Captain's Toast. The captain introduced all the department managers.
We had sparkling wine mixed with liquor, and some finger foods like a Thai egg roll, or salmon mouse on bread crustini.
The captain visited every seat and cheered with the passenger.
Then we had the port talk (discussion about the timing of the next day's excursions).
Last cruise we had the opportunity to visit the kitchen. That didn't happen this cruise, but that was probably due
to the COVID limitations.
Regardless, it was time for dinner already.
We ate with Harland and Nancy this evening.
Here is the changing portion of the menu.
Linda had Cesaer salad, Risotto con zucchine, burrata e tartufo al limone (truffle risotto), and moelleux au chocolat
for dessert.
I had Greek salad, roast chateaubriand bearnaise, and oliebollen for dessert.
We told Sam we were going back to the room to watch a movie, so he topped off our wine.
We returned to the cabin and watched War With Grandpa (it was actually pretty good, 4 out of 5 stars).
Then it was off to dreamland.