My trip to Amsterdam, part 2: I learn about dikes and polders

Since the weather in Amsterdam remained so sunny, I decided it would be a good idea to take another bike trip. This time, I went with my friends Kyle, Annie, and Timo. Timo grew up in Amsterdam, so he knows his way around very well. He suggested that I would enjoy biking along the dike on the west side of a big lake.

Do you remember in my last post how I told you that, for many centuries, the Dutch have used windmills to pump water in order to reclaim land from the sea? In fact, the Dutch have reclaimed lots and lots of land that naturally lies below sea level. One of the ways that they do this is by building long mounds of earth called "dikes." The dikes prevent the water from going over and flooding the land. The land that the dike protects from the water is called a "polder." Isn't it cool to look at farmland and realize that this area was once entirely underwater?

Dutch people, as it turns out, have been particularly successful at reclaiming land. Of course, part of this success might stem from the fact that building dikes is an ingrained part of Dutch culture. Timo told me that, when he was a little boy, his favorite game to play with his brother and best friend was going into the creek in his backyard and trying to build dams. How very stereotypically Dutch!

In this picture, you can see what the dike looks like. It's just a mound of earth built up next to the water, but it goes for miles and miles. Of course, this means that Dutch people can bike along the top of it.

I sit on Timo's shoulder on top of the dike.

Here, you can see what the reclaimed land on the other side of the dike looks like. All of this land once lay underwater. Now, it is beautiful and productive farmland.

I pose on my bike in front of a polder.

The dikes protect much more than farmland. We visited the beautiful little down of Durgerdam, which is nestled safely behind a dike.

I pose on the outskirts of Durgerdam.

Remember those traditional windmills that I showed you in my last post? The Dutch haven't lost their interest in windmills, but they have made some technological advancements over the years. Here is what a modern Dutch windmill looks like.

I pose in front of a windmill.

I find the practice of building dikes to reclaim land from the sea fascinating. Without centuries of engineering successes, much of the Netherlands would be underwater. In the Netherlands, people even tell their children the story of a little boy who saved his whole town from flooding when he stuck his finger in a faulty dike to stop a leak. Isn't that a great story?

--Benny