Our Viking ship was named Annar, after a Norse mythological figure. Viking river ships are called Longships named after the traditional vessels of the ancient Vikings. Virtually all of the Viking river cruise ships in Europe are identical in design, with four decks. The lower deck has cabins with small windows at the top of the cabin. They are actually mostly below the water line. The middle deck has cabins and the reception area. The dining room with a kitchen is also on the middle deck. On the middle and upper deck there are veranda cabins with doors that opened to an outdoor seating area with seating for two people. We had a French Veranda with sliding doors that could be opened for viewing from our room. On the upper deck, in addition to cabins, there is a lounge area with a bar and outdoor seating at the front of the ship. There is an open air top deck with seating and a pilot house that can be lowered as needed to pass under low bridges. Most Viking River Ships accomodate 190 passengers with 53 cruises. Viking also has smaller ships that sail on smaller rivers in Europe and other regions.
We departed Amsterdam late Monday night and cruised down a large canal or weteringen to Kinderdijlk, designated by UNESCO in 1997 as a historic site. Kinderdijk means “children dike”. It takes its name from the Cats in the Cradle folktale. The ship docked along a canal about two hours, forty-two miles, south of Amsterdam. Kinderdijk lies at the confluence of the Lek and the Noord rivers just south of Rotterdam. It is a mostly rural area with a small residential village and farming area with small canals running throughout. The site is noted for the preservation of nineteen existing windmills built around 1740. Like much of Holland, It is actually below sea level.
The windmills were originally constructed in 1740 to pump out the sea water from the “polders” and literally prevent the sea water from reclaiming the land. I had booked a Viking excursion for us to ride e-bikes for two hours beginning at 8:30. We had been warned the night before that we need to have previous experience with bicycling sometime in the last twenty years because these were “driver assisted” bikes not the self propelled demons we see on the streets of New York and Paris. I wasn’t sure I was qualified until I was reminded of our cycling around Hilton Head a few years ago on real bikes. It was shaky going at first. The paths are narrow but flat and all went well until the first small bridge over a canal where I realized I hadn’t figured out how to down shift. I stalled near the top of the small bridge halting everyone behind me. After that I had no problem and even made a video later while cycling along. Unfortunately, I can’t post videos on this site.
The guide, Bert, took us by the residential are where he lives. With the UNESCO designation, growth is non existent and existing housing, much of it modern, is very expensive. The keepers of the windmills live inside the windmills. The rights to live in them are passed down and the waiting list is so long “you would probably die before your time came to move in” as our guide informed us. We soon arrived at a windmill that is now a museum preserved just as it was many years ago. There is very limited living space inside the mill. There is an outdoor kitchen and privy. The tender families have to prove proficiency in maintaining the windmills. One member of the family always has to be able to climb the large ladder like wind props to unfurl and secure the canvas sails so that the wind can drive the windmill props. It was a calm day and none of the windmills were in motion. Actually the land is now pumped out mostly by two huge diesel engines. There are four propellers on each mill so a minimum of two on opposite ends had to be rigged with sails while in use. If a mill tender happened to come home after a night at the local pub and only rig three of the propellers he was said to be “Three Sheets to the Wind”. an old saying for over indulgence.
Back on board, we continued our cruise down the canal to the Waal River which became, at some point along the way, The Rhine on the map near Doorenberg at the Holland border with Germany. We had a beautiful day for cruising as we sat in the sun on two of the four rocking chairs on the front of the ship. While cruising to our next destination, Cologne, we didn’t realize that our time cruising on board from our favorite vantage point was about to end and we would, after docking overnight at Koblenz, the next day, be the last time we would see the river and our ship.
