Today was our last day touring in Europe, as most of us are flying home tomorrow. We got an early start and went to Delft. This was a well preserved old town, where the Royal Family was buried. They no longer have power, but are universally honored and supported by todays citizens. Their color was orange, which is why athletes sometimes wear that rather than the red, white, and blue. The town was beautiful, and we climbed to the top of the church tower. The views were breathtaking; I will post some pictures. A smaller group of us also went to a local coffee shop/cafe since it was an early morning. The name of the cafe was “Kek”, and it was very enjoyable.
Next, we went to see Kinderdijk, a village located about 9 miles east of Rotterdam. There, a system of 19 windmills are used to drain the polder surrounding where the people would live. The windmills are older and are a great touring site.
At the site, I met a gentleman from Colorado who’s parents met at Purdue! We talked as we exited (I was getting my lunch from the bus) about calculating the horsepower produced in the windmills. The conversation made me want to get out my engineering paper and work out a model equation for it! We also talked about the Indy 500 qualifying, as the race is this weekend (Scott Dixon won pole with a 234 mph average). The side conversations I have with other tourists, students, and locals are some of my favorite things about traveling. Even if we don’t talk about engineering topics, I still feel like I learn more about how other people live in different cultures. This isn’t always learned from the words they may say, but their thought structure shown in the conversation shows different ways of looking at the world.
Our final event (post Covid testing) is our ‘last supper’! The T-bone steak was good, and the cheesecake I had for dessert was good, but unique with how it was not extremely creamy. Overall, the place was extremely nice with good service and food! The waiter wanted a comparison to USA places, so I said better than chain restaurants (Texas Roadhouse) but on par with normal places (privately owned steakhouses).
This trip has went by fast, but I feel satisfied with everything I got to see. I experienced 7 European cities in three different countries! Along the way, I got to meet many people here and grow closer with my new friends! Thank you to Prof. Tanoos and Prof. Webster for a great trip!
