On Saturday, April 18th, we went to Windmill Island. They were celebrating their 50th year open with free admission!!
Some of the beautiful flowers.
Visitor center which is a replica of an authentic 14th century Dutch wayside inn that stood near Ruinen in province of Drenthe.
More of the flower gardens
Heading to tour the Windmill
Parts of the windmill that had been replaced.
Sacks of flour
Information about the windmill
The windmill "De Zwaan", built in 1761, was given to the town of Holland in 1964. It took 6 months to reconstruct. It was dedicated on April 10, 1965. The windmill sports bullet holes received during WWII.
The wooden shoe was tied to a rope handing down an elevator shaft. The farmers would put a note and/or payment in the shoe. The miller would then pull the shoe up to 5th floor. This saved the miller trips up & down a very steep ladder.
Waiting for the tour to begin
Anna, our tour guide
On the 2nd floor of the windmill
3rd floor of windmill
Anna showing us how the miller controls the actual windmill.
Up close shot of the windmill blades.
View from the windmill
The Miller, Alisa Crawford, who trained in The Netherlands & is first female miller.
Part of the gears inside the windmill.
Anna showing us miniature grindstones.
Part of the mill.
The elevator shaft that goes from the 5th floor to the ground floor. Wheat, flour & payments/notes were passed between the farmer & the miller here.
Windmill in motion!
Goofing around with Daddy!
Flags of the different Dutch provinces in the Netherlands.
More beautiful flowers
Jessica posing for me
Jamie pretending to send a letter!
Jess & David riding a c.1908 carousel
Holland is known for its tulips
Posing in front of the sign
Sketch of inside of windmill
The Prince of the Netherlands was the first visitor to Windmill Island when it opened 50 years ago!
An organ built by Carl Frei in the city of Breda and given to Holland in 1947 by the city of Amsterdam out of gratitude to the U.S. for its role in liberating the Netherlands in WWII.
Holland is famous for its tulips. Unfortunately, we were about 2 weeks too early for the tulips to be in bloom. But I did find one little group of tulips in bloom!!
Before we left, Hubby bought me 2 bags of all natural flour that was ground there in De Zwaan Windmill.
Before we left Holland, we had a late lunch with our friend Amanda. We met her online during the show LOST as part of a podcast community. We've been friends for years but this is the first time we met in person. It was so great to finally meet face to face!!
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