Cruising on a River Boat

Well, I have a real cold. Lots of sneezing and blowing my nose, but the Dayquil is holding it off a bit. We had breakfast in the hotel (Bill misses the Viking eggs) and then met in the lobby for a bus trip to Keukenhof Gardens, which have been open to the public for 75 years. This is known for its tulips, and it is only open for about 2 months while they are blooming. Today was the last day before they close until next spring, so the flowers weren't in their prime, but many were still gorgeous and they had set flats of flowers out to fill in other spots - mostly daffodils and jonquils. There were tulips I had never seen before that almost resembled mums or peonies - very full heads, and some very frilly. Over 7 million bulbs were planted this year! Tomorrow they will start taking them all out, and they throw them away - so sad! But it was a wonderful sight to see in person. We got back and reorganized and walked to lunch at a small Italian place, then rode the streetcar into Old City. There were soccer fans in every bar singing and "preparing" for the game this afternoon that was at the stadium outside of the city. I guess this is their version of tailgating. We saw New Market and some beautiful old buildings before arriving at the Red Light District. Oh my, that was an eye-opener. Prostitution is legal, so half-dressed girls were beckoning from many doorways - Bill was oblivious until I started pointing them out. We found a cafe (not near the girls) and had a couple of beers, watching people and talking about our trip. We found a place that had Doner Kebabs and each had one. Son John had suggested we try them, and they were very good - sort of like a gyro. We returned to the hotel, finished packing, and went to bed early to be ready to depart at 6:15 am. It has been a great trip, but it will be good to get home!

On Saturday, we rose early, put our luggage in the hall, ate a quick breakfast, and then had to wait a bit until it was our turn to disembark. A bus took us to our hotel where we were organized into groups to go on a walking tour. Our hotel is in a very nice part of Amsterdam but is not very close to the Old City. The guide explained how to take the streetcar to get there, and also described what was available in the area around the hotel. We walked to Museum Square which is the location of a number of museums, but Bill and I decided we wanted to experience Amsterdam rather than read about it in a museum so we walked on from there into Old City. We found a small pub and had lunch and then walked around a bit more. A canal cruise with an entertaining driver took an hour and was very interesting, We took lots of photos, especially of many houses that are crooked due to the foundation giving way. Houses are built on many wood pilings that are driven into the peat below until they hit sand. Being in the water they don't rot, but I guess some do shift because there are buildings that are obviously leaning! The guide said they adjust the length of the legs of the furniture so that everything is even although the floor is not. I would think curtains would still hang crooked. We rode the streetcar back to the hotel and had dinner "al fresco" on the hotel terrace overlooking a canal. I had Dutch Bitterballen, which are like small croquettes filled with a meat and gravy filling. They are served with mustard, and were very good. Bill had a Tosti, which was just a toasted ham and cheese sandwich. We were exhausted and went to bed early. I started with a cold - I could feel it coming on last night - and am taking pills I brought just in case. I'm hoping it goes away as fast as it came on...

On Firday, May 9 we woke up in the Netherlands! Looking out the window there was a constant parade of barges going both ways, and the land is very flat! We passed lots of industrial areas and a few villages but none right on the water like we saw in Germany. After breakfast it was time to start packing - a sad chore but we are getting off the ship tomorrow morning and it must be done. At 11:00 am there was a meeting to explain the debarkation process, which is quite complicated since so many people have different destinations. Lunch was good again, but sad - our last one aboard! We have a favorite server, Cristian, who is quite funny and really seems to enjoy his job. After lunch we enjoyed watching the passing scenery until we stopped at Kinderdijk to check out and tour the windmills there. This area has 19 old windmills, 16 of which are inhabited and still work. A number of them were turning in the wind as we walked with our guide and learned about how dikes were built and water was pumped out to make land upon which folks could live and farm. One was open for us to climb up, and they are actually quite large inside. Family members sleep in "closets" that have a bed, curtains, and then doors that close with holes cut in them for air. I guess this helps with heat in the winter? The gears were turning and water was pumping so we could see what actually was going on inside the windmills. The legend about the name of this area is this: after a large flood in the 1500's, there was much to be cleaned up since lots of things were floating around. A woman heard a baby crying, and near the dike there was a cradle with a crying baby inside, and a cat walking back and forth on the outside rocking it. I guess that is believable? We have heard some crazy legends on this trip! Back on the boat we all dressed up a bit and went to the captain's farewell dinner. We toasted with champagne and the captain spoke briefly - he is a man of very few words! We said goodbye to folks we had gotten to know and went back to the cabin to pack some more.

The ship docked in Cologne as we were getting ready for the day. We met our guide and walked around the "historic section" for two hours. I used quotation marks because 96% of this city was destroyed in World War II. The only thing that was left standing was the cathedral which is an amazing building. It was the tallest building on Earth when it was built, but then was beaten by the Washington Monument, then Eiffel Tower, then Empire State Building, etc. They are still working on repairing/replacing stained glass windows and there is always scaffolding on it somewhere. Some call its survival a miracle, but it turns out that the Allies used the twin spires as orientation for navigation. Also, the railroad bridge was the only bridge to make it through the war but it was bombed by the Germans in the last days before the war ended to prevent Allies from moving equipment and troops. Many of the buildings were designed in old German styles and are dated with the date of the original building on that site. But there were not quite as many as we have seen in other cities during the trip so the architecture was quite a mixture, but the streets were narrow and winding and there were many areas that were for pedestrians only, so it has the feel of an old city. This was the busiest city we visited - there were thousands of folks in groups with tour guides, groups of teenagers on school trips, and elementary children with teachers on field trips. Perhaps it was because everyone goes to the cathedral and the surrounding area so it gets congested? After lunch on the ship we walked around a bit, visiting the shop at the Chocolate Museum and a few other places. We both took naps to prepare for a Beer Tasting Dinner and Pub Crawl, which was lots of fun. We started at Peter's Brauhaus and had Kolsch and lots of German food. The cold, crisp beer is served in 7-8 ounce cylindrical glasses, and as soon as a glass is empty it is replaced with a full one unless you put your coaster on top of the glass to signal that you are done. We visited two other brauhauses and had at least one glass at each. Our guide was a trip - a bit crazy and dramatic but she had us laughing and enjoying the evening. I don't think she wanted to say goodbye because she ran late and got a call that we needed to return immediately so the ship could depart! It was a late night for us by the time we settled in our cabin.

This morning was cloudy, cold, and windy, but after breakfast we sat on the front deck to see the castles of the middle Rhine River as we cruised toward Koblenz. Fortunately, blankets were provided! We passed twenty castles (some were really fortresses or toll towers) and I think I have photos of all of them. Most are still intact but some had been damaged and were in ruins. Built in different time periods, they were all unique. Some are now hotels, some museums, and at least one is a private residence. The Program Director described each one we passed until lunchtime. We passed Lorelei where many shipwrecks occurred, supposedly due to beautiful singing by a golden-haired young woman. It was an interesting "tour."

After lunch we arrived in Koblenz, which is at the confluence of the Mozelle and Rhine Rivers. We docked near German Point which is the end of the small peninsula where a very large statue of William I, the first German emperor, stands high above the rivers. Romans originally settled here and our guide pointed out many instances where old Roman walls were used as part of newer buildings. This was a very walkable city with many squares around which there are markets, restaurants, and shops. We encountered another "stumbling block" and were told that in this city the high school students are sent out once a year to polish the brass markers as part of the unit about the Holocaust. All of the manhole covers have a picture of the "Spitting Boy" on it. The story goes that during the war, many children were born of French soldiers and German mothers and they ended up playing in the streets after the soldiers left and while mothers worked. Very mischievous and known for pranks, they were called Shangels. This was a derogatory term, but now the Shangels include all who are born in Koblenz and they are proud of the nickname. The actual statue of the Spitting Boy spurts water about 15 feet at sporadic, unpredictable intervals at unsuspecting passersby. Quite a story!

There was a large French influence since the Mozelle originates in France, and the guide grew up going to France for a few weeks each year as part of an exchange program to help the two countries get along better. She seems to think it worked, since the two populations tolerate each other pretty well now. At the end of the tour Bill and I stopped at a Brauhaus and had a beer. The weather had warmed up and was perfect for this. We returned to the boat for dinner and then an after dinner drink with music by a Classical Music duo.

Today we woke up in Wertheim, a very small town on the confluence of the Main and Tauber Rivers. Small choo-choo trains took us into the town, moving very slowly and fortunately it wasn't too far because we held up traffic and it was not very comfortable. Our guide was born and raised in Wertheim, and worked in City Hall for his career, so everyone knows him and he knows more than you want to know about every building there! But he was a good speaker and kept us moving. This town was flooded many times over the years, and the biggest tower leans like the Leaning Tower of Pisa from this. The streets have all been raised over a meter, and there are flood walls for the town and on individual buildings. See photo for the flood levels over centuries. Cobblestone is everywhere but it seems to stay in place pretty much as the water comes and goes. This town is known for glass making, but the Glasmuseum was closed so we couldn't visit that site! I was disappointed, especially because we were told it would be open. The castle in this town was ruined in the Thirty Years War by cannonballs and is still in disrepair - just old stone walls. We saw some of the "stumbling blocks" set into the cobblestone as we saw in Regensburg. We heard stories about the coming and going of Jews and Russian Germans and other groups that provided this town with quite an ethnic mix. After riding the choo-choo train back, we had lunch and then went to the lounge for a glass blowing demonstration as the boat moved onward. The glassblower, Hans, was quite the talker and spoke for an hour and a half without stopping! But his work was beautiful and he explained much about his family (he is a seventh generation glassblower), their work in the field, and techniques they use for different products. Much of the glass business in Wertheim is scientific glassware - beakers, flasks, distillation apparatus. Soon after the program ended a High Tea was served. I'm not sure why this was the day for that, but it was lovely. (Bill was in the cabin recharging.). Dinner was a German Feast with two options of platters of typical German food and the tables set with red checked cloths and blue dinnerware. German food is very heavy so I think I felt more full than I have during this whole trip even though I haven't held back on the eating. (I hope I can fit in my clothes to fly home...). We played Name That Tune in the lounge this evening - another fun event. Lots of laughing, but we aren't very good at the music identification thing. We needed artist, song, decade, and nationality after hearing 5-10 seconds. Tomorrow we can sleep in a bit.