Rhein Cruise Tag Zehn

I managed to drag Dean over 8 miles of walking in Amsterdam, and the weather was fairly decent.  We used the Rick Steves Guide and saw quite a bit of the city.  One of the highlights was the flower market.  There are so many bulbs to buy, not just tulips but amaryllis, hyacinths, and other flowers.  One of the lowlights was an outdoor pickled herring stand -phew!  We also took the RedLight District Tour.  Yes, we saw the girls in the windows.  Most of them are chunky and either bored or sad looking.  Again, the focus on weed and sex.  Not that I am a prude, but I use don’t get it.  Personally, I am looking forward to dinner tonight.  Since the Dutch had a presence in Indonesia, we plan to have and Indonesian dinner.  Tomorrow we head for home.

Different varieties of stroopwaffles

Giant at the Amsterdam Museum 1650

Flemish fries with cheese 

Bulbs at the Flower Market

Condom Store

Cheese Store

Flower Market

WWII Monument Dam Square 

Automat

Royal Palace Dam Square

Flower Market

Rhein Cruise Tag Neun

Amsterdam.  I can truly say we are not in Germany any more.  The Dutch language is the bastard child of English and German but when spoken, it is SO guttural!  Our day began with a boat ride on the canals, viewing the row houses, many which are sliding forwards, backwards and sideways due to  their foundations sinking into the mud.  There are “Coffee Houses” where you buy marijuana, but the smell of weed is no more pervasive here than in Seattle or San Francisco and at least it isn’t mixed in the with smell of urine like it is in the states.  We went past Ann Frank’s home and Rembrandt’s studio.  We walked back to our ship, taking our lives in our hands with the omnipresent bicyclists.
We opted for a tour this afternoon of an outdoor museum where there are working windmills, chocolate and cheese makers and wooden shoe craftsmen.  There are a number of old houses lovingly restored so you can see how people lived back in the 1600-1800s.  The weather was mercurial - sometimes sunny, sometimes rainy and always windy.
Our last dinner on board as well as lunch was Dutch based and delicious as usual.  Sad to say goodbye to some of the friends we have made.

Windmills

Ann Frank House

Big Church Amsterdam

Sheep

View From the Canal

Canal View

Crooked Houses 

Canal View

Windmill Mechanism

Canal View

The Dutch call this snert.  We call it split pea soup and delicious

Rhein Cruise Tag Acht

Roman floor

Cologne Cathedral

Stained Glass Window Cologne Cathedral

Cologne with it’s humongous Cathedral!  We had an amazing guide who was born and raised in the US until (as he describes it ) became part of a romantic comedy he met a girl while stuck at Heathrow Airport.  They married and moved to her hometown of Cologne.  Our other city guides were all natives of that area and very civically promoting (the best this, the largest that).  Dereck on the other hand was very funny and self-deprecating.  Loved his sense of humor. He claims the people from Cologne take their time finishing everything from the cathedral (begun in the Middle Ages and finished in the 1800s)  to the Music Theater that was opened as a one summer temporary building with a canvas roof - 24 years ago and still staging annual productions,
Cologne was heavily damaged during WWII with over 90% of the buildings destroyed.  It is now a clean and beautiful city with many buildings restored. They are known for their Kolsch beer served in 200ml glasses.  The other cities describe them as test tubes, but the locals say the beer stays colder that way.  It was a lot like Coors Light.  There are small stores on every block called kiosks where you can buy beer (and other liquor) and walk around with open containers.  And yet the city was surprisingly clean.
Words cannot describe the Cathedral. It is massive and inspiring.  Apparently it was built to house the relics of the 3 wise men.  Photos will not do it justice.
During the war, the residents took out the stained glass windows to save them and started digging a hole next to the Cathedral. There they uncovered an entire dining room mosaic floor from Roman times with over 3 million tiles.
The afternoon was on the board, speeding up to Amsterdam.  Dinner was festive with lobster, crab cakes and beef tenderloin.  We had a chance to applaud the staff.  They are wonderful,

 Contains the relics of the 3 Wise Men

Not even our guide was sure what these were

The Cathedral in Cologne

They call these candies Picassos

More Cologne Candies

Rhein Cruise Tag Sieben

I was able to post some photos in the previous blogs, but I turned off my phone ($10/day so I’m not using it everyday).  Will have to post the rest of the photos later.
Anyway, today was very busy.  The morning was in Rudesheim, a charming little town on the Rhein with the most amazing museum of mechanical musical instruments.  The first was a large wooden contraption that could play like an orchestra.  Then we saw one of the early gramophones.  Then a player piano which also had player violins!  Then a hurdy gurdy and a little music box.  All incredible. We also go to taste their Ansfach coffee - 3 cubes of sugar, a generous shot of Ansfach (brandy), coffee, whipped cream and chocolate shavings.  Starbucks look out!!! Not a bad mid morning pick me up.
Back on the boat and through the Rhein Gorge where we saw a bunch of castles and picturesque towns, churches and ancient walls.  It was cool and a little spitty, but lunch helped warm us up.
Then to Koblenz, a small town with a big reputation for Riesling wine.  There is a massive statue of Kaiser Wilhelm  the First, several really ugly churches - one was turned into a butchering place in the 1700s.  There was a building with a rather weird head with movable eyes and tongue sticking out.  This supposedly was of a knight who was caught stealing and was beheaded in the square.  One of the churches had a “leper hole” where people with skin conditions could receive communion passed out of the church on a stick so they wouldn’t be able to contaminate the good parishioners inside.  We also saw a statue of Mueller - famous for identifying the Muellerian duct system that all good urologists have memorized for our exams.
Tomorrow Cologne.

Player Piano and player violins Rudesheim

Player piano Rudesheim

Ansfach Coffee Rudesheim

Gramophone Rudesheim

Video of one of the mechanical instruments Rudesheim

This one plays a.full orchestra

Castle at Bacharach on the Rhine

Vineyards along the Rhein

Vineyards along the Rhein

Castle on the Rhein

Castle on the Rhein

Castle on the Rhein

Castle on the Rhein

Cathedral Koblenz

Statue of Kaiser Wilhelm Koblenz

The Lepers’ Window Koblenz Cathedral

Statue of a spitting boy Koblenz

Dr. Mueller

Rhein Cruise Tag Sies

Started the day in Mannheim (mostly a drive through on the way to Heidelberg). A very industrial town that took it on the nose from the Allied bombers in WWII since they were making tanks there.  Heidelberg on the other hand was spared because it was mainly a university town.  There we visited the castle which is huge,  old and in ruins since the 1800s.  There are cool statues and beautiful views and the world’s biggest cask of wine (empty of course).  There were at lot of tourists there and not that much to see,  The town is quaint and fun for to walk in.
This afternoon was Mainz, a town that really took it in the shorts from the Allied bombers near the end of the war.  There is a huge Romanesque style cathedral over 1000 years old.  The style is big and bulky and very imposing,  Across the square is the Gutenberg Museum with a working printing press and actual copies of Gutenberg Bibles.  Most inspiring,  He changed the world.  Forever.
We walked around and had some wine in town before heading back to the ship,  Lunch on the boat today was a German buffet with 3 kinds of sausage, spatzel, sauerkraut and apple strudel,  Also giant soft pretzels,  Yum.  Dinner - who cares, still full from lunch.

View from the Neker River Heidelberg

  

Entrance Gate to Heidelberg Castle  

Courtyard of Heidelberg Castle

Heidelberg Castle

Looking back on Heidelberg Castle 

Charlemagne at Heidelberg Castle 

Largest Wine Cask 

Sign at a Gummi Bear Store

Frederick IV, builder of Heidelberg Castle 

Heidelberg - View from the Castle 

View of the Castle from Heidelberg

Along the Neker River Heidelberg 

Dean on the square in Mainz

Headless Saint in he Mainz Cathedral; 

Tower Mainz

Cathedral Mainz

Printing press at the Gutenberg Museum

Printing press Gutenberg Museum 

Gutenberg Museum 

The Cathedral in Mainz