Unfortunately, the area was not accessible by rail. Luckily, Utrecht Centraal has many regional buses so I hopped on a 154. At that time it was still warm, so the journeys there was somewhat uncomfortable - the bus had no air-conditioning or windows, and if it had an internal ventilation system it was not on - the only ventilation was from 2 nooduitgangs (emergency exits) in the roof, and these weren't yanked open very much (on the way back they were, so it was alright).
The first order of business on reaching there was to get on a €3 cruise.
Frontal view of one windmill
House by the waterside
Ducks
Cruise video
Flag-ed windmill
I don't know why cameras always catch me with closed eyes.
People fishing
More ducks
Floating grass. At first I thought there was a duck there or something.
In one of the restaurants/souvenir shops, I was having a wurst broodje (sausage 'sandwich' [actually just a sandwich inside a plain bun with mustard]) and noticed that, while there were coin-operated locks on the toilet doors (one had to insert €0,50 to unlock the door), 3 women were co-operating by holding the door open for the next woman on exiting the toilet. Hah!
Although I'd taken a cruise down the river, I still wanted to see it the slow way (as well as enter the visitors' mill) and thus walked down the paths.
Strange object. I have no idea what it was.
I was tempted to look for a tall cluster of reeds, but luckily the Visitors' Windmill (the only one allowing people to enter it) had a toilet outside it. I assiduously ignored the sign asking for a €0,50 fee, of course, having already paid €3 to enter the windmill.
Visitors' Windmill
Side profile
Model
View from the window on the smoke floor
Dynamic View from the window on the smoke floor
Turning wheels
Turning wheels redux
It was gratifying to note that other people were also nua, like I was on other days. One woman was sitting on a bench with an umbrella.
More ducks. Don't ask me why.
Around this time, there was a long line of heavy vehicles passing by on the road, and all were blowing their horns for an extended period of time. I'd never heard such a cacophony of vehicle horns in the Netherlands (hell, not even in Greece). My guess was that it was somehow related to Nationale Molendag (especially since it was a Saturday), but I couldn't imagine how.
Disgusting skirt. This appeared to be composed of frills sewed to a denim skirt. Yucks.
There're just so many things wrong with this sign.
We've long outgrown windmills
Before leaving, I had a slice of Vlaai (Dutch pie). It was quite different from the slice I had at Schiphol in March - that had a crispy base, but in this one the pie crust was like a cross between cake and bread (leaning towards bread).
Dog sticking its head out of a caravan.
I was wondering why, although it was National Windmill Day, there seemed to be no special events. Then, when I was waiting for the bus back to Utrecht, announced by loudspeakers mounted on a van, a large contingent of came by - the vanguard was made out of 3 cyclists in fluorescent vests, but the main body was made up of rollerbladers. With whoops, they zoomed in, across the parking lot and thence out of sight.
1 World Heritage site down, hundreds to go!
