I got up bright and early (with a bit of headache from the three pints and no dinner) but I couldn’t let that stop me - I had things to do.
I got everything packed and showered etc and had breakfast.
Brekky was included which is very handy.

I then walked to the train station which isn’t far.
It was a lovely walk by the canals through a little square and more canals to the station which is very beautiful but very busy with trains and trams and buses everywhere!

I brought my ticket to Rotterdam which only took about an hour to get to.
I was quite excited to go by fields of daffodils and hyacinths - very pretty.

I again had instructions to the hostel and again everyone was very helpful with directions and tram stops.

I checked in to the hostel and told the receptionist I wanted to go to see the windmills - that was basically the reason that I went to the Rotterdam actually.
She handed me a printed piece of paper that has directions from the hostel, giving train lines and metro and bus numbers.
I guess they get a lot of people wanting to go there.

I headed off straight away.
It took me about an hour to get there and the bus driver was helpful again dropping me right where I needed to go.

Click on the logo for a few details on the Windmills

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The windmills were absolutely fantastic.
There are 19 of them in the Kinderdijk and they are just beautiful.
They are old and in such a beautiful place next to the water I really felt like I was in another world.
I will admit to having a pretty silly grin on my face walking down the path in the middle of two canals with windmills of either side thinking “I am in Holland with storybook windmills all around me!”
Pretty lame I know but I really couldn’t help it.

-Tanya exploring the area- (two photos)

I could see a storm coming across and I had my brolly ready.
There is a working windmill that you can go in and climb up.
Just as I was crossing the bridge to get to it started to rain.
It got really windy and then it started to hail!
I quickly paid for my ticket and ran inside.

Tanya standing outside the windmill she visited (two photos)

It was quite interesting seeing bedrooms and kitchens and bathrooms inside the windmill but they are much bigger than I expected them to me.
In fact, many of the windmills in this area are people’s homes.
Such a lovely place to live.

I came out of the windmill and it was sunny again.

An aerial view of the Mill Landscape (postcard)

By the time I finished wandering there was still an hour to wait for the next bus back to Rotterdam so I went for a walk and found a little pub and had a pint and some chips and then took the bus back.

I got back to the hostel and was a bit stuck as to what to do.

Rotterdam is a fairly modern city and it was flattened during the war and I didn’t really want to do much else except see the windmills.

There was also two under 12 Irish boys soccer teams in the hostel and they had basically taken over the place.

(three photos) -- and the mast from Heg Park (two photos)

I was sitting in the lounge area writing about the windmills and I saw a notice for the Euromast.
It is a tower in Rotterdam that is 185 meter high and you can climb it and get great views of the city and the harbour which is apparently one of the largest in Europe.
The tickets at reception are cheaper than at the ticket office so I brought one and headed off.

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It was only about a 10 minute walk.
I took the lift up about 2/3 of the way and it was a great view.
I could see another storm coming over too so my photos are quite good with the black sky.
I didn’t know you could go higher but then some doors opened behind me and I went into a little pod type thing.
It was completely dark with fairy lights on the floor and ceiling.
Then it started to go up and all of a sudden we were in the open - sort of, there was glass all around the walls and on the floors.
The pod was spinning around so I just took my seat on the comfy couch and got great 360 degree views of the city.

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They have a great bridge there.
I don’t know what it is called but I really like it and got some good photos of it.
I went up in the little pod twice because the view was so great.

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It hailed a bit while I was up there too.

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On the way back to the hotel I walked through Heg Park which was nice as well.
Lots of greenery and water.

I had dinner at the hostel and talked to some of the soccer coaches for a while.
It was quite hard to understand them - their accents were very strong.
There was a soccer match on telly between an English and a Dutch club team so we all sat down at watched that.
It took me about five minutes to realise that the commentary was in Dutch.
We just heard the crowd noise and fast speaking commentators.

The Irish guys brought me a few beers and then I went to bed as I was heading back to Amsterdam early the next morning.