A Full-time Life

Category: Grand European Tour

AMSTERDAM

It's Thanksgiving Week here in the US and we have so much to be thankful for — we had so many good days here in Oregon this summer and fall — and took lots of pictures. But our trip to Europe has consumed almost every one of our blog posts lately. When we got "re-Oregonized" back in July, I thought it was a joke when I said I'd probably be blogging about our 'grand tour' until it was time for us to go back to our Florida winter home. But here we are in real life getting close to that departure and yet in blog-land we're still on our early-summer European trip. (And I'll definitely still be blogging about Oregon after we get back to Florida!)

Amsterdam has over 1200 bridges and 165 canals.

But the end is in sight. This post is about Amsterdam — and Amsterdam was the last stop on our European tour.

The City started around a dam in the Amstel River — all of the land around the river was originally marshy, but it was made liveable by draining the swamp and building the canal system.

We saw this banner or sign everywhere in ordinary shops and stores — at first, we thought Amsterdam was capitalizing on its reputation as somewhat of an "adult" (X-rated) city*. (A little frighteningly for us at the time, the banner even hung on the window of our hotel.)

But fortunately, we learned that this banner is actually Amsterdam's historic coat of arms — the white crosses on the black background represent St. Andrew's Cross (because he was a fisherman and in the 1500s, Amsterdam was a fishing village). Or, in another version, the crosses stood for the three perils that the City once faced — flood, fire, and plague. I like either of those versions better than what we first thought.

*And yes, we did walk through that part of town and no I did not take any pictures. And now we can say we've been there. (We actually felt completely safe everywhere in the City.)

Everyone knows that we are drawn to water and boats and so of course Amsterdam was right up our alley canal. We saw all kinds of tour boats (we took one) and many personal pleasure boats, but the most fascinating to us was the many many live-aboard houseboats docked right along busy downtown streets . Some were beautifully kept, some nearly derelict. These boats are not cheap lodging. The sign in the window of the center boat says "For Sale by Sotheby's." That firm does not deal in low-rent housing! Our canal boat tour guide somewhat satisfied our curiosity about how space rental and maintenance concerns were handled. I think we may have been the first people who asked that kind of question.

Dutch architecture.

The tall narrow houses were built because they used to be taxed by width. Some homes along the River were built on stilts because of the sandy soil. They've settled over the years and now appear to be leaning forward.

Koninkluk Paleis (The Royal Palace)

Views of Zuiderkerk (South Church) from the Staalstraat Bridge

Part of the reason I blog is to clarify the memories. I used to imagine (when I started blogging) that someday, when we got too old to travel and explore, we could sit in our rocking chairs and read about what "adventures" we'd had. I'm grateful that (as of today anyway) neither of us has yet reached that point. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!



LINKING this week to the following, with thanks to the hosts:

MOSAIC MONDAY; ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; TUESDAY TREASURES; SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and FRIDAY BLISS; and WANDERING CAMERA

November 23, 2019
LUXEMBOURG CITY

Musee de la Banque

It was green! That's the first thing I remember about Luxembourg City, the Capital of the country by the same name. (And we needed a taste of nature at that point in the journey.) Our hotel (booked just a few days before our arrival, rather than months in advance as the earlier three stays had been) was not in mid-town, but it was a very nice place to stay and we were able to use the excellent city bus system to get where we wanted to go.

View from inside the tunnel.

From the bus stop in the center of the city we walked across a bridge and down steps and through tunnels to arrive at Parks de Petrusse — a lovely green park under the old ramparts originally built to protect the city.

Bock Casemates

A fortified castle on the Bock promontory built in 963 was the beginning of the city of Luxembourg. Ring walls (called casemates) were added in the 15th Century which eventually turned the city into a well-defended center. The fortified city could shelter thousands of people. Today 17 kilometers of tunnels remain, on different levels with staircases inside the rock face.

View of the City from the walkway.

We walked down the stairs and miles of paths down below — loving the quiet and and green — there was water and bird song. The Park is one of those magical places that seem like you are miles away from civilization but really you are in the middle of the City.

Happily, there was even an elevator on the lowest level of the park, which we rode back up to street level. It had begun to rain a little and the elevator (magically?) opened right next door to a tavern A great place to wait out the rainstorm.

Adolphe Bridge

This beautifully restored iconic bridge has great views from the walkway on top and is great to look at from below.

Underground art gallery at AM Tunnel

The artists: Till Aydin; Anna Ney; Sophie Hoffmann

One of the tunnels houses an Underground Art Gallery. The exhibit we saw was of photo collages. I confess, the display had me immediately thinking of linking to Mosaic Monday. So this is a mosaic of mosaics!!

Palais Grand Ducal

We had only a day and a half to spend in Luxembourg — it was a rather long rail journey from here to Amsterdam (our next and final stop), but a lovely one through more beautiful green countryside. There was no English translation on this train though, so we had a couple of fun adventures on the way — apparently at one point the train was diverted due to construction and the transfer point we had on our ticket was changed. Along with one other passenger we stayed on the train because the sign was different from what our ticket said. Eventually a gentleman from the train came in waving his arms and we finally got it through our thick heads that we had to go somewhere and get on another train.

This would be funnier snapshots if they actually showed either of us racing to the correct platform lugging our suitcases up and down escalators and asking anyone who looked like they might speak English if we were going the right way. (People were helpful — and obviously we did make our connecting train.)

This one is a view of the Luxembourg countryside from the train window as we began our journey to Amsterdam (before the mix-up, but the whole journey was quite lovely and the slight hiccup gave us something we are still laughing about). We are glad we spent some time in this pleasant green country!

LINKING this week to the following, with thanks to the hosts:

MOSAIC MONDAY; ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; TUESDAY TREASURES; SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and FRIDAY BLISS;

November 17, 2019
GHENT BELGIUM

Even if I didn't have pictures to remind me, one thing I would always remember about Ghent is how absolutely stunning this city is by night.

St Nicholas Church

It is a great city in broad daylight as well of course and we enjoyed the old town and visited as many of the historical places as we could.

Ghent, St Michael's Bridge

It's a very walkable City — our lodging was about two blocks from this main Canal Street. There are several colleges and Universities here and that always makes for a vibrant City.

Ghent by Night

I took so many pictures; the city was magical by night. And so we were not surprised to learn after the fact that the Ghent Light Plan has received international acclaim. It was designed to provide environmentally-conscious lighting while at the same time displaying the city at its best.

St Bavo's Cathedral

We visited St Bavo's which is home to a 15th -Century painting called The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (no inside pictures.) The Cathedral altarpiece is by Jan Van Eyck and is considered his masterpiece. There are numerous other paintings and sculptures as well and four organs. As part of the tour, we listened to a talk about the altarpiece. It is hard to imagine parishioners attending regular Sunday services here — because during the tour, it seemed more like a fine Art Museum than a Church.

It was a busy city, but we had the feeling that most of the people enjoying the pleasant days were local — (except for all of us on the Cathedral tour. )

Gravensteen Castle

This 11th Century building in the Center of town has been a Castle, a prison, and a torture chamber. Kids were using the grounds for picnics and playgrounds and sunbathing during the days we were there!

Except for the night before our flight back to the States, our stay in Ghent was the last place where "The Travel Planner" had booked lodging before we left for our River Cruise. Between our last night here and that final night, we had four days left to play! Why not, we thought, see the last of the three countries of Benelux? So, from our room in Bruges, Bill booked a hotel room in Luxembourg City for a couple of nights and then a couple more in downtown Amsterdam, since we had seen really nothing of that City except for the ship dock.

We had loved Belgium and almost hated to leave — but looked forward to the next and last two chapters of our journey!

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities. Thank you to the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; TUESDAY TREASURES; SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and FRIDAY BLISS;

November 9, 2019
BRUGES, BELGIUM

We were impressed with the train we took from Amsterdam — our first inter-country train ride. (Thankful for the European Union… it must have been so much more difficult when you had to show your passport at every border.) We had to transfer at least once, maybe twice. But all announcements were made in at least three languages (including English) and there was an electronic reader in each car, also in each language. So it was a piece of cake to get to our next destination — beautiful Bruges Belgium.

Bruges is the capital of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish region of Belgium. We loved seeing those beautiful buildings — and (to nobody's surprise) we loved the Canals.

Grote Markt (Market Square)

Bruges has one of the best preserved medieval areas in Europe as most of its architecture from that period is still intact.

Church of Our Lady

We took a (self-guided) tour of the Church of Our Lady, a beautiful stone Church that took two centuries (from the 13th to the 15th) to build. At present it is undergoing a restoration, nearly completed, but some of its art treasures are not available for public viewing (they have been moved for safety or are covered with dust protectors).

We came with no expectations, so we were happy with what we did see. Each aisle of the large church has small altars with paintings and woodcarvings and there are the usual crypts of royalty.

The picture on the lower left is part of a 14th or 15th Century mural which was discovered under many layers of paint during the restoration.. The panels showed better in person than they did in my photos .. we could make out details. I found the process for saving these works of art to be fascinating. The sign in my photo below explains that process and interprets the representations.

Enlarged photo of sign explaining medieval paintings being restored

I'm happy that there are experts who know how to save these treasures.

Bruges City Hall

One evening while we were wandering about admiring more of the medieval architecture, we saw people entering the courtyard underneath the famous Bell Tower — and we let ourselves be carried along with the crowd.

Thirteenth-Century Belfry of Bruges and Carillon which was added in the 16th.

We had stumbled upon a free carillon concert — just on time for good seats. We learned that the City still employs a full-time person to play the 47-bell instrument, which dates from the sixteenth century. University music students were also taking part in this evening's event, a mix of light classical and pop standards.

Here is a night view of the Church of Our Lady as seen on our way back to our home-away-from-home after the concert.

What a beautiful evening!

Night or day, Bruges was a beautiful City and we were happy that we were able to spend some time there. We could easily have spent longer, but there were other places to go! On the third afternoon of our stay we took another train to another city in Belgium… which is another post.

Linking this week to the following sharing opportunities. With thanks to all of the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY; THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; TUESDAY TREASURES; SAY CHEESE; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and FRIDAY BLISS;

November 3, 2019
KINDERDIJK AND (on-our-own again) in HAARLEM

We arrived at Kinderdijk (The Netherlands) in mid-afternoon on the last full day of our River Cruise. This charming town is a living historical museum with 19 still-functioning windmills. It is the only place in the world with so many windmills so close together.

Built in the 18th Century, the Kinderdjik windmills harnessed the power of wind to reclaim land from the sea, making it possible to cultivate and settle the area as well as to prevent flooding. All 19 remain in working order today. The area has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We enjoyed a short talk about the history of the area and a guided tour of the windmills including a re-creation of the original living quarters inside one that is open to the public. (People do live in some of these windmills — the original structure and function must be maintained.)

That night was our final one on the Viking Skirnr — the boat docked at Amsterdam at 4 the next morning. The ship's staff handled final disembarking with great efficiency. Because we were staying in The Netherlands, we were the among final group to disembark. We had time for the on-board breakfast buffet and coffee… and time to wonder how we would adjust to not being able to count on breakfast and coffee automatically appearing every morning as soon as we were ready for it!

Haarlem, The Netherlands

We were called when our Taxi was ready at the dock; our luggage was brought out by the staff. And — just like that — we were on our own in The Netherlands! I'd say 'back to the real world' except we were in a whole new and beautiful country — not at all our usual world! Off we went to Haarlem where "we" (meaning the travel planner of the family, not me) had booked an Air B&B.

Top left: the street marker is on the corner of Scheepmakersdijk, where our Haarlem "home" was located. Upper right and lower left pictures are outside and inside the B&B. Center picture is the city gate, a remainder of the wall that once surrounded the city. Lower right is a neighborhood Canal.

Back at home before the trip we'd actually thought of Haarlem as a suburb of Amsterdam and had pictured ourselves taking the train into the big city several times during the days we had booked at our B&B. But, to our delight, we found Haarlem to be a perfect city on its own. We fell in love with it — and had no wish to leave during the time we had booked.

We walked the canals and narrow streets every day, found the neighborhood shops and cafes delightful, enjoyed people watching, and explored every nook and cranny we could. We felt comfortable just living on our own (for a change at this point). Even making morning coffee is a small adventure in a new place. (Especially coming right after time on a cruise.)

This is just a little hand-made sign that someone had put in their apartment window — but I liked the sentiment (even if it is not quite grammatically correct). The City was full of life, busy without being frenetic. A perfect place to re-adjust to real life after the somewhat un-real existence on the cruise ship.

On that same street there was an office for "Expat Services" so I assume that's the reason for the English sign. Almost everyone we met spoke excellent English, but most signs here were in Dutch (as of course they should be).

We loved the open air cafes, whether they were downtown or along the canals. And of course we enjoyed looking at water and boats.

We read that there are at least two bicycles for every person in The Netherlands. Above are some of them — parked at the Haarlaam Train Depot. We've heard and read that some pedestrians are intimidated by bicycle riders. We didn't have any problems either here or later in Amsterdam (we did go back to spend a few days there at the end of our time in Europe).



In fact, we found it charming that everyone rode them! Especially the families, such as the moms, dads, mom-to-be, and even grandparents! (All snapped while we ourselves were sitting at outdoor cafes watching people and trying not to feel lazy.)

Our days in Haarlaam went by too quickly! On the morning of the fourth day, we schlepped our suitcases a few blocks from our little apartment to that train station (unlike getting off the ship — here in the real world, there were no porters to carry our luggage). Here we hopped on the "local" back to Amsterdam, where we caught a longer-distance train to the next country we would be fortunate to visit.

Linking to the following sharing opportunities with thanks to all of the hosts:

MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; TUESDAY TREASURES; SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and FRIDAY BLISS;

October 27, 2019
PROST! We visit KOLN (COLOGNE)

The Skirnr arrived at Koln at 9 in the morning, having left Koblenz at 3 A.M., according to our in-room daily newsletter. We didn't notice the departure — by this time in the journey (only a couple days from its end) we were quite used to the motions of the boat.

We opened our balcony door to watch the landing and saw a Festival Beer Garden set up right across the sidewalk from our room. People were already having fun (at just 9 in the morning) — or maybe it was "still having fun" from the night before, who knows?

The top two pictures above show how our boat was docked here. The rather steep gangplank that we walked to get in and out shows on the left. The lower picture is the beer garden, taken from our balcony. This docking point was great, because we were able to walk on that sidewalk right into the center of town. (I think a few passengers might have gotten sidetracked on the way in, right there across the 'street'.

We were looking forward to a nice long day in Koln. After breakfast on board, we headed into town — which was already hopping by that time in the morning. We saw a coffee shop called Oma Jan's in the same building as Papa Joe's Bier Salon. It was a little early to patronize Papa, but we enjoyed a pastry and coffee at Oma's. (Those happen to be two German words I understand very well, as I've known a few couples whose grandchildren called them Oma and Papa.) As it turned out, we would visit Papa Joe's later in the day.

It was pleasant to stroll around the old town watching people …. we stumbled on a wedding right at the busiest corner of the pedestrian mall. The happy couple had quite a few uninvited guests. Everyone was waiting until the white "doves" were released. Someone told me that a man has a business renting out these homing pigeons for events.

I don't know the significance of the top statue but the bottom (uh, lower?) center gargoyle is said to be mooning a statue that is across the river — that one is sticking its tongue out. In addition to being a happening town, it seems Cologne seemed a bit of an irreverent one.

Irreverent in spite of the fact that the twin spires of the 14th-Century Gothic Cathedral dominate the City skyline. The Cathedral is one of the few buildings in the City that was spared allied bombs during WWII. The City is quite a mix of old and new, with ancient Roman ruins right next to modern buildings.

Ornate and imposing, the Cathedral also has beautiful stained-glass windows, which down't show well at all in this picture. There is a 500+ step tower which leads to a viewing platform (we did not climb it). It holds an impressive sarcophagus which is said to contain bones of the Magi (the three Kings who visited Baby Jesus).

After viewing the Cathedral, we wandered back to the boat for lunch (which we didn't really need) and a nap, which we did. It was a pre-emptive rest, because we had chosen to take an optional evening tour to explore Cologne's food and beer culture — and we did want to start out wide awake!

Cologne is famous for its Kolsch beer. By law, real Kolsch can only be produced here. As we walked back to town, our knowledgeable tour guide (a young woman) provided very interesting history of Cologne's signature beer and explained that we would visit four authentic German brauhauses. Our first stop was Papa Joe's , the one we'd looked at when we walked around that morning. As we enjoyed our first glass of Kolsch, we admired the hand-carved and life-sized mechanical band. Papa's is a jazz club, but the only music we heard was when the "band" played traditional German songs. It was probably too early in the evening.

At the second stop, we enjoyed our Kolsch along with a traditional four-course German dinner. Waiters carried multiple glasses in one hand, while at the same time scooping up empties with the other. We learned the special way to toast each other with the special Kolsch glasses. "Prost" is the German word — as we would say "cheers." (You clink the bottom of the glasses, while looking each other in the eye — otherwise it is bad luck.)

Beer Mat (coaster)

Kolsch glasses are small, but we learned that they would be refilled unless you remember to put the beer mat over it. That is how you signal you've had enough. Our (I guess unlimited) beer and food was pre-paid since we were on a tour, but normally, the waiter would make a hash-mark on the beer mat for each refill and that is how they know how to charge the drinker.

Prost!

There were two more tour stops — at the last one, our guide told us the Brauhaus had been built on the site of Roman ruins – there were actually plexi-glass windows in a few places on the floor where you could see bones on the ground below. I didn't really want to think about that too much by that point.

(This picture has nothing to do with beer.)

Our group had gotten gradually smaller as the tour progressed, but we stayed until the end, arriving back at the ship around 10 p.m. …. The boat left port at 10:30. The picture above is shortly after we left, motoring past some of the bright lights of a more modern part of Cologne..

We sat on our deck enjoying the still warm evening as we said Auf Wiedersehen to Koln … and to Germany. The next morning, the Skirnr would dock in the Netherlands, the fourth country we would see while on this cruise.

We had fun in Koln, but as we reflected, we were most grateful for all we had learned at every stop in Germany. We enjoyed the country so much… perhaps more than I had thought we would. I really knew so very little about it, even though both of us can trace part of our ancestry to that country.

Linking this week to the following, with thanks to the hosts.

ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;

TUESDAY TREASURES; SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;

SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and   FRIDAY BLISS;

October 13, 2019
CASTLES AND DUNGEONS AND WINE, OH MY Wertheim and Koblenz

Castles and Dungeons and Wine, Oh My!

The next couple of days of our cruise were like a fairy-tale! We had castles and towers and dungeons and beautiful views …. and lots of good wine! (Okay, it was an adult fairy-tale.)

Morning view from the boat, Day 11

We woke to another beautiful day on the Rhine River. Our port of call was Wertheim, the smallest of all the places we'd visited in Germany, but one with as much history as any of the larger cities.

It was an important city because of its strategic location at the confluence of the Main and Tauber Rivers. The City's royalty built the Castle (middle picture above) in the 12th Century, but it was captured and destroyed in the Thirty Years' War. The ruins are still impressive. It looks down upon the medieval town center and newer homes along the river banks.

Wertheim also has its own Leaning Tower. (Can you imagine Rapunzel in the window up there?) The noticeable lean is due to 800 years of flooding — a hazard of the town's location on the river banks. Markers on the tower and on many other old buildings show just how high the water has risen over the centuries. (And as we all know from recent years, rising water levels and flooding still continue across Europe.)

The tower was built in the 13th Century as a lookout, but it also served as a prison for drunkards and "quarrelsome wenches." Food and water were lowered down to the prisoners who were kept in complete darkness until their release. (Can you imagine anyone down there in the dungeon?)

(Amateur photographer's disclaimer here: I often need to straighten pictures with my editing tool and I am honestly not sure if the lean on the tower picture is the real angle or if part of it is due to my shaky camera hand. I do remember that the lean was quite obvious to the naked eye.)

From the boat — Day 13

It was a short day in Wertheim — we were back on the boat by noon and the Skirnr departed shortly after for the next stop. Some of the more energetic passengers had taken an optional bicycle tour of the city and surrounding hills — the boat stopped briefly along the way to pick them up.

Every single day of this cruise there were interesting sights from the boat as we traveled, but the next day, which was almost all on the water, was the most spectacular of all. These pictures are just a few of the castles and some of the surrounding beautiful scenery that we saw along this part of the Middle Rhine River.

We went back and forth between our stateroom balcony and the outside lounge upstairs, where we could see both sides of the river … trying not to miss a thing. The views were spectacular wherever we looked. The program director of the cruise was in the lounge to give us some of the history of the castles we passed. (Way too much to include here — there are many links to Castles on the Rhine for more information.) This area would be a wonderful land tour — some of the castles are open to the public. (Sigh. So many beautiful places …..)

We arrived at Koblenz, the next port of call, around 4, and quickly boarded a bus for an excursion through part of the surrounding Moselle wine country. Grape vines grew everywhere — on steep terraces, on hillsides, in front of castles, on railroad right-of-way, and in spaces between more ordinary homes. We ended up at a small country winery, where we enjoyed hearing from the owner about this wine making region and his family's long history making wine. And of course we enjoyed an excellent tasting experience before heading back to the boat for a 7 p.m. dinner, featuring (as usual) good food and (more) local wines.

A beautiful ending to the fairy-tale.

Linking this week to the following: Thank you to all of the hosts.

ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; COUNTRY SCAPES; TUESDAY TREASURES; SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and   FRIDAY BLISS;

October 6, 2019
WURZBERG (on the MAIN RIVER)

Marienburg Fortress

on the Left Bank of the Main River

Wurzburg is located on two banks of the Main River in the Franconia region of Germany. We had the above view from near where the boat was docked. Franconia is known for its wine and Wurzburg is home to Germany's oldest and largest vineyard. (That is a different vineyard in the picture above – the city is surrounded by them.) This 13th-Century Fortress was originally a Celtic fort and then was expanded into a Baroque residence of bishops .

Two sides of the same sculpture

Our ship-board guide said Wurzburg's pedestrian zone had the best shopping in the region. We didn't really shop, but did enjoy seeing this sculpture by Mia Weiss. That is two views of the same sign — from each side. (I'm sorry I didn't measure my steps better; obviously I was closer to the Love side.) Here's what I found out about it by searching the net:

Since May 2019, several LOVE HATE sculptures by Mia Florentine Weiss have been travelling as ambassadors through various cities in Germany and Europe in support of democracy and humanism in order to strengthen the European idea according to the maxim MAKE LOVE NOT HATE!

The LOVE HATE ambigram by Mia Florentine Weiss, a larger-than-life-sized sculpture in public space, in its mirror-image reading, confronts the extremes of human emotions with each other and animates the viewer to question his or her own point of view by changing his or her perspective. The mobile LOVE HATE sculpture by Mia Florentine Weiss was to be integrated into a cultural event as a highlight at the respective locations. With the participation in the art action #LOVEUROPE every city commits itself to love for Europe according to the maxim MAKE LOVE NOT HATE!

Bishop's Residence on the Right Bank of the Main

The Wurzburg Bishops' Residenz (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) is on the other side of the River from the Fortress. (Those Prince-Bishops owned a lot of real estate in Germany.) This one is massive (I was unable to get a picture of the entire structure). It is a monument to the ways the royalty used their power (and enormous wealth.) The palace was built between 1720 and 1744.

No pictures were allowed inside sadly…. we even had to check our bags at this palace. The inside was breath-taking. We remember the famous grand staircase with the largest ceiling fresco in the world (it is called "The Four Continents — all the artist knew about at the time). From the Staircase, we entered the Imperial Hall which had marble and gold decorations and more frescoes by the Venetian painter Tiepolo . (Disclaimer: I remember his work, but certainly had to research for his name.)

There were also beautiful formal gardens and we enjoyed strolling around the grounds.

Kappele Baroque Masterpiece Church

Just a couple more "ordinary" churches photographed in passing …. I couldn't even begin to show every photo-worthy structure in this City.

Neumunster Collegiate Church

We had a nice long day in Wurzburg, plus the boat was conveniently docked within walking distance of downtown. This made it an ideal location for us to fill a regular prescription that Bill needed. Finding out how to do that was an adventure in itself. From the helpful local pharmacist we learned the location of a walk-in clinic where he could visit a Dr and (hopefully) get the necessary local prescription. … And it worked!



High-school German (from oh, so many years ago) gave us the basic gist of this sign: "Dear Patients: We don't necessarily see patients in the order in which they enter. Thank you for your understanding." But Bill was seen quite promptly and while waiting we visited with local people — this definitely wasn't a tourist place! In fact, they really had no way of dealing with people who weren't on the national insurance — they had no way to accept credit cards and no change. We ended up paying almost nothing — and the office manager smiled and was more than pleasant all through the transaction. We went back to the same Pharmacy and the prescriptions were ready promptly.

Routine errands, made interesting by virtue of our being in another country. We were impressed by — and grateful for — the efficiency and caring of the staff at the clinic and the pharmacy. And interested in comparing both to our country.

It was a beautiful walk along the river back to the Viking Ship Skirnr, our home-away-from-home for this trip. We made it in plenty of time for departure to the next stop.

Linking this week to the following: Thank you to all of the hosts:

ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;

THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; COUNTRY SCAPES;

TUESDAY TREASURES; SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;

SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;

SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and   FRIDAY BLISS;

September 21, 2019
BEAUTIFUL BAMBERG

Bamberg really was the prettiest town!

Founded in 902, the many historical churches and homes mean it still looks like a medieval city. It's almost like the whole town is an historic work of art.



Alte Rathaus (old City Hall)

In the 14th Century, the citizens of Bamberg wanted to build a city hall that served both sides of the town, which is divided by the Regnitz River. Their solution was to build a bridge across the river and place the Rathaus (town hall) on a man-made island in the middle.

Baroque and rococo touches were added to the building in 1746. The pictures above are the same building — this part of it is slightly visible in the very first picture in this post — on the left corner from the half-timbered part of the building. From this location, there are beautiful city and river views.

It is probably no surprise to anyone that most of my pictures include river views.

Lots of water and boats. Bamberg has been called "Little Venice".

Heller Haus

This building was the birthplace of Joseph Heller, a historian and art collector. I really don't have much more information about him, but the building is so pretty. It looks like it is made out of Wedgewood pottery — or sugar icing! The statue on the end of the bridge in front of it is Queen (and Saint) Cunigunde, the wife of one of the Holy Roman Emperors and a patron of Bamberg.

Another mystery — this three-dimensional sculpture is on a wall on the Mager Building in the old town. I don't know the significance, but was fascinated by it.

Original Schlenkeria Smoked Beer.

There has to be something silly about every stop — in Bamberg for us it was trying this strongly smoke-flavored beer at the historic brewery tavern that is its birthplace. I'll just say that 'trying' was the operative word (for both of us). Definitely not 'finishing'.

These pictures are from our balcony, shortly after we re-boarded the Skirnr. This was the most bird life we'd seen from the boat. There were geese, ducks and ducklings, and several swan families. It was the perfect ending to this beautiful day.

Linking to the following this week with thanks to the generous hosts:

ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; TUESDAY TREASURES ; SAY CHEESE;     MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY BLISS;   and SATURDAY CRITTERS

September 15, 2019
NUREMBERG (Day 9)

Our tour guidebook said that our visit to Nuremberg would be a complex and intriguing excursion. I can't think of a better way to describe this beautiful city.

Nuremberg — old and new

World War II reminders were everywhere on this trip but nowhere more so than here. That's what we expected to see and learn more about. Prior to and during WWII, Nuremberg was the site of the huge parade grounds where Nazi rallies and military drills were held. Recently, after much debate, a decision was made to preserve these grounds as a reminder of the country's dark past. (The grandstands are deteriorating badly and the debate was whether to demolish or repair.)

On the day we visited, part of the infamous site was being used as a temporary campground — if I understood correctly, many visitors were in town to attend a rock concert. I'm not sure what to think about that use, but maybe happy vibes are good. On the lower left is one of several picture the tour guide showed us as our bus passed the parade grounds. On the right is my picture of the same grounds. It was easy to imagine the real and terrible events taking place as we viewed both pictures.

Our tour guide was excellent – respectful and knowledgeable. We did not walk around at this stop, but stopped several times for pictures and presentations.

Imperial Palace

I was so sure that this tour would be all about World War II that the rest of what we saw and learned surprised me. The part I did not expect started at the top of Castle Hill, where our the walking tour began. This is the Imperial Palace, a symbol of the City. During the Middle Ages, every Holy Roman Emperor stayed here at some time. Nuremberg was a walled city with this safe fortress at the center.

Much later in time, the Palace also served an important purpose. Shortly after WWII began, an art storage depot was established in the ancient cellars under the Castle. In this way, the City's most important art treasures survived the heavy air raids intact.

Although air raids destroyed most of the medieval city walls, around three miles of them with original gateways and watchtowers still remain.

From the top of the hill we walked toward the City's Old Town. We had a short guided orientation ending in the Town Center….

Der Schone Brunen

(The Beautiful Fountain)

…. at this ornate Gothic fountain which dominates Market Square. The Fountain is an early 20th Century replica of the original built in the 1300s. It depicts figures from the Holy Roman Empire and the Church.

We then had some time to explore on our own.

We did some window-shopping in the Market Square. Nuremberg was once known as the toy-making capital of Europe — mostly hand-carved wooden toys (although my photo obviously shows softer toys).

It has always been well-known for its famous Lebkuchen — a cookie made with ground almonds and nine spices. And delicious. (Okay, it was more than window-shopping at Wicklein Lebkuchen Workshop, where they've been baking since 1613.)

We were told that it is a Nuremberg tradition to serve three German sausages in one bun. The price seemed reasonable enough if sausages are your thing.

The guide had told us to be back at the Beautiful Fountain when it was time to head back to the bus. It was a great meeting place – Nobody could forget or miss this spot! The top middle picture is somebody trying to reach the lucky ring. Tradition says your wish will be granted if you turn that certain ring three times. Our guide said it used to be gold, but because of all the touching and pushing and pulling it has been replaced several times.

Back on the bus (and back to the 20th Century) we stopped at the Palace of Justice, where the Nuremberg War Crime Trials took place in 1945 and 1946.

Palace of Justice, Nuremberg

We joined our guide in hoping that peace and justice prevail in this world and that we do not forget history.

Linking this week to the following, with thanks to all of the hosts:

ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday;    TUESDAY TREASURES ; SAY CHEESE; SIGNS SIGNS;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY BLISS;

September 1, 2019