Jaunted

Netherlands

Windmill Watching Made Easy

August 31, 2006 at 8:23 AM | 0 Comments

Did you know it's just 60 days until the end of the windmill season in the Netherlands? Not only that, the second week of September is the time for Mills in Floodlight in Kinderdijk, our number one recommended town for windmill watching.

And it's not as lame as it sounds. In Kinderdijk, near Rotterdam, they have not just 3 or 4, but in fact 19 windmills all within sight of each other along the river, dating from--well, it depends who you believe--either the 1500s or 1740. Let's not split hairs, they're still old, they're beautiful, and they're still kind of cool. Apparently they each cost about $50,000 a year to maintain, and there are only 1000 of them left in Holland: If your math is good that means nearly 2% of them are here in the one spot; and they need a fair wad of cash to keep them lookin' good. Wonder how much it takes to keep a red-light-district worker in Amsterdam looking that good?

[Image via huees/Flickr]

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