Some time during the late evening we arrived in Williamstad, Netherlands, or Holland, as it is also called. This country required a negative covid test before entering. We were given one on the ship while in Belgium and we all passed! Hooray!!
Its historic center lies within a star-shaped fort. Williamstad is named after William of Orange who fortified the small town in 1583 to protect it from a Spanish invasion.
Our first look at Williamstad from the deck of the ship in the early morning.
We won't be doing a walk through the town today.
Instead, after breakfast, we set off on a tour of the Delta Works Flood Control project to see a restoration project begun after flooding had devastated Holland. It is the world's biggest storm surge barrier.
Originally this area was a collection of islands--easy prey to the North Sea.
Now the islands are connected and protected by a series of dams, dikes, and bridges. The gigantic Delta Works have prevented a recurrence of the destructive tides that flooded the islands in 1953 and claimed the lives of 1,800 people.
We had a great guide take us through the project and explain why the Delta Works was constructed, how it was built, and how it has protected Holland for the past 35 years.
Delta Works is recognized as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. It included the laying of 10,250 miles of dikes and around 300 structures. It was a fascinating tour.
From the internet, here is an aerial view of just a portion of the Delta Works Project.
Back on the ship we set out after lunch to discover the 19 windmills of Kinderdijk, now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Holland, of course, is known for its windmills.
The Netherlands as a country is not only very flat, but it also lies below sea level. Because of this, the Dutch have been using windmills as part of a complex way of draining the land and keeping it dry for hundreds of years.
Way before there were windmills there, and water management in place, this area would have been a complete marshland of peat bog.
The Dutch managed the water from as early as the 13th century. The windmills in Kinderdijk were built around 1738. They are not used anymore but could still be used as a backup if needed.
We took a little boat ride on the canal to reach the windmills. Iise was the boat's captain, and as we rode along she told us the story about the boy who puts his finger in the dike.
We were able to go inside one of the windmills to see how a family would have lived and how they used the mills for irrigation and water management so they could farm the land.
This would be the parent's bed
We are so happy the weather has been so nice. This is typically a rainy season for this part of the country.
To continue reading, scroll down and click on "Newer Post". Our next port is Nijmegen, Netherlands' oldest city and one very much affected by WWII.
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