Keukenhof is located about half-way between Haarlem and Leiden, and there are sights of interest in both towns. We selected Leiden because we wanted to see the Valk Windmill, also known as Stedelikj Molenmuseum de Valk. This is a working windmill open to the public with exhibits inside showing the different types of windmills and explaining how this particular type, a cap windmill, works.

The miller and his family lived in the base of the windmill, and their quarters are furnished in the period. It’s interesting to see how pictures are hung on what are essentially curved walls. The Valk Windmill, the third to stand on the site, was built in 1743. The day we were there, its sails, as the blades are called, were moving with considerable force and could very easily have turned the massive millstones housed in the top of the mill, not to mention giving any one of us the ride of a lifetime.