Tulip Time River Cruise Day 6

Thu. Apr. 10: Overnight we cruised to Willemstad and docked just outside one of the two remaining city gates. Willemstad is a town where time has stood still, retaining its 7 point star surrounding wall and canals that run through town. They have one windmill, one church--the first Protestant Church built in The Netherlands--and quiet brick streets throughout. We were disappointed that we hadn't gotten signed-up in time to do the bike tour of the city but it turned out that the entire town is perfectly accessible to see in a morning so it didn't really matter. Peter led us on a short winding walk to the church, where a local church society had an organist play a short concert on their beautiful organ. It was interesting to see the difference of a church built to be Protestant rather than one that had been a stripped Catholic church after the reformation. Then we had plenty of time to climb the fortifications and walk along the earthen walls all around the village, looking down into the back gardens (including a tiny zoo with deer, poultry, and some sort of burrowing animals) from behind, and into the sparkling clean windows from in front. The windmill is now a private home so we couldn't go inside. 

A map shows the unique shape of the old town

Looking across the small harbor towards the town entrance

Part of the moat that runs around the town with the local windmill on the left

Protestant Church

Organ over a doorway on a wall of the church

Earthen fortification surrounding town

Peggy & Marv on a brick street between rows of houses

Local windmill, now a private home

"Mainstreet" in Willemstad

During lunch we had a short cruise to Dordrecht and then took buses about 40 minutes away to Kinderdjik to see and learn all about windmills. Kinderdijk is a World UNESCO site where they have the largest remaining concentration of windmills, mostly about 400 years old.  Our delightful escort, Danielle, was actually born and lived her first few years in a windmill that had been in her family for generations in a nearby area. For some reason we didn't use the Quietvox systems today which was a pity because she had much to share. But I just made sure I walked with her the whole time. I learned that to keep their UNESCO status all the windmills must turn 60,000 times every year (each has an automatic counter to keep track) but there is a big competition among the owners to see who turns the most and the winner has usually more like 200,000 rotations. There were just two turning when we visited and one of them we could go into and climb and see displays of how they looked when a miller’s family still lived in and used it.  The inner mills "scoop" water out of small canals, outer mills into the main canal, and powered hydraulic pumps empty the main canal into the river. The area is about 12 meters below sea level and still spongy and always compressing and sinking. They have an entertaining and informative movie with a main screen and four side panels with an engineer, a miller, an artist, and an historian, each sharing their viewpoints of the area. 

Walking between an outer and the main canal

Main wheel inside a windmill

Some of the windmills of Kinderdijk

Explanatory display of Kinderdijk, but all in Dutch

When we got back to the ship the four of us walked into Dordrecht along a side street for a while before cutting back towards the main canal to a square paved over the canal to enjoy a Leffe's Double, a local beer, at an outdoor cafe and some people watching. We were very tired by the end of the day but, after our Farewell Cocktail party and Captain's dinner, Marv and I went in through the 1602 stone city gate of our next village to wander for a bit. Schoonhoven is yet another medieval city with a main canal up the middle. The town was definitely asleep with just a few bars open and we saw only one car moving before we returned to the ship to sleep. 

Backstreets of Dordrecht

Note that we are back to reclaimed land with leaning houses

Main plaza and gathering place built over the open canal at this point

Happy Marv with his Leffe Double

Tulip Time River Cruise Day 5

Wed. Apr. 9: Wednesday was our day in Ghent. This was the first place where the boat wasn't docked right at the town gates so after breakfast we had a short ride into the center of town. We got off at one of the churches that is being renovated and all around there is construction going on so our first impression was of noise and trucks and confusion. Our guide was a bit annoyed by all that but he had a good chance to point out how they are leaving the facade of the three and four hundred year old buildings and doing all their modern construction behind the facade. 

Downtown Ghent

You can see the old facade, behind which will be all new construction

Later he encouraged us to go inside a Marriott Hotel on the canal and see how different it looks inside from out. The walking tour took about an hour and showed us the intricate canalways that still exist and are used in this active city. We bought the soft chewy candy known as "Noses of Ghent" in licorice and berry from a street vendor and walked through the old butcher's guild market that is used now for small shops and artists. There is a full medieval fortified castle right in the middle of Ghent with a moat that was used to protect everyone in times of siege but it was closed on Wednesday morning. We ended our tour at the church where they have the famous Van Eych triptych altar piece. It has been removed from the altar to protect it since one panel was stolen in 1933(?) and to keep it from the light. It is now in a special chapel area, behind glass and they are working on restoring each panel and redoing the lighting so we could only see glimpses of it but they weren't charging a fee as they normally would. The church and art are being restored as part of a grand plan that has taken years already and won't be finished until 2017. From there we had about an hour to wander as free time before we returned to the ship. The four of us had decided not to take the optional (and expensive) trip to Bruges (we later spoke with two people who had taken it and were disappointed in how commercial it has become) so we had the afternoon to relax and take care of some things before we had dinner in the special Elebres Restaurant at the very back of the ship. There they have the same menu all week and the chef prepares the elegant courses in front of a small group of 24 people. We happened to share our table of 12 with Beverly, from Nova Scotia, and Jessie and Carol from Texas so it was a very pleasant evening.

Ghent street scene

Ghent canalway

Beer shop with windows full of shelves of bottles

Medieval Castle right in the heart of Ghent

A main canal in Ghent

"Noses of Ghent" candy cart

Old warehouses for grains line a main canal in Ghent

Van Eyck triptych (picture from the internet--
we didn't have nearly this good a look at it!  

Tiny accountant's house between two large warehouses

Peter the Tour Director holds forth in the Lounge
during one of  his daily "Updates"

Tulip Time River Cruise Day 4

Tue. Apr. 8: I'm sitting by the window in the library on the boat writing about our day in Antwerp. The sun was in and out all day with occasional quick showers, a brisk wind, and much cooler temperatures only in the low fifties. We took a culinary walking tour of the old town, which is right where we are docked on the River Scheldt. This morning's guide was a true "Antwerpian" (we learned in the afternoon that to be considered such one must have both parents who were born in Antwerp, speak Flemish, and have a long, full moustache) named the Flemish version of Matthew but goes by the end of it pronounced sort of like Taz. He was a bit canned in his presentation but was still enjoyable. We started with a short walk along the quay and into town past the fortification built next to the river in the 1100s and later used as a prison, past the Red Mountain where the Butchers Guild slaughtered cattle and let the blood run down into the canals, and through the Old Wall, which has been partially preserved by incorporating it into newer buildings’ walls. Taz told us that the whole district had fallen into disrepair and so developers had bought and renovated buildings or built new buildings in their place and now it is the most expensive real estate in town. He took us to a tiny shop that used to be an ancient convent where we were served a big fluffy Belgian waffle with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. They were delicious! We walked on to the cathedral and visited a tiny chocolate shop where they have the iconic Antwerpse Handjes, which are the symbol of Antwerp. The legend holds that a giant ruled over the city and demanded a high tax of everyone who passed by. If the person couldn't pay, the giant would cut off their hand and throw it into the river. This continued until the hero, Brabo, cut off the giant's hand and threw it in the river, thus liberating the town. There are many statues around town paying tribute to Brabo and the hand shape is used on buildings, for chocolates, and cookies, everywhere. Many corners also have a statue of the Virgin Mary, patron saint of Antwerp. This is because lighting on the streets was prohibited for fear of fire spreading throughout town. To get around it, people put up the statues and hung a lantern with a candle, claiming it was not for street lighting but to honor Mary. The Grote Markt is in front of the cathedral and it is surrounded by beautifully decorated buildings that were Guild Houses, some built nearly four hundred years ago. On the ground floor of one we went to a pub to have the third treat of the morning, a local Belgian beer. Marv, Kris and I enjoyed a "bowl" (the glass looks more like a goldfish bowl and one never orders the beer by name, only by ordering a "bowl") of a dark beer, Lefe Double, and Heidi had their fruit beer that she said tasted like soda pop. It was so cold and blustery that after Taz gave us our bag of Handjes we made our way back to the boat to warm up and have a light lunch in the lounge, none of us desiring a full lunch after our culinary delights of the morning.

Castle turned prison on the quay beside the river.
Note the statue of the Giant--between and in front of his legs are
peasants about to lose a hand for failure to pay the tax.  

Marv and Peggy about to enjoy their Belgian waffles

Brabo flinging the Giant's hand into the river

Belgian Waffle

City building with yet another statue of Brabo in front

Kris and Heidi enjoying their Belgian beers

At 1:15 Marv and I headed out with some trepidation to take a guided bike tour of Antwerp. We were worried about the cold wind and occasional rain on bikes but decided to give it a try. It turned out to be a great decision. Pieter and Hart were wonderful guides for the seven of us who were brave enough to ride. They took us on about a nine mile tour along the quay, through the Red Light district, the Spanish section, China Town, the Railroad Station that Newsweek named the fourth most beautiful in the world, the Diamond (also Jewish) district, through City Park, back to the river, down the giant elevator to one of three tunnels under the river (there are no bridges crossing the river at Antwerp), to the other side to look over the town, and back to our boat. In the process we learned more history about Antwerp and that it is the second largest port in the world, stretching along the river all the way to The Netherlands and the sea.  Our tour took a couple of hours and was an easy and informative way to see Antwerp. Just as we turned in our bikes the skies opened up and it rained hard for a few minutes. We warmed up with hot chocolate and waited out the cloud burst then walked back to the Cathedral, which contains a number of significant paintings by Peter Paul Rubens, who lived in Antwerp from 1616 until his death in 1640. After dinner there was a violin, guitar, and cello concert in the Lounge from La Strada to entertain us until bedtime.

A Beggary in Antwerp, like the one we saw in Amsterdam

Antwerp's Railroad Station, built to impress all who passed through

Interior of Railroad Station

Tunnel under the river

Antwerp Cityscape from the other side of the river--
the MS Amabella is docked in the middle

Peter Paul Ruben's "Christ on the Cross"

Interior view of the Antwerp Cathedral

Tulip Time River Cruise Day 3

Mon. Apr. 7: I woke early and looked out the window to see we were still streaming along through a canal. But by the time our alarm went off at 7:45 we were going backwards. In talking to the captain later I found out that we were now on the lower Rhine River and that it was too narrow at Arnhem to turn around in the river so the captain "backed" us into the docking area to leave easily. We docked nearly under "The Bridge Too Far" from the story of the Battle of Arnhem and soon learned more about the history of it. The allies tried to paratroop in to liberate the city from the Germans by taking the only bridge into town. However, everything that could go wrong, did, and they were not successful on that attempt. Later the Allies did liberate the city and the Dutch remain grateful to the Allies. Our tour guide for the morning was Alice, and we weren't as happy with her as we had been with the others. She had lots of facts to share, particularly about artists and architects, but didn't do as well with the human/cultural side of things. We spent more time on the bus than the day before as we were taken outside of the city to see that part of the area and then back through the city. Here in the south of the Netherlands the land is more stable and there are small hills that we found out in the afternoon are glacial moraine. We got out at a park on the highest hill in town, 180 meters high, where we could see Germany in the distance and out over the countryside. Then we stopped at an urban park that was part of a huge family estate when it was built over one hundred years ago and walked around a small waterfall and ponds full of geese, swans, and ducks. Finally, we stopped near the city center and walked around there. The guides all use a "QuietVox" system with which they can speak at a low level into their unit and reach our receivers within 50 meters and we hear through a personal earpiece. It works very well once we connect with their frequency and not another guide's. We returned to the ship for lunch and to move on to our next stop. As we motored we sat on the sun deck and chatted with Kris and Heidi. The sun came in and out and the lovely countryside streamed by as we made our way to Nijmegen, along a branch of the Rhine River called the Waal River.

Urban manmade waterfall

Fountain near the end of the park

Last remaining original city gate. The wall and other gates were
torn down to allow Arnhem to expand and grow. 

Arnhem street vew

Original City Hall

New City Hall on the left. Old and New mingle in Arnhem

Peggy, Marv & Kris relax in the sun

The Bridge Too Far at Arnhem

About 2:30 we docked at the quay right next to the gates of the old city. Our guide was a retired high school and college history teacher with a lot of knowledge of the town, having been here at one of the many universities since he was in school there in the sixties. He carried a satchel with pictures and maps to illustrate his talk, and was a bit of an absent minded professor but we enjoyed him very much. He gave us a much better history than we had in the morning of not only Nijmegen, but also Arnhem. He told us that Nijmegen (pronounced Nime'-again) was accidentally but heavily bombed by the Allies who had to dump unused ordinance and thought they were dropping it on very nearby Germany. It was the Allies who later liberated the town so the townspeople are mostly grateful, but older citizens, particularly, still harbor mixed feelings. Nijmegen had been there since Roman legionnaires were stationed there during the Roman Empire and built a walled town. When they were withdrawing around 230 CE they sold the market rights to noblemen who established the "New Market" for the area, which is what Nijmegen means in Dutch. Some of the old gates for the city still exist. When so much of the city was destroyed during WWII they rebuilt much of the old town to look as it did in the Middle Ages and it has a wonderful old feel to its narrow cobblestone streets and brick buildings. We strolled up the hills and through the streets, past parks and points of interest as Johann told us stories about what we were seeing, including the house where he lived as a student that had cannon balls in the basement from ancient times that they used to use for bowling. He walked us past a big brick building that was built in the 1000s as a hospital. It had a lovely courtyard out front that had many tables under trees and Johann told us that it is now a brewery called de Hemel or The Heavenly brewery. The tour ended at the town square/market where many people sought shopping or a pub. We got directions back to the brewery where we sat for over an hour enjoying some of their seven beers. There were only a handful of others there, all locals, and the sun was shining with a gentle breeze. It was delightful! We made it back in time to sit in the sun on the deck for a while and talk with four other passengers, including Carol and Jessie, as we made our way on down the Waal and through the night on to Belgium.

Our guide for Nijmegen, Johann

Jewish synagogue 

Norman style Catholic church

City center with Guild Houses from the 1600s

de Hemel Brewery