Just back from our Koblenz tour. Very interesting city that's been around since before Christ. Occupied and conquered by just about everybody over the centuries because of its location at the confluence of Rhine and Moselle rivers. Swapped back and forth between the Germans and French too many times to count.
On to Cologne tomorrow.
Heading to Europe
Re: Heading to Europe
Just back from our morning walking tour of Cologne. Germanic tribes settled here BC but it was the Roman's who built a city here in 600 AD.
Of course the city was destroyed and rebuilt multiple time over the last 2000 years lastly during WWII when the US destroyed 80% of the city.
Cologne is home to the largest cathedral in the world which took 600 years to build.
Our afternoon tour is only 6 people and we get a private tour of the cathedral and get to climb to the top of the spire and go out onto the roof. Supposedly thats an exclusive Viking tour. No one else is allowed to do that. We'll see if that's true.
I will report back later.
And btw...one reason there aren't more photos is because I've been using my camera and not my phone. I dont have a way to upload SD card photos from the camera to the internet w/o a computer.
If I think of it I'll try and take some phone pics and upload them to show.
Of course the city was destroyed and rebuilt multiple time over the last 2000 years lastly during WWII when the US destroyed 80% of the city.
Cologne is home to the largest cathedral in the world which took 600 years to build.
Our afternoon tour is only 6 people and we get a private tour of the cathedral and get to climb to the top of the spire and go out onto the roof. Supposedly thats an exclusive Viking tour. No one else is allowed to do that. We'll see if that's true.
I will report back later.
And btw...one reason there aren't more photos is because I've been using my camera and not my phone. I dont have a way to upload SD card photos from the camera to the internet w/o a computer.
If I think of it I'll try and take some phone pics and upload them to show.
Re: Heading to Europe
Did the behind the scenes of the great cathedral of Cologne. Basically it was a graduate degree class on the architecture and history of the cathedral. Climbed up into the interior of the cathedral and stopped at the different phases of construction on the way to the very top. Very interesting and very cool.
Specifically used my phone for some of the pics so I could post them.
One of the narrow stairways behind the scenes. This one is going down but from the ground floor to the first level in the next pic was 154 steps up. Total of 546 steps to get to the top.
The inside of the cathedral from the second level
Viking does have an exclusive contract with the cathedral for tours for their cruisers. Other groups can book behind the scenes tours, just not through their cruise lines. Its not cheap to do. I think it was $129/person. Nothing is cheap through Viking but I think it was worth it.
The guide on level 3. The date over the door was when that section was completed or repaired. As I said it took 600 years to finish and is in a constant state of repair.
The outside plaza in front of the church from level 3
More later
Specifically used my phone for some of the pics so I could post them.
One of the narrow stairways behind the scenes. This one is going down but from the ground floor to the first level in the next pic was 154 steps up. Total of 546 steps to get to the top.
The inside of the cathedral from the second level
Viking does have an exclusive contract with the cathedral for tours for their cruisers. Other groups can book behind the scenes tours, just not through their cruise lines. Its not cheap to do. I think it was $129/person. Nothing is cheap through Viking but I think it was worth it.
The guide on level 3. The date over the door was when that section was completed or repaired. As I said it took 600 years to finish and is in a constant state of repair.
The outside plaza in front of the church from level 3
More later
Last edited by Mac66 on Mon Apr 21, 2025 7:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Heading to Europe
Today was the city of Kinderdijk*, Netherlands. Which is the lowlands where the windmills are.. those crazy Dutchmen built windmills to pump water out of a swamp they settled in.
Wind mill is a misnomer, more accurately they are wind pumps as they are used to pump the water out of the lowlands in to the rivers. they first built dikes to keep the water from coming back in. Then canals to channel the water, then the pumps So basically its a series of dikes and canals and wind pumps.
*Kinderdijk means children's dike. They guy who first settled here had lots of children and he built the first dikes.
Tomorrow is off the boat in Amsterdam.
And FYI, the Netherlands is about 1/6 th the size of Michigan but about 7 million more people in it.
Wind mill is a misnomer, more accurately they are wind pumps as they are used to pump the water out of the lowlands in to the rivers. they first built dikes to keep the water from coming back in. Then canals to channel the water, then the pumps So basically its a series of dikes and canals and wind pumps.
*Kinderdijk means children's dike. They guy who first settled here had lots of children and he built the first dikes.
Tomorrow is off the boat in Amsterdam.
And FYI, the Netherlands is about 1/6 th the size of Michigan but about 7 million more people in it.
Last edited by Mac66 on Mon Apr 21, 2025 7:45 am, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Heading to Europe
So far today we toured the Heineken brewery and did a canal tour. Amsterdam is a pretty amazing city.
More later.
More later.
Re: Heading to Europe
So...we had to be off the boat this morning at 8 am which means our luggage had to be outside our cabin door by 6 am. So we were up early after a kind of last night/going away party last night on the boat. A little bit hung over.
Walked around and checked off a list of sights to see. Very tired this evening. Walked 8.5 miles today.
Here are some random pics.
One of the canals. Everything on the right are barges with flower shops on them. They call it the floating flower market. On the left side are barges loaded with bikes. Not enough space on the street to park bikes.
Some of the house boats on the canals
Walked around and checked off a list of sights to see. Very tired this evening. Walked 8.5 miles today.
Here are some random pics.
One of the canals. Everything on the right are barges with flower shops on them. They call it the floating flower market. On the left side are barges loaded with bikes. Not enough space on the street to park bikes.
Some of the house boats on the canals
Last edited by Mac66 on Thu Apr 24, 2025 7:42 am, edited 3 times in total.
Re: Heading to Europe
So, all in all Amsterdam is a pretty cool city if...
- you don't mind the crowds
-you don't mind that its so dirty
- you don't mind that it's jammed with bike riders who do not stop for anybody or anything. They have the right of way.
-you don't mind that everybody smokes
-you don't mind beautiful women
-you don't mind lots of Heineken beer
And BTW everybody speaks fluent English. Its taught in schools from an early age. Most signs are in English as well.
- you don't mind the crowds
-you don't mind that its so dirty
- you don't mind that it's jammed with bike riders who do not stop for anybody or anything. They have the right of way.
-you don't mind that everybody smokes
-you don't mind beautiful women
-you don't mind lots of Heineken beer
And BTW everybody speaks fluent English. Its taught in schools from an early age. Most signs are in English as well.
Last edited by Mac66 on Thu Apr 24, 2025 7:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Heading to Europe
Went to the Rijks (pronounced Rikes) museum this morning. Saw some Van gogh and Rembrandt paintings.
Thought you guys would be interested in some of the stuff.
This is the cloven which was the militia or night watch in 1529
This their ceremonial drinking horn. Cloven means claw which is a prominent symbol shown in silver on the horn.
Some of their arms
In 1642 Rembrandt did a painting called the Night Watch. It was his largest and most famous painting. It protrayed the cloven 100 years later.
Here's the actual painting being restored. Its about 10x12'
And a half size photo of it. Notice that the little girl in white to the left of the center guy in black is holding a chicken upside down with the chicken's claws exposed.
Thought you guys would be interested in some of the stuff.
This is the cloven which was the militia or night watch in 1529
This their ceremonial drinking horn. Cloven means claw which is a prominent symbol shown in silver on the horn.
Some of their arms
In 1642 Rembrandt did a painting called the Night Watch. It was his largest and most famous painting. It protrayed the cloven 100 years later.
Here's the actual painting being restored. Its about 10x12'
And a half size photo of it. Notice that the little girl in white to the left of the center guy in black is holding a chicken upside down with the chicken's claws exposed.
Last edited by Mac66 on Thu Apr 24, 2025 9:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Heading to Europe
Another Rembrandt
A Vermeer
The milk maid
VAN GOGH
A Vermeer
The milk maid
VAN GOGH
Re: Heading to Europe
Yesterday we took a guided museum tour in the morning and a guided walking tour of the Jewish quarter in the afternoon. Overall we walked 9.8 miles.
The nazis exterminated 120,000Jews from Amsterdam. There is a holocaust memorial with all the names on bricks.
The photo below is the Frank family as in Ann Frank. 700-800 members of the family died in concentration camps. Names from the top to bottom of the wall to the end of this section of the wall are all Franks.
And Ann (Annalies) Frank's brick
One on the thing we saw on our trip through Germany, France and the Netherlands was that after the war the countries imbedded brass "stumbling stones" in the sidewalks outside the homes of the Jews who were rounded up. In some of the Jewish areas.There are block after block of these name plates. It is quite moving.
And the Ann Frank house
The nazis exterminated 120,000Jews from Amsterdam. There is a holocaust memorial with all the names on bricks.
The photo below is the Frank family as in Ann Frank. 700-800 members of the family died in concentration camps. Names from the top to bottom of the wall to the end of this section of the wall are all Franks.
And Ann (Annalies) Frank's brick
One on the thing we saw on our trip through Germany, France and the Netherlands was that after the war the countries imbedded brass "stumbling stones" in the sidewalks outside the homes of the Jews who were rounded up. In some of the Jewish areas.There are block after block of these name plates. It is quite moving.
And the Ann Frank house
Last edited by Mac66 on Thu Apr 24, 2025 9:08 am, edited 4 times in total.