Whenever I think of the Netherlands I think of windmills so today's visit was rather special.

This morning we sailed to Kinderdijk, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for a tour of this ingenious network of windmills and other flood management devices. You learn why the windmills were built and see how they work, plus you enter a working windmill for a tour of its mechanisms and living quarters. We had a fabulous guide who had lived here for her whole life and was able to share so many stories.

A thousand years ago, this whole area was one big peat bog, trapped between raging rivers and the fury of the sea. Like much of the rest of the country, Kinderdijk (meaning Children's Dyke) lies below sea level. If they let nature run its course here, some 26 % of the Netherlands would be flooded, and 60% would be under threat from the waters! Throughout the ages, the people who lived in these areas had to come up with clever solutions to stave off disasters.

19 windmills were built around 1740. The small village of Kinderdijk is home to 60 permanent residents. Yet in 2019, up to 600,000 visitors were enticed to visit the site of these historic mills. That means there was a ratio of 10,000 visitors to every resident.