We're (I'm) Famous!

After spending the morning at Madurodam we climbed back into the car for the long drive back to our apartment. However, the weather was magnificent and Papa suggested we visit a place that we hadn't been since we were first married, Kinderdijk.

Kinderdijk is an impressive park that is home to 19 unique windmills. There's a paved walking path you can stroll along as well as a bicycle path (of course). If you don't have a lot of time and wish to see all the windmills you can rent a bicycle. Some of the windmills are open to the public so you're able to venture inside and see how people used to live.

Make sure your camera's memory card has enough room for the countless photos you'll want to take. By the way, it's impossible to take a bad photo here because everywhere you look it's simply beautiful.

A nice way to complete your Kinderdijk experience is to sit outside at the cafe and enjoy the view with a ijs (ice cream) or cold drink.

Can you believe that Kinderdijk hosts more than 300,000 visitors a year? 

The 100,000th visitor arrived the same day we did!

Can you guess who that might of been?


This is what happened:


We arrived in the small village and decided to park the car on the street since we weren't going to be there long and because Papa HATES to pay for parking (among other things). Once there Pip and I waited for Papa to buy the tickets for us and then together we started to walk along the entrance path. 

All of a sudden we hear a man calling, "Sir!"and before I know it he's tapping Papa on the shoulder. All I can think is "Oh shit, Papa lied about Pip's age, said she was 2 years old so he wouldn't have to buy a ticket for her, great, just great!"

The man began speaking Dutch a mile a minute and looked frantic so I wasn't sure what was going on. Before I could start defending my husband and his "frugal" ways we were surrounded by three photographers with very impressive camera equipment and a man wearing some kind of metal necklace (the mayor of the town!).

Now, Papa can be a little slow when it comes to translating so it was only when he started to laugh that I breathed a sigh of relief. He finally explained why we were stopped. We (really, me) were the 100,000th visitor for the season!

It was embarrassing because there were so many people standing around watching us and the Kinderdijk officials were so proud and excited for us like we'd just won the windmill lottery. I know you might not believe this but I really don't enjoy being the center of attention. Ok, that might be a lie.

{source Swek/Peter Paul Klapwijk}

Anyways, we were presented with a bouquet of flowers, a baseball hat with the Kinderdijk emblem (Pip's wearing it), a large umbrella, a book about Kinderdijk, a private viewing of a movie about the windmills, a private guided tour of the windmills AND a live radio interview as well as an interview by a local reporter.

Radio Interview

We laughed and laughed. (see photo above) It ended up being a very enjoyable afternoon and certainly an experience we won't soon forget.

This is the article that was published. Please note the headline of the story, I'm the 100,000th!  If you'd like this riveting piece of journalism translated I'm afraid you're going to have to find a Dutch friend or dictionary, sorry.

Also, I must mention that I did edit out Pip & Papa's real names but I assure you the rest of the article has not been tampered with. All that stuff about me being a wonderfully funny & charismatic wife and mother is true and was not added by me or anyone else. What? You can't find that paragraph?

Amerikaanse Melissa is de 100.000ste

{sourceDe Vonk} 01 sep 2011

KINDERDIJK - Vanmiddag is de honderdduizendste bezoeker van Kinderdijk gehuldigd. Melissa van der Ceelen uit Danver bij Boston in de Verenigde Staten was de gelukkige.

FOTO: SWEK/PETER PAUL KLAPWIJK

Melissa bezocht Kinderdijk samen met haar man Papa en dochter Pip Uit handen van burgemeester Houtman van Nieuw-Lekkerland kreeg het gezin een aantal cadeaus, waaronder een gratis rondleiding door Jan Bakker, één van de vijftig vrijwilligers.

‘Overwhelming’

Het gezin is op bezoek in Valkenswaard, bij de familie van Papa, die een aantal jaren geleden naar de VS is geëmigreerd. Het is niet de eerste keer dat ze Kinderdijk bezoeken. Als pasgetrouwd stel bezochten ze negen jaar geleden Kinderdijk al eens. Toen regende het, maar toch was het bezoek ‘overwhelming’.
“Normaal zie je alleen foto’s van dit landschap, nu kun je in de foto rondlopen en rondkijken”, zegt Melissa. “Ik neem bezoek altijd mee, want hier zie je Nederland zoals het was en nog steeds is”, vervolgt Papa. Dochter Pip is vooral blij met haar Kinderdijk-baseballpet.

Prijsverhoging

Ondanks het tegenvallende weer van de afgelopen weken en de noodzakelijke prijsverhoging aan het begin van het seizoen verwacht de Stichting Werelderfgoed Kinderdijk zelfs nog een lichte stijging van het aantal bezoekers.
Aan het begin van dit seizoen is een bezoek aan Kinderdijk uitgebreid met een Bezoekerscentrum in het oude Wisboomgemaal. Daar wordt een film vertoond die de achtergronden van Kinderdijk en de waterbeheersing van de Alblasserwaard uit de doeken doet. Doeken, want de film wordt vertoond op zes schermen tegelijk.

Toneelstukjes

Komende week zijn de molens van het Werelderfgoed Kinderdijk verlicht. Ook het dorp is feestelijk verlicht. Op vrijdagavond vindt de Molenmarkt plaats in de dorpskern. Op de Bezoekmolen worden dezelfde avond toneelstukjes opgevoerd.

Has anything like this ever happened to you?