Dordrecht, Rotterdam, And On To Enkhuizen

   First, a postscript about Wesel. We did not see old buildings for a reason. Wesel was obliterated by bombs during World War II and had to be rebuilt.

  After leaving Wesel, we arrived in Dordrecht and yesterday we had a walking tour of Dordrecht and again fell in love with a charming city with a long history. Dordrecht is actually an island laced with canals and oozes charm even in the rain. I was grateful for the pants that shed water I was wearing as well as my waterproof Viking jacket I purchased onboard, the waterproof shoes from REI, and the travel umbrella we purchased. The architecture is captivating and our guide was a local who was well versed in the history of Dordrecht. He was also entertaining. After our tour we had some free time and made our way to the fresh air market and a restaurant where we enjoyed a cup of coffee prior to making our way back to the boat. Dordrecht is another city in which we would have loved to be able to spend more time and where we would consider spending time were we to return. Patti even made a purchase, a purse that she really liked that was quite reasonably priced and made her happy. 

  We sailed from Dordrecht to Rotterdam and took a stroll to the pedestrian shopping area in the afternoon. If I could pick a single word to describe Rotterdam it would be big. It is very big and very modern. Like Wesel, it was destroyed by bombing in World War II and so there is not much charm to be found. There is a small historic area that survived the war, but we did not visit that part. On our walk we found the biggest Unicqlo Store either of us had ever seen. The pedestrian area was very busy, it being Saturday afternoon. There are many stores and bars and restaurants in the pedestrian zone and people appeared to be enjoying themselves quite a bit. We also saw some of those pesky unavoidable Christmas decorations. Overall, Rotterdam did not get a high score from us. We found it too big and too modern, although we understand why the city is modern. Back onboard we were entertained by two delightful young ladies dressed in traditional Dutch clothing who sang Dutch songs for our entertainment. We thoroughly enjoyed their performance. Last night we stayed in our cabin rather than going up to the sundeck to see the lights of the Rotterdam harbor as our boat cruised the harbor. The sundeck was cold last night and our cabin was comfortable and warm. We opted for comfort and warmth.

  We left Rotterdam this morning and went to Kinderdijk where we had a tour of the windmills of Kinderdijk. Because so much of The Netherlands is very low and below sea level, windmills played a very important part in the survival of the people of the Netherlands. If the windmills did not move the water from the lowlands up to the canals that were constructed and the rivers created by nature and eventually to the North Sea,  much of the Netherlands would be uninhabitable. Well over the majority of inhabitants of the Netherlands live in low lands below sea level. Windmills are quite ingenious and while their main duty of moving water is now performed by Archimedes screw pumps, they still are used to pump water. I do not know if any of the mills are still used for tasks such as grinding grain or cooling saws that cut lumber.

  We are now on our way to Enkhuizen. Tomorrow, we have a full day of excursions, with a walking tour of Hoorn in the morning and tulips and windmills in the afternoon. We continue to thoroughly enjoy our time together and our cruise. We continue to meet very nice people and eat good food. Since my scale has been on vacation for a few days, I may extend its vacation a few more days when we get back on Friday. 

  Have wonderful Sunday everyone.






















  

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