Windmill De Adriaan (1779) — Attraction in Haarlem

Yeah windmills are a Dutch cliche, but how much do you know about them? The Dutch have always been an industrious people and windmills powered their abundant industry for centuries before the age of steam. This windmill has been lovingly restored to working order, milling grain, but windmills were used to lift water, and as the small engines of the day. Every windmill had it's own economy that orbited the products produced. An idle mill's vanes communicated various messages by their angular orientation.

This museum is amazing - we had a personal guide named Steve (I know) who had just started guiding at the windmill, and knew EVERYTHING about the mechanics and economics of windmills in the Netherlands. It wasn't operating when we visited, being idled for King's day, but that meant we got to see the millstones and the deck surrounding the De Kop, or cap, housing the gearing that converted wind into usable power.

We started our tour with a nicely produced video.

Highly Recommended! There are several nice places to eat in the...

The windmill is beautiful. The entrance is ridiculously cheap, and you get to learn a lot of interesting information. The view is very nice too.

However, the tour guide was incredibly rude, to me and my friend. She said things such as; "We are in the most free country in the world so I can say whatever I want" and "We are almost communists here" (have you experienced communism lady?!), "Tell me where you're from so I can see how to treat you". She kept poking at me and my friend to tell her where we came from, and when we said Utrecht, she started questioning what language were we speaking. I snapped and asked her "How is this relevant for the tour". The other people joining the tour seemed very pleased with my answer and even applauded. Her response was "I don't usually drink, but today I will need a drink". Very very rude.

I am sad I could not enjoy this experience to...

One of the interesting things to see in Haarlem is Molen de Adriaan, a traditional Dutch windmill built along the river in the city centre in 1778.

This is a beautiful windmill to view when sightseeing around the city. You can see and take nice pictures of Molen de Adriaan from across the river, while taking boat rides as well as from up close, just in front of the monument windmill.

It has been a part of the Haarlem skyline for several centuries. Sadly, the original windmill burned down in 1932. What you see now is a reconstruction completed 70 years after the disastrous fire.

The Molen de Adriaan windmill was opened to the public in 2002. If you are interested, there is a small museum in the windmill (€5 per adult) that you can visit. Opening days and hours change during the year so check their website...