Thursday, January 12, 2017
Today we walked about 40 minutes to the high-rise hotel area of Aruba. We had breakfast at Diana's Pancake Place. They are known for their Dutch pancakes or Pannekoek as they are called in Dutch. A Dutch pancake is much larger (up to about a foot) and thinner than the American pancake. However, it is not as thin as a crepe. They often have slices of bacon, apples, cheese, or raisins. Plain ones are often eaten with syrup or powdered sugar. Diana's menu had all kinds of fruit and meat to be added. Stan and I selected the special. It was a Dutch pancake with strawberries, chocolate, and whip cream. $12.50! Splurge for the day!

Diana's Pancake Place is located right next to The Old Dutch Windmill, one of the most authentic landmarks and reminders of the Dutch influences in Aruba. The windmill was used to drain water from the lowlands of Holland and later functioned as a grain mill powered by the wind. In the early 1900s, several storms heavily damaged the Windmill however, up to the point where it ceased to function. The windmill was abandoned. In 1960, the Old Dutch Mill was disassembled, and shipped to Aruba. It traveled nearly 5000 miles overseas and reassembled to serve as one of Aruba's first major tourist attraction. It is only a picture op unless you go to it at night when it is a night club.

We then walked along the high-rise hotels and looked at a couple of shops. We returned along the beach and then walked back to our apartment.