2007 Rhine River Cruise:   Gouda (Land of Cheese) & Kinderdijk (Windmills)

Sunday, April 22, 2007

We had set sail from Amsterdam in the wee hours of the morning headed for an 8:30am arrival in Utrecht.   The printed itineray called for a shore excursion to Gouda to see the city and to visit a cheese farm.  The visit to the cheese farm applied only to non-Sunday's.   Being as we were there on a Sunday, we were treated to a tour to Kinderdijk to see the windmills along the dikes.   Hmmm!   Guess Kinderdijk might translate to Children's Dike!!!


Our Viking Sun home was cruising along the Rhine in a...
This is another look at the pre-sunrise dawn, showing the...
And, now, the sun is over the horizon.   On...
The Viking Sun docked in Utrecht.    We had...
Along the way to Gouda, we see residential areas with...
Our first windmill sighting!   The bus in front...
A closer look at the windmill finds it integrated into...
We were surprised to see so many thatched roof homes......
Another residential setting along a canal.   It...
And we see another windmill.   This one appears...
And, now, we're walking the busiest shopping street in...
Along the street, we see a coat of arms above the door of...
Crossing the canal on Tiendewegbrug street....
Appropriately, the town has Gouda cheese wheel replicas...
Here's a look at a couple of the wheels showing the gouda...
A very quiet side street off Tiendewegbrug....
Further down the street, we see the tower of the St....
As we pass over a small canal, we see lots of...
A look the other way shows more mirror like reflections.
Wandering further down the streets of Gouda, we pass by a...
A beautiful view of the church across the garden of St....
We're now gathering before entering the church....
Across the street, we see the entrance to the garden that...
Inside St. John's Church, we learn that we're between or...
Inside the church, we find beautiful stained glass...
These are the pipes of the organ, even more impressive...
The floors have some very elaborately carved stone tiles.
Back out on the street, a closer look at the stonework...
A moss covered side entrance to St. John's Church.
The historic rathaus (city hall) in market...
The clock tower looming over the buildings surrounding...
A closer look at the entrance to the City Hall.
The original Kaaswaag (Cheese weighing house) is...
A closer look at the stonework above the entrance to the...
And, taking up a portion of the market square was the...
Volkswagen convertibles of all different colors.
Here's an interesting little black one with a trailer...
A look from a different angle shows the trailer is half...
Another look at more of the Volkswagen Cabriolets.
Hmmm! A Karmann Ghia.   Being as it was made by...
Now we're headed back to the bus walking along the not so...
A look down a side street we see wisteria growing way...
The spires are intriguing.
Looking closely, we see the facades of the buildings...
As we head out toward Kinderdijk, we see the Volkswagens...
We were traversing the countryside at just the right time...
Another field with cows, sheep and a modern day windmill!
We found this shelter fascinating.   It...
Getting closer to Kinderdijk, we see windmill near the...
A little further down, the road is lined with wild canola...
There's our sister bus right in front of us....
A close-up of the canola flowers.   These are...
On our walk, we see this metal cutout of a goat stuck on...
Windmills silhouetted against the bright sky.
Windmills are all around us.   There is on open...
Windmills, flowers and a canal.   Some folks...
Ah ha!   Here's the windmill that is open to...
A distant look at the windmill we will visit.
The windmill made for a nice reflection in the canal.
Walking up the path to the windmill.   The...
A closer look at the windmill blades.   It's...
Inside the windmill, stairs up to higher levels and some...
A look at the living quarters built into the first level...
Looking toward an adjacent windmill.
Hmmm!   A closer look at the sign and a rough...
Looking up at the side of the windmill, we see little...
Tom walking back from doing his Don Quoxte bit - shooting...
A side door that goes into the internal works of the...
Looking across the other canal, another picturesque...
Canola (rapeseed) flowers and windmills. We never...
Windmill reflecting in the canal.
A family of ducks goes swimming by.
Here's a closer look at the ducks.
The babies are well shielded by the parents. ...
On our way back to meet the Viking Sun, we see this...
The Dutch do use every piece of land.   Here we...
Looking out the front of the bus, we see signs of spring...
And, we arrive in Schoonhaven and find the Viking Sun...
Getting back on board, we see our Hotel Manager, Thomas...
The boat we were docked next to was quite a bit smaller...
We've now set sail and we're in the lounge for our...

Total images: 81 · Last update: 10/23/07 8:40 PM · ©2007 T&R Flinn Productions · Comments · Generated by JAlbum 7.3 & Chameleon