The picture on the right is a re-created windmill in the heart of Haarlem. The old one burned down, and this one is being repaired, but we had a great tour of the inner workings by a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide. They have displays inside showing all the inventions that resulted from windmill technology over the centuries. This one was used for grinding tobacco & corn as well as the special cement they use to line the canals.The picture on the left shows one of the steam-powered pumps they used to empty Haarlem Lake when it was threatening to overwhelm Amsterdam and surrounding towns in the early 1800's. Schipol Airport now lies where 6 meters of water used to stand! Again, a great guide with a vast knowledge of engineering showed us around and explained the technologies. Thanks to brother Jim for suggesting this tour.
Most windmills are not tilted so much!! ;)
ReplyDeleteFrom Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, courtesy of Wikipedia:
*Just then they came in sight of thirty or forty windmills that rise from that plain. And no sooner did Don Quixote see them that he said to his squire, "Fortune is guiding our affairs better than we ourselves could have wished. Do you see over yonder, friend Sancho, thirty or forty hulking giants? I intend to do battle with them and slay them. With their spoils we shall begin to be rich for this is a righteous war and the removal of so foul a brood from off the face of the earth is a service God will bless."
"What giants?" asked Sancho Panza.
"Those you see over there," replied his master, "with their long arms. Some of them have arms well nigh two leagues in length."
"Take care, sir," cried Sancho. "Those over there are not giants but windmills. Those things that seem to be their arms are sails which, when they are whirled around by the wind, turn the millstone."*
Don't they call this the leaning windmill of Haarlem???.....Guess maybe we had one to many of the many brewskies we tasted or Genever or something.....wow it sure looks tilted.... or maybe it's just our brains that are tilted.....
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Don Quixote story.....