VIKING BESTLA - We settle in, and set out

Blog No. 3

Ronald J. Jack

ronjackbc@yahoo.ca

We had pre-arranged taxi service to the cruise ship terminal, and it turned out a rather hilarious ride.  Four of us crammed into a sedan, and the other six followed in a small van.  Though I had only been in Amsterdam two days, I was dead certain that the driver (a young immigrant from Turkey) had peeled off in the direction of Schiphol airport. "Hold it. You're going the wrong way!"  Two quick lefts, (guided by my index finger) and he must now hit the waterfront at some point. I was riding shotgun, so it was easy to unfold my city map, spread it under his nose, and point at the terminal. "Oooooh! I know it." Yes, but the words "Viking Cruises" meant nothing to him.  Nor did the name "Vancouver".  He had heard of Canada, but not Vancouver.  I, on the other hand, could tell him a great deal about his hometown, Istanbul.  We got along.

Our friends de-bus in front of VIKING BESTLA -  Day 1.

Boarding the BESTLA was a treat.  She was only a few months old, and so pristine you might believe yourself the first passenger to trod her carpeted passageways.  We were offered steaming hot towels and cool champagne, and invited to lunch in the dining room while our baggage was being stowed in our cabins. In fact the cabin crew was still busy erasing all trace of the previous tour group, most of whom were now waiting for flights at the airport. We had time to dash up top, to wave happily as our friends arrived and paid off their Turkish driver.  Lunch was a delight, and some chose to go topside with a cold beer, where we could drink in the charms of Amsterdam from our new home.

Our longship cabin was designed and decorated with care, and I could find not a single fault. Each room has a flat panel screen with a generous mix of TV, movie and news content (BBC and CNN). The push button strongbox is easy to use, and large enough for a small purse.   I soon fell in love with  the bathroom, because the floor is heated and the shower stall was always dry within minutes.  The French balcony is a clever design feature, private and ample for two. It was soon my favorite perch for a quiet read, or just to watch Europe roll past.  The photo shows shows me with a full stomach and feeling deeply content, though I was also ignoring a pair of swans who had taken up station below our balcony. I had nothing to toss them.

After two nights in a sub-standard Amsterdam hotel room,  it was pure

joy to unpack aboard our beautiful Viking longship.  So what exactly is a 
"French Balcony"?  A narrow perch adjacent to your room, separated by a
heavy, floor to ceiling  sliding-glass door.  The balcony rail is also clear glass. 
Here I prove that the balcony is quite functional, contrary to Internet blather.**

** I notice that dissatisfied cruise customers choose to post "revenge reviews"
on open discussion boards such as "Cruise Critic".  Please understand that
"Cruise Critic" is BOGUS.  It is a U.S. owned travel promotion site, run
by paid writer/editors who allow the "criticism",  in order to feign honest
travel journalism.  ... Lazy mouse clicking leads to U&ME  tricking. 

VIKING RIVER CRUISES berth their longboats within sight of the Movenpick Hotel (see photo below). While I don't regret taking a room in an older hotel closer to the Van Gogh Museum, I have learned the layout of central Amsterdam, and would make adjustments if I use that city to jump-off on another European cruise.  We invested the remainder of DAY 1 in our final foray into the beating heart of  that fascinating city.  On return, we were free to examine and admire the ship's features and begin sampling the many onboard services.

KINDERDIJK  - DAY 2
Heritage Park   - Shore Excursion 9-11 AM

I had never heard of Kinderdijk. I just knew there would be windmills and some sort of open air museum. All provinces of Canada have heritage theme parks, and they are a staple of school "field trips".  (We even have one near our home - Burnaby Village Museum.)   Must I admit that the visit exceeded my expectations?  Here's why.  We awoke to find our longship berthed alongside a riverbank, and tethered to a welded aluminum dock.  As we breakfasted it seemed to me that the sun could never burn through such a heavy fog and even as we obediently switched on our voice receivers, and marshalled with our tour guides on top of the embankment, the morning did not seem promising.

A ten minute walk delivered us to a reception centre packed with ancient tools and large pieces of wood, some cleverly shaped or  others simply badly worn. We were crowded in a shed adjacent to a decaying brick pumping station, that was stop number two. An explanation of the history of the site was given by a personal young man, native to Kinderdijk and on holiday from university.  As the morning wore on we noticed something truly splendid. The fog was slowly lifting, and each time we turned our attention from the guide to our surroundings, we saw that more of the park was revealed. We came to realize that a pretty column of windmills was emerging from the gloom, and that if we were patient we might get to meet them up close.   

By mid-morning the sky was a deep blue, and cloudless.  We were allowed plenty of time to climb up into a museum windmill, and to take photographs through centuries-old glass windows.  The exhibits were interesting and well explained, such that I feel I now understand the wind technology and the people who once worked with it. Now I am quite aware that millions of photographs have been taken at Kinderdijk, with or without people, and there were no fresh angles to discover.  Nevertheless we took as many as our patient friends would pose for.  

Our friends Charlie and Lina Lin patiently posed for

several cameras. The man in red VIKING jacket is 

Alex,  our energetic BESTLA Program Director.

I will never experience the Netherlands in Winter, but I have examined many hundreds of photographs of Europe in Deep Freeze  and a few famous paintings of the frozen canals of Holland.  I did wonder what Kinderdijk looks like when frozen over, so I Googled the subject.   Below is a news photo scraped from the Internet, and taken during a cold snap in January 2009.  

NIJMEGEN - AN HISTORIC  WW2   SITE

It has been 35 since I read A BRIDGE TOO FAR, the glorious story of "Market Garden", the Allied Airborne assault on the German-held bridges at Arnhem and Nijmegen.   Millions know the 2-hour movie, and not the 2-night  book, but I do like to believe that most people my own age know something of that epic story.  I was rather pleased that we sailed through the historic region and, because BESTLA was cruising at such a slow and measured pace, there was time to get our bearings and recall the bloody struggle that the Royal Canadian Engineers participated in.  Our soldiers helped the paratroops escape encirclement and capture. Nijmegen on the Waal River is today rebuilt and enlarged, so you should not expect to spot any evidence of World War 2 battles from your boat. That said, further inland, on the Rhine, you do encounter reminders of war, most commonly the blackened foundation piers of bridges destroyed in the bombings or stone walls still pocked by heavy machine-gun bullets.  More of that, in another Blog.

Towed-gliders. The airborne assault was a brilliant miscalculation.

When we sailed through, Nijmegen was bathed in the golden glow of a late afternoon sun.  It was a vivid contrast to the thick mist that greeted us at dawn, and all agreed that it had been a happy day.   Of course we posed for a clutch of keepsake photos, and my pick is of two friends, Janet and Spencer (below). That  arching span in the distance is a railroad bridge, across which brilliantly hued high-speed trains convey inter-city commuters. Though on vacation, they are two serious Taiwanese business folk. I didn't realize until at least a week later that Spencer was examining European transport and commercial practices with the eye of a veteran manufacturer and exporter.

All of the Taiwanese friends in our group have

English names. This is Janet and Spencer on deck

as we were passing the bridges at Nijmegen, on the Waal River.

Spencer proudly sports a new KINDERDIJK baseball cap.

NOAH'S ARK -  but will it float?

Not long after we passed Nijmegen, my wife

spotted this.  Noah's Ark.  A theme attraction?

One man's backyard obsession? Anyone's guess.

Then I see this... NEWS VIDEO LINK

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Next:  Magical Cologne