The Castle

Kinderdijk

We’d scheduled a week in Amsterdam, using it as a base to explore several parts of Holland, including the capital.

Our planned activities would take five days allowing two spare days for poor weather, changes to plans or additional activities.

Next Morning, Miss H reported feeling about 80%.

We offered a rest day, but Miss H sounded a lot like her dad when she replied, “We didn’t travel half-way around the world to sit in a hotel room.” :D

With favourable weather I suggested we head for Kinderdijk, which would allow Miss H to rest on both the train to Rotterdam and the river cruise to Kinderdijk.

We boarded a train and headed for the striking Rotterdam Central Station.

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From the station we walked about a dozen blocks through the city to reach Nieuwe Maas (river).

From there a ferry took us upriver.

Along the way we passed "Noah’s Ark".

Now closed, it was previously a floating exhibit of biblical stories.

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The cruise was effectively a local ferry, so no commentary.

It took about an hour, eventually reaching the village of Kinderdijk: a Unesco World Heritage site with 19 windmills.

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All built in the 18th century, the windmills all remain operational and contribute to the Netherlands flood mitigation system.

Two are open to tourists.

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The remaining 17 are all leased to resident caretakers who either live in the windmill, or in small houses beside.

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Access to the site is free and there’s an excellent network of pedestrian and cycle paths.

If you want to enter the museum, old pump station or ride either of the two small ferries that ply the canal, you’ll need a ticket.

It’s roughly $20 (AUD) per person with a small discount on weekdays.

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Both ferries depart from near the ticket office.

One offers a 45-minute return cruise along the canal allowing you to see all 19 windmills.

The second operates between the ticket office and the two windmills that are open for viewing.

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:)

Yes, she does. Though not regularly.

When I’m writing a trip report she keeps an eye on things.

That’s why I have to write about her wonderful trip contributions in such flattering terms. 😉
You do know that brownie points aren't real :-)
I too get MrsK to cast her eye over my trip reports, to make sure I haven't inadvertently made a faux pas.

Enjoying your trip report, getting ideas for our next big tour.
 
Reality TV

The canals at Kinderdijk are also public waterways, so the two ferries were not the only boats about.

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The entire Kinderdjik site is picturesque.

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Especially on the water there was a sense of tranquillity.

But as we headed back toward the café for afternoon tea, the tranquillity came to an abrupt halt.

Most of the café and the entire outdoor terrace had been taken over by a TV crew.

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A dozen contestants were lined up behind large easels using tiny notebooks to sketch pictures of the windmills.

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In addition to the show’s host constantly reminding them how much time they had left, there also appeared to be coaches walking the line offering advice.

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Kinderdijk made for a lovely day out.

Highly recommended.
 
Madurodam
Next morning we woke to another fine day and after a simple breakfast in the room, set off for Den Hague (the Hague).

Around 40 minutes by train, our first stop was Madurodam.

This small theme park has scale model miniatures of all the major attractions and places in the Netherlands.

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Set over an area the size of about three rugby fields it includes four video and CGI displays about the history of the Netherlands.

The centrepiece is a recreation of Schiphol Airport.

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Many of the attractions are activated, or interactive.

For instance, this KLM 747 “taxis” around the display with very realistic engine sound effects.

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The DC-3 at the centre of the park is the only life-size exhibit.

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Found rusting at a Florida airport, it was transported to Amsterdam and restored over 18-months.

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Inside, the cabin is fitted with floor to ceiling LED panels on which are projected a “flight" over the Netherlands.

The video experience lasts around 10 minutes and shows some great scenery including the offshore windmills and storm surge barriers.

If strobe lighting is a problem for you, perhaps give it a miss.

Another of the clever interactive features was a replica of the Mars factory.

20 Euro cents will activate the factory and about 30 seconds later a small truck delivers you a snack size mars bar.

The exhibits are impressively accurate representations of the originals.

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For example in this cathedral, even the detail in the stained glass windows has been replicated.

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I’d recommend Madurodam for families with children up to their early teens.

Or adults who want to be kids for a couple of hours.
 
Madurodam
Next morning we woke to another fine day and after a simple breakfast in the room, set off for Den Hague (the Hague).

Around 40 minutes by train, our first stop was Madurodam.

This small theme park has scale model miniatures of all the major attractions and places in the Netherlands.

View attachment 352021

Set over an area the size of about three rugby fields it includes four video and CGI displays about the history of the Netherlands.

The centrepiece is a recreation of Schiphol Airport.

View attachment 352023

View attachment 352024

View attachment 352025

Many of the attractions are activated, or interactive.

For instance, this KLM 747 “taxis” around the display with very realistic engine sound effects.

View attachment 352027

The DC-3 at the centre of the park is the only life-size exhibit.

View attachment 352028

Found rusting at a Florida airport, it was transported to Amsterdam and restored over 18-months.

View attachment 352029

Inside, the cabin is fitted with floor to ceiling LED panels on which are projected a “flight" over the Netherlands.

The video experience lasts around 10 minutes and shows some great scenery including the offshore windmills and storm surge barriers.

If strobe lighting is a problem for you, perhaps give it a miss.

Another of the clever interactive features was a replica of the Mars factory.

20 Euro cents will activate the factory and about 30 seconds later a small truck delivers you a snack size mars bar.

The exhibits are impressively accurate representations of the originals.

View attachment 352030

For example in this cathedral, even the detail in the stained glass windows has been replicated.

View attachment 352031

I’d recommend Madurodam for families with children up to their early teens.

Or adults who want to be kids for a couple of hours.
I went to Madurodam in 1982 and was just trying to find some photos to compare. One day I'll sort out all my photos and get them all scanned
 
De Pier

From the sun and warmth of Madurodam it was about 10 minutes by tram to the windy, grey coastline of the North Sea.

The beach itself was clean, but uninspiring by Australian standards.

The long stretch of beach is broken only by De Pier, which translates from Dutch to The Pier. 😊

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If you’ve ever wanted to bungee jump from a slightly rusty and unstable looking crane over the North Sea in moderate winds – this is the place.

It’s Europe’s version of Coney Island, though not nearly as tacky.

Even so, restaurant after restaurant crowds the foreshore and promenade.

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We opted for a late lunch at a tapas bar by the beach.

The restaurants and bars at the end of the pier are an overpriced tourist trap.

There really should be some sort of warning sign. 😉

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When the sun eventually came out, so did the people.

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After lunch we spent an enjoyable hour or so walking in the sunshine, taking in the view and people watching.

Then we rounded out the afternoon with a serve of gelato.
 
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Have you fallen off The Pier....?
It has felt a bit like that. My apologies.

I won’t bring down the thread with full details, but a combination of factors has meant I just haven’t been able to put in the time.

I’m hopeful of a meaningful resumption on the weekend perhaps.

But I’m now very concerned it won’t be finished before we head off on the next trip on 1 December.

I might have to pull back to something more photo based and stop over-writing!
 
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It has felt a bit like that. My apologies.

I won’t bring down the thread with full details, but a combination of factors has meant I just haven’t been able to put in the time.

I’m hopeful of a meaningful resumption on the weekend perhaps.

But I’m now very concerned it won’t be finished before we head off on the next trip on 1 December.

I might have to pull back to something more photo based and stop over-writing!
I feel your pain having just finished writing up my 2 trips from almost a year ago 😱. It sure does take a lot of time, but I hope you find the time because I have really enjoyed following along on your trip. No pressure of course, life is real...
 
Yep the ones I've done (and not for a while) I've mostly typed up stuff during flights on the trip.. and then dumped with a few photos later.
 
It has felt a bit like that. My apologies.

I won’t bring down the thread with full details, but a combination of factors has meant I just haven’t been able to put in the time.

I’m hopeful of a meaningful resumption on the weekend perhaps.

But I’m now very concerned it won’t be finished before we head off on the next trip on 1 December.

I might have to pull back to something more photo based and stop over-writing!
Have very much appreciated your storytelling @Captain Halliday - your wit has brought many smiles whilst reading your TR.
Hope everything is going smoothly now and enjoy what comes your way.
 
It has felt a bit like that. My apologies.

I won’t bring down the thread with full details, but a combination of factors has meant I just haven’t been able to put in the time.

I’m hopeful of a meaningful resumption on the weekend perhaps.

But I’m now very concerned it won’t be finished before we head off on the next trip on 1 December.

I might have to pull back to something more photo based and stop over-writing!
Surely you can defer your next trip so we continue to be informed and entertained?!?!
 
Another planning fail

It still amazes me that the family allow me to plan our travel.

Research, timings, ticket bookings and mapping our way all falls to me.

My track record of unmitigated disasters spans more than a decade.

That record was not going to change on day three in the Netherlands.

Our day had three planned stops:

1. NDSM Wharf – an arts precinct on Amsterdam’s North Shore.

2. Anne Frank House – popular Amsterdam museum.

3. De Hallen – a food hall and bar that is popular with the locals.

After taking the train to the city we walked west along the river taking in the views.

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Free ferries cross the river in several spots, including one that takes about ten minutes to NDSM Wharf.

Once a bustling freight and warehouse district it was abandoned before being taken over by the arts and cultural community.

A revitalisation project touted warehouses converted to galleries.

An eclectic mix of café’s and restaurants, along with live music performances.

Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to the hype.

It’s true that the warehouses were being used by artists.

But the entire site remained more of a warehouse wasteland.

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The promised cafes and live music were no where to be seen.

We found just a single bar operating in one warehouse.

Two floors above the bar we found one small gallery.

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The whole NDSM precinct was underwhelming.

Certainly not newsworthy and nothing was worth highlighting. 😉

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We stayed less than 30 minutes as I began apologising for another planning fail.

But I was just warming up.

More apologies were to come.
 
Fail #2 - Disappointed Daughter

As the ferry pulled back into central Amsterdam I immediately checked for wifi.

Nothing.

Darn.

Apprehensively I began leading the family through the streets of Amsterdam in the general direction of my next failure.

Every block I checked for wifi.

When I found some, I refreshed the webpage.

Every time the answer was the same. :(

You see, I was fully aware that tickets for Anne Frank House had to be booked online.

But it was only as we were leaving the hotel that more that I skimmed through the FAQs to find this:

Every Tuesday at 10am CEST all tickets become available for a visit six weeks later. Tickets sell out very fast.

Ticketless, we continued on towards certain disappointment.

My hope that extra tickets would somehow become available on the day of our visit was futile waste of energy.

Anne Frank House was high on the list of things Miss H wanted to see.

As a parent I couldn’t have been more proud of how she handled the disappointment even though she did technically get to “see” it:

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As we look at the narrow brick building the mood of the touring party was not good.

It was now well into the afternoon and we'd not yet had lunch.

For the girls, hungry was rapidly turning to hangry.

As we set off towards De Hallen, my stomach churned.

Was it hunger, or a sickening feeling that my bad travel choices run in threes?
 
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De Hallen

With two strikes against my name for the day, I needed De Hallen to deliver.

We’d not eaten since breakfast and it was now approaching 3pm.

The anticipation of a feast was the only thing sustaining us.

We continued our walk through the streets of Amsterdam, watching people on their canal cruises and generally taking in the vibe. 😉

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But the walking didn't last long as I was instructed to find a faster way to the food.

A short tram ride and we were at De Hallen which translates to The Hall.

I was relived to find it was not an abandoned warehouse, nor did it require the online purchase of tickets six weeks in advance.

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Inside there were around 30 food stalls.

In the centre, communal tables and a bar.

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By Amsterdam standards, prices were reasonable – perhaps this was the appeal for the locals.

It was to my great relief that the food was good.

Either that or we were so hungry anything was going to taste good.

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Miss H had corn on the cob which she said was delicious.

We also shared a tasting plate from the BBQ/Brazilian stall and serve of steamed buns from the Chinese section.

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True to form for this trip report, it was another case of eat first, take pictures later.

De Hallen also had a fancy patisserie with a wide range of desserts.

Miss H rounded out her meal with a toffee tart, while Mrs H and I both had a chocolate truffle.

If I’m honest, De Hallen is little more than a glorified food court.

But by food court standards the food was good – decent portion sizes, fresh and flavoursome.

Perhaps our judgement was impaired by being really hungry, or maybe it was the sugar high from the sweet treats, but somehow our third stop of the day was judged to be a win - just.
 

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