The Guns of Marksburg Castle - the Heritage of the Middle Rhine

Travel Blog No. 6

A 1908 postcard of  the magnificent Kaiser Wilhelm II monument 

at Coblenz. This is a dramatic "corner" where the Moselle River 

meets the Rhine, and a splendid place to board the buses for our trip to 

Marksburg Castle. The original statue was obliterated by the Americans 

in 1945, and only replaced in 1993.  (Its history is HERE)

As we slept, the ultra-modernViking BESTLA thrust its way upriver, its electronic systems silently communicating with navigational beacons and the control towers at river locks. The only sound was the splash of our flat bow-wave over the intermittent belts of heavy stone, laid down for erosion control. We had noticed that at night waves of moisture-laden air settles between the steep walls of the Rhine Valley, and as our vessel cooled, that vapour condensed  and  lay thick upon all the surfaces -  the upper decks, skylight windows and chaise lounges. Late at night I enjoyed stepping out onto our balcony in the moonlight,  to enjoy a private commune with nature and the darkened villages that drifted by.    

At sunrise our Gang of Ten assembled for a sumptuous breakfast, and as we chatted the BESTLA reached Coblenz, a city that was famously occupied by the U.S. Army in 1919.  Our berth was alongside the magnificent stone monument atop which is mounted a statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I.  We took several quick photos of course, but our primary interest was getting ready for our  9:30 - 12 Noon shore excursion.  A troop of buses was formed up to load and transport us to Marksburg Castle at Braubach. My wife had reason to be excited. For months she had been anticipating the "Rhine Castle" leg of our journey, and she was not to be disappointed.  Between us we took about 100 photos, many identical to those you would find if you Googled "Marksburg Castle".  Today's sampling will include a few vintage images in the mix,  to better illustrate what the travel and tourism sites don't tell you.

This postcard view of Marksburg Castle is more than a century old, but I have added

a German stamp which was issued in February of 2015, months after our return to Canada.

The buses delivered us to a large parking terrace, sited at the rear of the castle, where the efficient tour guides quickly sorted us out.  Each of the them carries a large iron key, and a great fuss is made of unlocking the heavy front gate... but it is just one of the tricks used to control the pace, and keep the groups from bunching up. There is a peep-hole in the door to allow the guide to know when the preceding tour group has moved on.  The interior of the fortress has many steep steps, and a few tight passageways, so its important that the tourists are not stepping on each others heels.  

Six members of our "Gang of Ten".  Previously identified were (LtoR)  Lina, Lily, Janet and Spencer.  On the right Dr. Jason Su and his wife Sophia, two of our newest Taiwan friends.

The Allied air forces (including the R.C.A.F.) bombed all of Germany's cities, and many of the bridging points on the Rhine, but fortunately some monuments were spared.  Marksburg Castle and the town of Braubach turn up in a few reconnaissance photos, like the example below, but they were not bombed. Still, American artillery did rain a few shells on the mountain in 1945, firing from the opposite bank of the Rhine. And yet Marksburg is said to be the most intact of any of the Rhine castles.  Much of what tourists encounter in Germany today has been repaired or even completely rebuilt from old blueprints, but this castle is the real thing - a treasure of authentic Rhine Heritage.

Marksburg Castle has been in the hands of heritage preservationists 
since 1900.  In the 1930s the castle became the headquarters of the group
of architects, historians and archeologists -  German Castle Association

St. Marks' Castle -   Marksburg Castle perches 492 feet above the Rhine River and is today accessed by a valley road which leads up to a massive car-battery recycling plant hidden in the trees.  The original bastion dates to the 13th Century, and in 1437 a chapel was erected, dedicated to St. Mark.   The castle now had a permanent name. Several reasons are given for the its longevity, from guarding royal territorial boundaries, to defence of Braubach's productive lead and silver mines. The mines, first exploited by the Romans, are now closed. The mining jobs were replaced by a plant which recycles automobile batteries.

Below is a helpful diagram. Near the bus park there are large and very informative display boards that explain the history and features of Marksburg. (Sorry, no room for them in a short Blog article.) We  climbed the Chapel Tower but did not go up into the tower labelled "the Square Keep". There were 198 passengers in our Viking tour, divided into groups of about 30,  and it would be near impossible to get us all up and down, and still have time to take in the entire site.

The lower bastion wall offers a superb view of the Rhine River.  The crenellated turret (with flag) has not been restored. The floor rotted away perhaps a century ago. Our longship was already several miles upriver, and we would chase after her in the motor buses. The leap-frog technique of sallying forth on a shore excursion and then catching up to the boat at lunch time, works brilliantly.  

This flag designates  Marksburg Castle as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It costs almost a million dollars to get a site proposal through UNESCO bureaucracy,

followed by annual $$ costs.  Few can prove that the "WHS" logo actually boosts their profits. 

Marksburg has been attracting paying visitors since the 1840s, and it will survive the U.N.

In spite of the bunching up,  my wife did manage to secure a few shots of me alone with the stone. With the exception of frequent murmurs of appreciation that drifted from our appreciative group, the castle was nearly silent.  The footing was often so precarious that everyone was stepping about very carefully, and so there were no heavy footfalls echoing off the ancient walls.  As well there were no children about, so  it was a deliciously quiet morning.

THE GUNS OF MARKSBURG

Below, the gun platform (GROSSE BATTERIE) at the lower level. This battery overlooks the Rhine, but  I have no idea if these cannon were ever fired in defence of the castle.  Research tells me that they are Swedish and French cannon "preserved" on a rampart at Marksburg. They were war trophies but could easily have been re-purposed for defence. But were they? We were not shown any powder magazine, and there is no display of balls or shot. True, in a corner there is a small nest of stone balls of odd sizes. These might once have been thrown by mortars, but not by these wheeled cannon, which appear to be 24 pounders. Most of the guns are said to be Swedish, captured during the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), and a few French. One was said (in an old travel guide) to have been a trophy from the Battle of Waterloo.

One or more cannon were sometimes fired in a ceremonial, usually to note the visit of a "Royal," as when England's Queen Victoria passed by. The German Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II was a patron of the restoration of Marksburg, and he visited the castle in 1905 to examine the work. To mark that important occasion his personal standard was flown from the tower and a few of the Marksburg guns were fired in salute. Later in the day, another salute was fired to mark the Kaiser's departure. Who were the gunners in 1905? Perhaps Braubach reservists. Imagine firing a cannon over 250 years old! What would be your level of trust?  Today, every visitor to Marksburg enjoys posing with them. I posed, and so did our good friends Lina and Charlie Lin (below).

And for an historical comparison - a postcard of the Great Battery (die Grosse Batterie), published in the 1920s:

Swedish Cannon  of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) preserved
at Marksburg Castle. This picture postcard was mailed in 1926.

How would the battery have appeared when Kaiser Wilhelm visited and was saluted in September of 1905?  A good question. Photo evidence is lacking, but my guess is that at least a few of the Swedish guns sat on an open rampart, as shown in a painting (below) by Hans Rudolf Shulze.

One of the great German war artists of 1914-18 was Hans Rudolf Shulze.

He prepared this view of the Grosse Batterie on an open rampart, for a

popular series of postcards  sold at Marksburg and down in the town.

SOME OF THE EXHIBITS

I found very detailed written descriptions of Marksburg's dungeons and the infamous "hunde-hol" or "doghole", some accounts published as early as the 1850s. There is a room full of torture impleents and today's guides do linger on this crowd-pleaser. But I will leave that subject for you to explore, should you decide to take a Rhine River Cruise.  This next photo records a rather strange moment. The wine cellar (weinkeller) is filled with fascinating artifacts, including the leather bellows used to pressurize the barrels and leather flagons for drawing off a table serving of wine.  Note that there are electric lights mounted, but they are not turned on. The cellar was in total darkness, but my flash filled the space and saved the shot.

After the panic visit to  the Romano-German Museum in Cologne, my wife and I fell in sync in our photo coverage of the trip, often dropping back to grab several fast shots after our tour group had moved on.  This next shot is one of hers, taken in the armoury at Marksburg. What was I closing in on?

I was recording a few details in the manufacture of the old German weaponry  - in this instance the cranking mechanism on a crossbow.  At home I have bronze components from two ancient crossbows. They were recovered from Chinese tombs, and I acquired them in Hong Kong in 1984.  Hence my interest in comparable European weaponry.  The Marksburg armour collection has been moved around several times over the years, as curators found better ways to display what they had.  I have photos of the armour taken in the 1930s which tell me that a few substitutions have been made, or perhaps some artifacts were stolen in 1945.  

We took several photographs of the living rock surfaces inside the castle walls.  I must admit I did cluck-cluck a few times about the curatorial choice of leaving these surfaces swept bare.  Not simply because it was a bit dangerous for some of the older members of our tour group, but I don't believe it is an authentic recreation.  For centuries Marksburg had working stables and there was a smithy who kept the horses well shod. These uneven stone surfaces would have been levelled off with gravel or crushed stone so that goods carts could roll easily, and there would be no risk of (expensive) horses tripping and breaking their legs.

After returning to the buses we blitzed down through the old town of Braubach perhaps a bit too swiftly, but I suppose most of us were excited to see what culinary delights would be served at noon on board the BESTLA.  As we sat to our lunch the last few clouds scattered, and we could enjoy a relaxing afternoon on top, letting our ankles recover. Our knowledgeable cruise director, Alex, called out the names of each and every castle which drifted by, adding interesting bits of historical trivia and Rhine culture.  It being a Sunday, many thousands of German families were out on rural day-trips, and scores of them waved down to us from castle battlements.  The road traffic was rather light that day, but an occasional electric commuter train would zing past, and riders among bicycle touring parties would give us a friendly shout as they passed.  We were always pushing upriver, so serious cyclists moved at a faster clip than did our longship. 

Goats now freely graze on these terraces of an abandoned Rhine vineyard.

My only regret that afternoon was failing to have a camera in hand the moment when a three-engined Junkers JU 52 orbited twice over the river.  It appeared to be the civilian version of Germany's most famous transport aircraft of WW2.  Nobody else on deck seemed to be impressed, but I was thrilled.

++

Cologne Cathedral - History underfoot and overhead.

Blog No. 5

Ronald J. Jack

History underfoot.  History overhead.  History in the making.  That was our afternoon at the magnificent Cologne Cathedral (Dom) and the adjacent Romano-Germanic Museum.  The Dom was cruise highlight No. 2, after the Van Gogh Museum.   Today the Domplatte, a 7000 square meter pedestrian zone paved with massive granite plates, is "Ground Zero" for tourism, cultural events and political protest. We got to taste it all.

A National Memorial Service for victims of the March 2015 Germanwings Air Disaster is going to be celebrated, and televised, at the Cologne Cathedral on April 17th.  I hope to catch some of it.

The Domplatte before noon. For tickets (3 Euros) to climb the Cathedral spire,

you must endure the long lineup.  Entrance to the building is FREE. We paid

for tickets, but abandoned our climb because the steps were far too crowded.

I have collected many vintage images of the Cologne Dom, for interest and comparison sake.  Photo-historians must often explain the significance of an image, unless the event itself was symbolic and blunt.  British tanks parked in front of the Cathedral after WW1 was blunt,  as were American G.I.s posing atop a knocked-out Panzer in 1945. These are images with a voice of their own.  

During the war, the Allied heavy bombers hit Cologne so often that the city had to be evacuated - from a base population of 800,000 residents down to 20,000. There are hundreds of unexploded bombs just below the surface, and recently one of the major bridges was closed to traffic while specialists cleared a bomb discovered beneath the river bank.  Unfortunately modern Germans tend to hide most aspects of WW2, and there is very little evidence to be found in the city.  

When we began our tour of the inside of the cathedral, the Domplatte was crowded with tourists. When we emerged they had been replaced by a half-dozen police vehicles and perhaps 300 vocal Kurdish protestors.  What was the issue?   "STOP  I.S.I.S."  Ostensibly they were protesting ISIS penetration into traditional Kurd territories, but they were equally keen to promote Kurdish political identity and its support base in Germany.  We spent about ten minutes among the protesters and then moved on to the final treasure of our day, the Roman-Germanic Museum. 

INSIDE THE GREAT DOM

I suppose the engineers knew what they were doing, but it was startling non-the-less to walk through two gaping portals cut through the foundation walls of Cologne Cathedral.  I know that a million plus visitors a year must be accommodated,  but those are really generous holes.

One of the many surprises of our cruise was the utility of my wife's Apple iPad.   I wasn't as handy with my digital camera, a CANON EOS, as she was with her iPad - although these interiors of the church are mine. A few times, after Cologne, I chose to leave my camera on the boat.  On my next cruise I will definitely be carrying an iPad "flat camera", which can actually use GPS to label, sort and archive your images as you take them.  Talk about a work saver!

I must admit to feeling a bit overwhelmed by my first encounter with a medieval cathedral.  It's not that I had mistrust for those who constructed the Koln Cathedral 900 years ago, but I couldn't help remembering its great age and the fact that it had been concussed by the detonations of thousands of bombs the Allies dropped on the city during World War 2.  Several times I caught myself pushing my back into a friendly pillar or a wall, as if that would save me should he ceiling come down. Well,  that's the sort of game the mind will sometimes put you through.

As well, I did feel guilty invading a holy place of worship, as if a Canadian passport gave me the right to poke my nose anywhere I pleased.  It doesn't.  We have to be tactful. There were some devout people amongst the tourist throng, trying to have a few moments to enjoy the great cathedral on a spiritual level.  It would be a perfect day if we all managed to satisfy our need for enlightenment, without stepping on each others feet.

THE ROMANO-GERMANIC  MUSEUM

After pushing past the phalanx of Kurdish flag bearers we gained access to the Romisch-Germanisches Museum.  A kindly security guard pointed out that closing was less than an hour away. Since the tickets were expensive wouldn't we prefer to return another day?  I suggested, "How about giving some discount?" and he approached the female ticket seller on our behalf.  "Nein!" was her answer. 

At my very first attempt to record our visit, I was warned "No Fotos" by a security guard. I said to my wife, "They took my money, we're taking pictures." It was time for tactics, not tact, and her iPad was a Godsend. I don't know why the guards did not interfere with her, (I was lookout) but we moved from gallery to gallery, one display case after another, and she photographed everything I was interested in. I could study and enjoy the exhibits upon return to Canada. In 50 minutes of purchased Museum time she recorded virtually everything I thought I wanted to have.  

This is a rather famous exhibit - an original Roman floor with a Swastika motif.  The Museum was built over  an archaeological site which preserves ancient Roman construction as found.  The floor is in situ.
There are many pieces of monumental sculpture and recreations of Roman life on the Rhine, but I was keenest on something more perishable - glass work. 

This is one of the 170 photographs she took for me, using her iPad Air, and I furtively took another dozen.  At home I have just one reference book on ancient glass, with perhaps thirty examples of Roman Glass. It was not the type of artifact I ever expected to encounter. So of course I was enthralled when confronted with such a wealth of ancient creativity - thousands of quality pieces in the Cologne museum, of every conceivable shape and purpose. Amazing.

We had enjoyed an amazingly full day.

NEXT: Koblenz and Marksburg Castle

Cologne, Germany - Where the Past and Present are equally cherished

Travel Blog No. 4

Ronald J. Jack 

Past  is Prologue

Many, perhaps millions, of cruise-ship passengers have enjoyed the experience of transiting the Panama Canal.  Completed by the Americans, the Isthmian Canal was officially opened on August 15, 1914 and has always been acknowledged as one of the greatest engineering achievements of the 20th Century.  What is forgotten is that the European perspective frequently differs from the American.  The Germans, for example, had something equally grand on the drawing board.  Germany resented the fact that the Dutch port of Rotterdam enjoyed "monopolistic control" of riverine entry into the heart of Europe.  They planned to dig an ALL-GERMAN route, a canal system from the seaport of Emden to the Rhineport of Duisburg - a network 215 kilometres long. The project would have required engineering and investment capital equal to that invested in Panama.  Only one thing could stop such a priority national project -  WW1.   We know the rest of the story. Bled by war, the German people had to abandon old priorities, and concentrate on national recovery. With the rise of the Nazis emerged new ideas about industrial and economic expansion, and yet the waterways remained a vital component of German commerce, as the following diagram explains.

The German waterway network as it existed during WW2.

Our Morning in Magical Cologne

We approached Cologne in brilliant sunshine, but the air was still crisp.  Many guests preferred to enjoy the view in the comfort of the Observation lounge or the Aquavit Terrace (see the ship graphic in Blog No. 2), but several of us scrambled up top for picture taking.  Memorable were the five minutes sailing passing the FORD motor plant, which is said to be the largest vehicle factory in Europe. FORD is also  a corporate sponsor of F.C. KOLN , the popular Cologne soccer team. 

The crisp morning air persuaded many guests to enjoy the

approach to Cologne from the lounge inside VIKING BESTLA.

Viking longboats get priority berthing, just to the left of the

bridge, and only a five minute walk to the famous cathedral.

Two more members of our "Gang of Ten" must be introduced. They
are serious shutterbugs from Burnaby -  "C.P." and his wife Lily.

Others have switched to iPad photography. I call them "flat cameras".

This is probably a good time to mention VIKING DAILY, a four page guide to the guests travel day. They are delivered to your cabin the evening before,  and are indispensable. VIKING provides colour guide books with your indoctrination package, but there is always a handy local map available at Reception before you step off on your daily adventure.  The professional Tour Guides we relied on at each stop were EXTREMELY well-informed, but I confess that after four months I have forgetten most of what they told us. Hence the need to keep a full set of handouts and found literature, if you hope to retain a credible narrative of your cruise.

VIKING DAILY - the 4-page folder guests

received on the BESTLA each evening.

This is the appropriate time to discuss the Tour Guides hired by Viking to give us walking tours, or  escort us by bus to landmark venues.  ALL of them are locals, and all are very well informed. Most important, each LOVES their hometown or city. That said, they are still hired guides, and about mid-way during each walk they all begin to play the crowd for their tips. Some use a little harmless raunch, some emphasize economic downtown and their underemployment, a few may stoop to describing their university tuition woes or the children's unemployment.  The rumour was started at Kinderdijk that the guides were unpaid "volunteers" and I continued to hear it for two weeks.

At Cologne we were guided by a lovely man with a wicked sense of humour. Unfortunately we spent far too much time on the river front, and there were so many cruise boats in port that we were constantly bunching up.  We moved just a few blocks in an hour and I got so frustrated that I simply had to poke ahead on my own and just keep his voice on my audio receiver.  When we finally reached the plaza beside the great Dom or Cathedral, we were left to our own devices.  A few of us would have been far better off just ignoring Paddle 24D and striking out with map in hand.  You are never more than 10-15 minutes from the Longship, but there is a wealth of history and culture contained in a small area, if you don't waist time rubbing brass street-art.

One of the unscripted surprises encountered at Cologne (which excited me and perhaps no-one else) was to stumble upon an archeological project that was nearing completion. Beside Cologne's 900 year old City Hall (Koln Rathaus) there are adjacent excavations where a medieval Jewish synagogue was carefully exposed, layer by layer. The synagogue's foundation walls were revealed in the early 1950s when piles of rubble created by WW2 Allied bombing was cleared away, but over a half-century passed before a systematic excavation was funded.  Our guide was almost entirely concerned with pointing out and describing each of the carved stone figures on the Rathaus facade, and we dutifully photographed all of them but ... I promised myself a return later to photograph everything in detail. We did so around 5 PM, when my wife used her iPad (flat camera) to make me a record set.

Cologne has the oldest City Hall - Kolner Rathaus - in Europe (In continuous use for 900 years).

At one corner is a beautiful 700 year old tower, covered with splendid carvings of once-important

religious and civic officials. See if you can spot the carving of a crude peasant performing auto-fellatio.
I didn't notice it either, until our raunchy tour guide drew our attention to it.

While we were outside the City Hall there was civil-wedding ceremony underway, with an attending organ-grinder waiting to serenade the newlyweds. There was something interesting to see in Cologne at every point on the compass, but our schedule was tight. 

Utility lines are supported over the open excavation,

the site of a medieval Jewish Synagogue.   The half-block

ARCHAOLOGISCHE ZONE in central Cologne lay

almost in the shadow of the Great Dom or Cathedral.

Alas, the "dig" was a unique experience that future Viking cruise passengers will not share. We were also lucky in that the Rathaus gothic tower was clean and ready to photograph. Google Street View tells me that a year earlier it was wrapped in scaffolding and plastic sheeting.  After returning to Canada I researched the Cologne Archaeological Zone and learned of plans to build a Jewish Museum on top of the excavation site.  I also found a photograph on Wikipedia (below) taken in January 2015. It shows a contractor had already begun filling in the site to preserve the ancient foundation walls and steps - some of which will be made accessible when the museum is built. 

WIKI Photo - January 2015. This site will become home to a Jewish Museum 

that will showcase Jewish culture and history in the Rhine region. 

"X" marks the vantage point from where I took the previous photograph.

Next:  Overwhelmed by a Cathedral, panicked by a Museum

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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Viking River Cruises - My Advice? Buy the Package, Enjoy the Package

Article No. 2
Ronald J. Jack
Email: ronjackbc@yahoo.ca

THE GRAND EUROPEAN TOUR -  Amsterdam to Budapest
Some Friendly Advice
If you purchase this fifteen day travel plan from Viking River Cruises,  it is an all-inclusive package - i.e.. air, shuttle, hotel overlooking Amsterdam Harbour, the  Five-Country Cruise, shuttle at Budapest, and return flight.  But that doesn't mean you shouldn't consider making your own air reservations and even the hotel bookings.  There are several important things to consider:

A) You are booking a year or more ahead. Standard cancellation insurance is expensive, and Viking's policy on refunds is nothing short of confiscatory.  No insurance? You will lose most of your money.

B) There is no 15th day. Viking has to empty the Longship at Budapest as fast as it can, which means they book you on very early flights out of Budapest.  When I realized we would have to get up around 3:30 AM to pack and eat (that's when they start serving breakfast) that is when I was forced to make my own air reservations (British Airways).  As a result we left the Longship at mid-morning, and Viking honoured the airport transfer agreement -  they hired a coach for our remaining party of ten.

C) The trip is five-country, but NOT language immersive. Our group was composed of two groups - Western Canadians and a large block of folks from New England.  ALL printed material onboard is in English, and it is the language used by the staff and the hired guides.  In addition, the average age of guests onboard was 60 - 65.  (I was 56 and only encountered one guest younger than myself.)  You are cocooned. Viking certainly knows the demographics of each block of passengers, but I am not sure they would share that information with your travel agent. 

D) We took out travel insurance and paid $250 for extra medical coverage.  The truth is that Viking staff and crew go to extreme lengths to ensure their passengers suffer no discomfort or injury. If you are healthy, basic coverage is fine.
E) Our travel agent told us gratuities were included in the invoice. That wasn't true, so you are responsible for those extras. Mid-way through our cruise we were transferred to a second Longship, so we went through two pay-cycles with provided envelopes, and using Chinese red envelopes to give extra to staff we especially appreciated. Our total was US$ 900, but would have been about US$ 800 had we kept to one boat.
F)  Laundry service is horribly expensive, so bring enough fresh clothes for two full weeks. (I may publish the laundry price list in an upcoming Blog articles.)

The preceding list is meant to inform and empower you, and not to discourage you in any way. A Viking River Cruise is one of the best gifts you will ever give to yourself. 

Buy the Package, Enjoy the Package

I had months to prepare, if I wished, a list of famous landmarks or sites I thought more significant than those chosen for us. But then I questioned why someone might be insistent on striking out on his own each day, after paying for excursions and services chosen by professionals. I knew I was going to enjoy myself,  but still doubted that all of my expectations could be met. What really SOLD us, and turned simply waiting into genuine anticipation, was a cruise presentation we were invited to at Shadbolt Theatre in Burnaby, a few weeks before departure.  We returned home CONVINCED, and I have to thank our Expedia travel agent, Olivia Lopez, for including us. 

 For a time I thought I would film the entire trip. That would entail research and, at minimum, some cooperation from the members of our group.  Tricky, and an imposition. Also, I dreaded many hours of editing after the return home. My wife reminded me that there would be ten digital cameras in our group, and nothing would remain unrecorded. She was right.  We logged more than 3,000 still images ourselves, and several video sequences.  If you are interested in the history of architecture, urban planning and heritage preservation, as I am,  here is an important consideration. The Europeans are fond of erecting large, visually appealing and very informative display boards around construction sites, archeological excavations, and more. There is simply not enough time on a walking tour to read much of it, so you must photograph those which interest you most. My wife carried an iPad Air that takes very high resolution images. She kindly recorded every board and banner I believed I would enjoy consulting again later.  An example:

I did think it important that we have a rough appreciation of what we would encounter during each stop on our route, and it was easy to locate a travel blog (maintained by a Dutch couple) who had taken the same tour. Other than that, I read only one book in preparation for the trip -  Modris Eksteins' SOLAR DANCE: Genius, Forgery, And the Crisis of Truth in the Modern Age (2012).  Van Gogh has always been my favorite painter, and it is quite possible that this trip would be my only chance to visit Amsterdam and the Van Gogh museum. The book whetted my appetite for my first encounter 

The default Viking Cruises hotel in Amsterdam is the ultra-modern Movenpick, on the harbour front beside the cruiseship terminal. But there are more than a hundred hotels of traditional design on the city canals, adjacent to the heritage venues we all planned to visit. My friend Charlie Lin chose one using an Internet booking service. We stayed two nights at the Hampshire - Hotel Prinsengracht,  which was an easy walk to my primary destination - the Van Gogh Museum.  In fact I paid for an expensive room overlooking the canal, but we were given keys to a very ugly, and badly fitted out room in the rear, looking out on an overgrown garden. I would have walked out, but the other four couples got their canal views and were happy. No big deal. The saving grace was that the night manager (an immigrant from the Dutch East Indies) was a willing and spirited conversationalist when the time zone difference sent me downstairs before dawn. He also provided a superb continental breakfast.  

Visitors to the Van Gogh Museum are encouraged to use

the display boards outside to take their "souvenir shots".

There is also a "selfie-room" provided inside the building.

We took our establishing shot outside with Vincent, but I

have yet to take a "selfie".  Narcissism is not in my DNA.

Visitor access to Van Gogh's work is incredibly generous. You can stand virtually "nose-to-nose" with your favourite canvases, a privilege I have still not recovered from. Sometimes I found myself examining his creations from multiple angles, enjoying how light played with the textures. Minute detail, never apparent to me in art books, is memorable.  Little things can tickle my imagination. For example, I noticed that even the dimmest flame he shaped when depicting the household lamps of the peasantry, (ref. The Potato Eaters) still required at least three colours. I thought I had seen all of his drawings and paintings, but the museum collection contains several surprises. A day with Van Gogh was not simply a high point of our trip, but one of the great days of my life.  

We had two full days in the old city, under a gorgeous sky that illuminated the urban canal network and displayed all of the city's ornamental iron and carved stonework at their best.  It was an ideal way to prepare ourselves for the coming cruise, because our cars were parked in Canada and Taiwan, and we suddenly became pedestrians again. We certainly needed to adjust to the slower rhythms of life if we were to absorb the richness of our surroundings, and truly enjoy the services that Viking River Cruises was about to offer us.  I recall my principle thought as I walked Amsterdam streets and rode the handy canal boats was, "These people   deserve to be proud of this great city. Who wouldn't love to live here and spend their days in an endless journey of urban adventure and discovery?" It was an impression that would repeat itself as each day unfolded.

THEN AND  NOW

With each of my travel blogs I plan to incorporate a Then and Now feature. This will of course emphasize the authenticity of our travel experience. Much of Europe's built-heritage survived the two World Wars, and it was our great privilege to walk through, climb over, sit on or touch with inquisitive fingers, a cornucopia of wonders.  I assembled my set of "Then" photos after returning, in preparation for writing this travel-Blog.

The Canal behind the Church of St. Nicholas circa 1890. 

In the far distance we see the spire of De Oude Kerk.

Lina Lin, my friend and neighbour here in Burnaby, helps with this comparison. The old canal warehouses are almost untouched.  I am looking toward the church seen in the 1890 photo. It still exists, but today is captive to Amsterdam's Red Light district on the Oudekerksplein, which encircles it. 

The canal behind the Church of St. Nicholas, Amsterdam.

The canal, church and warehouses are as they were in 1890.

Next:  Our Beautiful Longship