A Day in Rotterdam

When we woke up and pulled back the curtain, we found ourselves right in the centre of Rotterdam just above the Erasmus Bridge, a great location. The weather looked good for us too, patchy sun and cloud and no rain in the forecast.

Most of Rotterdam is very modern, the old buildings having been flattened in WW2 as the allied forces bombed the area very heavily. Most people were taking tours to nearby Amsterdam but we decided that we would do something different. We’ve been to Amsterdam quite a few times and to be honest, it’s not a great favourite. We did a bit of research on things to do around Rotterdam and came upon Kinderdijk, a UNESCO world heritage site, only 30 minutes away by boat. Sounded great.

https://kinderdijk.com/ is a protected area of the polder – waterlands – where going back 1000 years there have been wind driven watermills pumping the water into canals to keep the land dry. This purpose has now largely been superseded by modern water management techniques but in this place over 40 mills still stand, still working and pumping, preserving a glimpse into a traditional way of life.

It was pretty easy to get there. We walked across the Erasmus Bridge to the Waterbus stop just above it. The waterbus number 20 route takes you to Kinderdijk in about 35 minutes. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday they run a special shuttle water bus but not today. We had to take 2 water buses. The first would take us to Ridderkerk in about 30 minutes and then we would take a 5-10 minute small waterbus across to Kinderdijk itself. The UNESCO site was literally 2 minutes walk from the bus dock. I took a lot of windmill pictures. I couldn’t resist them.

However, there was a small spoke in our wheel. The waterbus timetables have recently changed and it turned out that the small ferry portion of the trip would not start until 90 minutes after we arrived at Ridderkerk, ie at 1230. The bus conductor helpfully advised us to take the 20 waterbus to Alblasserdam and then get a road bus from there to Kinderdajm. OK!

Very impressed with the public transport here especially the Waterbus. What a great service and pretty cheap. Spotless boats as well.

It was quite a scenic trip down the river to Alblasserdam, a treat in itself and cheap enough at 4.65 euro each. We then walked about 15 minutes to the 489 bus stop in town and within 5 minutes got the bus to Kinderdajm. It stopped right outside the site. We could get the double waterbus on the way back.

Tickets to Kinderdijk were 17 euro each. There are walkways along the canals which are lined with windmills all still working. 2 of them have been turned into museums and we went in them. The first was a traditional tower style windmill and it was so interesting to see the living quarters inside which would house the miller, his wife and up to 10 children. Outside were vegetable gardens, little enclosures for goats, a pig and rabbits.

The other open museum was largely the same but a different style where the mill part was like a turning hut perched on the living quarters. That one had an old barge moored alongside which had interesting little films to watch inside.

What’s unique about the mills is that they are all still working. Apart from the 2 museums, the rest are working mills with people living in them. They are rented from UNESCO and the lease stipulates that each mill must rotate its arms 55000 times a year and the leasee has to perform some light maintenance duties as well.

We walked through the canals for a couple of miles and then took a little ferry boat back that was included on our ticket price.

Left Kinderdijk about 230 and this time travelled home by the little waterbus that took us to Ridderkerk in 10 minutes and then within 5 minutes caught the main 20 Waterbus to Erasmus Bridge. We were back on the ship for 330 and had a bit of tea up in the buffet. It was a really good visit and we were so glad we went. Well worth seeing and a peaceful way to spend the day. No ship’s tours were going there so that was even better.

Tonight we went to the show which was purely circus skills. Amazing. Strange otherworldly skills .

After the show we had martinis with the nice British couple and then Bob and I went to the Japanese speciality restaurant for our free dinner. Courtesy of loyalty club. We got the tasting menu. I started with a salad with miso dressing. Bob had miso soup. Then we each got a plate of mixed sushi. Then a course of teppanyaki. I had salmon, Bob had beef. Then a round of tempura. Finally, I had macha ice cream and Bob had tempura banana . It was very nice without being mega. The sushi course was the best in my view. I forgot to photograph most courses lol.