June 04, 2024 Kinderdijk Netherlands

 Kinderdijk, Netherlands

June 04, 2024

Last night late the ship left Cologne and I was up and took a few night time pictures of the city.  I liked the picture of the Cologne Cathedral as we passed under one of the bridges. 

This morning was spent sailing up the Rhine and into the canals leading to Kinderdijk. Kinderdijk is a UNESCO world heritage site where they have preserved the the original windmills for which Netherlands is famous.  These windmills were built in 1738 and pumped the water from approximately 120,000 acres,  Each of the 16 windmills produced approximately 18 horsepower so this was a huge step up from the hand bailing of the water.    They were replaced up a steam driven pumping system and then an electric system in 1924 and finally with a modern Archimedes' Screw pump. 

The tour started from the ship and we walked across a bunch of board walks to the site while our guide explained how the system worked.  The windmills lifted the walked from drainage canals into a secondary canal which had sluice gates on the main canal and when the tide went out the gates were opened and the water flowed out. 

Once we reached the first windmill which is now a museum were went in to see the inner workings.  The windmills were operated by a miller who lived in the windmill with his family.  He was responsible for operating and maintaining the machinery. There wasn't much room in the windmill and all of the families were quite large so it must have been cozy.  

The name Kinderdijk means child's dike and comes from a story that there was a major flood and every one was gathered on top of the dike and then a woman saw a cradle floating by with a cat balanced on top. She wadded into the water to rescue the cat and found a baby in the cradle. 

Tomorrow we depart the ship and head home.  This as really been quite the adventure but it is time to get home.

Terry  

June 03, 2024 Cologne Germany

 Cologne, Germany

June 03, 2024

This morning out ship docked in Cologne. It was another cold and blustery day with the temperature at only 52F (11C). There was no rain forecast but it was a heavy gray sky with a nasty cold wind blowing.  We got off the ship to do the walking tour of the city and I ran back onto the ship to pull on an undershirt.  Hey! It's June.

The guide started us off and spent a great deal of time telling us about the roman ruins which were under the city streets and how they are working on this huge subterranean excavation which is on going and it will be a great experience when it is finished.  However no dates were given or any thing much to see of the progress. 

On the way to the Cologne Cathedral we stopped by the Grand St Michaela's chapel but did not go in.  We also stopped by a local brew house on the way and got the low down on how to order a beer in Cologne.  Simply take a coaster from the rack and place it in front of  yourself and fresh beers will be brought to you until you place the coaster on top of your glass.  

The Cologne Cathedral is the largest gothic cathedral, and it is really huge.  It was started in 1288 and was finished in 1888. It is truly magnificent.  It's huge scale is just over powering.  The soaring columns to the ornately laid mosaic tile work on the floors,  the gold inlaid relic chests, and magnificent stained glass windows are all just unbelievable.

After the tour we headed back to the ship which is tied up right down town.  On the way we stopped in a fabric shop where Agnes and Sandra purchased some very nice fabric.  

After lunch I walked up to the Lindt chocolate museum which was about the only museum open on a Monday.  They had just about every kind of chocolate bar and candy you could imagine on display along with a huge case of chocolate cakes which you could order a slice.  Having just finished lunch I passed on the cake but it sure looked good.

Cologne is a very interesting city as it has a lot of very old buildings which either survived the war or were rebuilt but it also has a lot of ultra modern architecture such as the Microsoft building which is right on the river.

All of this is not really the big story.  The big story is that all of the rains have caused a huge flood in southern Germany.  Some of the towns we just sailed through the water is up over 1.5 meters.  I saw a story on MSN news that the Rhine River has been closed to marine traffic.  Some of the pictures show huge amounts of flooding.  The river here is very high and has risen a lot since we docked this morning.  I think we got very lucky to have made our trip when we did. 

Terry 

June 02, 2024 Koblenz Germany

 Koblenz Germany

June 02, 2024 

After I got back from the Marksburg castle tour I had lots of time before supper so and the ship was moored very close to downtown I took a walk through downtown.  

Koblenz is a very important city as it is right on the confluence of the Moselle rivers and the Rhine rivers. It is a very interesting city as it is a mix of very new and modern buildings and buildings dating back to the 1700's.   As it was a Sunday all of the shops were closed, and only the restaurants and pubs were open never the less it was very busy despite the cold and inclement weather.

Right on the confluence of the river is a huge (at least 60 feet tall) statue of Kaiser Wilhelm.  It is a really awesome site.  

Inside the oldtown there are a lot of statues fountains and squares.  I also saw a lot of very interesting shops selling some very interesting art and even some cool looking foot wear.

Right on the Rhine is a cable car which takes you to a huge castle on the other side of the river.  This castle was used by the Nazi's as a prison.  I didn't have time to take the cable car so I guess I will have to make another trip back to pick up some of the stuff I have missed.

Terry 

June 02 2024 Marksburg Castle Germany

 Marksburg Castle Germany

June 02, 2024

After lunch the tour of the day was to the Marksburg Castle.  It was built in 1100 and is only one of two castle which has never been capture.  It is situated on a very high and steep pinnacle of rock over looking the Rhine River.  Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. 

After a short bus ride we had a walk up a steep hill to the castle.  As we approached the castle I pulled out my camera a took picture only to have my camera tell me that I had not put the SD card back in the camera after I down loaded my pictures from yesterday.  I couldn't believe I had made such a beginner mistake.  Fortunately I still had my phone with me and so I started taking pictures with it.  Unfortunately I am really lousy with it as I don't use my phone as a camera.  

The views from the castle walls were totally awesome even with the heavy mist which was in the air.  I can only imagine what it would be lie on a clear day.  The tour took us from the main gate through the entrance tunnel to the main parapets.  We then went on into the wine cellar, the kitchen and on up to the main living quarters for the royal family.  Down to the dungeon and torture chamber and ending in the castle forge.  

It was a really excellent tour in that you got to see how life was in the 1100's. Even as one of the nobles it was a pretty tough life.  I asked the tour guide where the TV room was and only got a puzzled look. 

The walk down the hill was pretty easy and the bus ride to the boat was short. 

Upon reaching the ship I had lots of time before supper so I took a walk through old town Koblenz where we are docked. It is on a separate post. 

Terry   

June 02 2024 Middle Rhine Valley

 Middle Rhine Valley    

June 02, 2024

This morning our ship entered the Rhine river from the Main river.  This is the section of the river which has all of the castles on it.  So I was up early to get a prime location for taking pictures.  

As the ship entered the Rhine the cruise director was on the PA describing each of the castles as they came in to view.  He was giving a detailed history of each castle, when it was built, who built, and it's history, along with myths and stories about the castle.  I am not going to get into each castle and suffice it to say that most of them are either in ruins or have been converted to hotels. 

Unfortunately the weather was not cooperating.  There was a heavy mist in the valley and on all of the hills.  In addition the wind was just howling. It was blowing so hard it was hard to hold the camera still enough to get a picture.  Just stepping out on the deck from the lounge nearly froze you to the bone.  In a word it was just plain miserable. 

After lunch was the guided tour to the Marksburg castle and I am making a separate post on it.

Terry 

June 1, 2024 Wertheim Germany

Wertheim Germany

June 1, 2024

I entitled today's post with the date and the place name as I normally do but I probably should have named it the red umbrella tour.   

The ship was docked this morning in the little town of Wertheim Germany which is on the banks of the Main and Tauber rivers.  This town of just 20,000 is famous for it's glass blowing.  There are several glass blowing artists in the town and it is home to the glass blowing museum of Germany.  

Agnes and Jim  elected to not go on the tour as it was pouring rain this morning so Sandra and I were on our own this morning.  We were being transported into town on those little pretend tourist trains which consist of a tractor dressed as an old time locomotive pulling carriages.  One of train's coaches had doors so we jumped into that one.  However when it was time to depart the engine wouldn't start. An NOX spray didn't help and they finally unhooked the coaches and several men push started the engine.  Sandra and I had a god laugh.

In town the first stop was the town watch tower which is 120 meters high and has a 3 degree tilt as the sandstone foundation has shifted.  The rain has now progressed to a steady down pour and the red umbrellas are competing for space in the narrow streets.  As the tour progressed into the town square a medieval town square appeared of half timbered buildings. Wertheim was not damaged during WW2 and everything is as it was in the middle ages.  The town square sports the narrowest building in all of the area and is narrowest at the base as taxes were based on the ground floor area.  

The town is built on the flood plain of the two rivers and floods ever 8 years or so.  The one building had a marker on it with all of the high water marks painted on it. Judging by the rain today it wasn't hard to believe that flood happen pretty regularly.  

I would have liked to go into see the glass blowing museum but it wasn't open for another 90 minutes, I would have liked to walked up to the Wertheim castle which was built in 1050, however by now the rain was just hammering down.  Both Sandra and I were cold and even though we had umbrellas we were getting wet, so we passed and headed back to the ship on the little locomotive that could (start).  

This afternoon was spent sitting in the lounge and watching the river slide by and watching the clouds creep lower and lower on the hills.  It was actually very relaxing and quite pleasant.

Terry