Everything Franconian

 Monday, September 21

Today we arrived in Würzburg in the early morning. This city on the Main River has a population of around 130,000 people with about 30,000 of them being students at the Julius Maximilians University. This university has produced 14 Nobel Laureates. Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen won in 1901 foe discovering x-rays. An “x-ray” is called a “Röntgen” in Germany.

Wǔrzburg is surrounded by vineyards on the hillsides. It is in the Franconia region of northern Bavaria but citizens of Würzburg consider themselves Franconian and not Bavarian. 

Buses were waiting by the ship to take us the short distance to the Würzburg Residence. This palace was commissioned by  the Prince-Bishop Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn in 1720 and the shell was finished in 1744. A different Prince-Bishop - Prince-Bishop Franz Ludwig von Erthal was in power when the residence was completely finished in 1780. The architect for this project was Balthasar Neumann who was a master in the baroque style. There is a magnificent stairway inside with a tremendous unsupported flat vault ceiling.

The ceiling frescoes were done by Venetian painter Giovanni Batista Tiepolo. There is so much detail in this artwork and not only do the frescoes look 3-D, some of it is, with sculptures coming out of some of the frescoes. Photos can’t do it justice. In some of the adjacent rooms, Tiepolo created more frescoes and there is also stucco art by Antonio Bossi. Because it is the Baroque style it is over the top with gold leaf everywhere and large tapestries adoring many walls. All 300 rooms are not on display. Some rooms are used for university lectures. 

Unfortunately, the residence had to be restored after WWII because most of it was destroyed by a 20 minute bombing raid. The dome was not destroyed because of the wood frame above it and how it was constructed. 

There is a beautiful garden behind the residence which I will have to see in the future because the interior kept me intrigued until it was time for the tour to move on. 

The rest of the tour was walking through the historic old town most of which was restored as well. The tour ended at the Old Main pedestrian Bridge  which is made of stone and decorated in the Baroque style featuring statues of saints. The tradition called Bruckenschoppen is to buy a glass of Fraconian wine at the end of the bridge and drink it while enjoying the stroll along the bridge. It is the only place in Germany where you can wander around with alcohol. We had to skip it in order to get back to the ship for our afternoon hiking excursion. Darn it!

After a quick lunch, those who were up for a little hike, boarded a bus that headed to the top of the hill to find the Kåppele (Little Chapel). This was designed again by Balthasar Neumann. This is a pilgrimage church where there are  14 outdoor stations of the cross in separate little chapels alongside the hill. We started from the top and went down but to go in order you would need to go up. Some dedicated pilgrims climb on their knees all the way which would be difficult.

Our tour guide then led us on a hike through the vineyards which are all on the hillside so it was pretty steep. The grapes have already been harvested but we found a few on the vine and were tasty. Fraconian wine is primarily white with the most popular made with the Silvaner grape. 

We finally made our way to the Marienberg Fortress with wonderful views of the city. This was the original residence of the Prince-Bishops. We were able to walk around the grounds but weren’t able to enter the palace because it is closed for renovation. 

On the way back down the hill we walked through some pretty gardens, some of which were donated by sister cities around the world such as Japan and Switzerland. 

A 15,000 step day but worth every one!

P.S. I did get my glass of Franconian Silvaner wine on the ship!

An Enchanting Day in Milltenberg

 Sunday, September 20

We woke up to sunny skies this morning in Miltenberg, Germany, often referred to as “Pearl of the Main.”  This is a small medieval town on the Main River (pronounced ‘mine’) which we have been traveling on since Frankfurt. This river water is controlled and we will pass through 34 locks and 33 hydropower stations on the way. No low water levels on this stretch. 

Our tour guide today was Terri and was from Detroit, Michigan so we understood her perfectly! She married an automotive engineer from Germany and has lived in Miltenberg for 8 years and is very happy here. I can see why. Miltenberg is an idyllic German town with a population of a little over 9,000. 

We had just a short walk along the river to the historic town made up of only two streets that run parallel to the river. There is a section called Schwarzviertel (black quarter) because of the narrow street and tall houses that prevent most sunlight from shining in. None of this town had to be rebuilt after WWII. Some of the old buildings are a little crooked but our tour guide thought maybe some of that was because during the years they were built, the river water was too polluted to drink so most people drank beer which could affect the quality of the craftsmanship(?!)

Speaking of beer, the Faust family founded their brewery here in 1654 and has been run by four generations. The beer is aged in sandstone cellars in this area and never exported beyond the local area. The owners believe to do so would compromise the quality of the beer. If you don’t drink it here you are out of luck! Of course we had some, although I opted for the Faust Natur-Radler which is Faust beer mixed with lemonade. It was very good.

Terri told us many great stories about Miltenberg but here is one of my favorites:

The Schnatterloch is a famous square which is in front of St. James Church. The square is a popular spot for the community and also where you would hold meetings and protests. In 2006 a neo-nazi group from out of town got a permit to have a rally in this square to the chagrin of the townspeople. Coincidentally the priest, Father Boom, decided that during the gathering would be a great time to try out all of the bells in the church’s bell tower. After 20 minutes of the extremely loud bell ringing, the neo-nazi group left. However a few months later the court found in favor of the group’s claim that the church infringed on their right to protest and fined the church 5,000 euros. Of course the church members helped pay the fine. Most importantly, when the archdiocese found out about it, Father Boom was promoted to Bishop Boom and is in a cathedral near here. 

Another historic site we saw was the Gashaus Zum Riesen which is one of the oldest operating inns in Germany dating back to when Trestam zum Riesen (Trestam the Giant) was registered in 1411. It used to be a drive through Inn so no one had to walk in the filthy street (yes bed pans were dumped from balconies at that time). Royalty has stayed here and many years later this was a favorite accommodation to Elvis Presley when he was stationed in Europe. 

After the tour, Gary, Karen, Don and I hiked up the hill to see the castle. Part of the castle is an art museum but you can also climb the stairs to the top of the tower which we did. There we had a terrific view of the town and beyond. 

We all felt that we would love to spend more time in this beautiful town but alas, our ship sailed at noon. 

It turns out that the morning was the best weather of the day. We had rain all afternoon so it was good weather for sailing. River cruises are very relaxing as you cruise through the countryside and towns along the way. It was a great time for reading, playing cribbage and catching up on this blog!

Prost with Kölsch!

 Saturday September 19

This morning started bright and early because our bags had to be out in the hallway by 7am in order to be transported to our new ship out of Frankfurt. The Viking Program Director tried to make us feel better about re-packing by having us think of it as an exercise in reassessing how many souvenirs we have purchased and how much room we have for more! Well if you put it that way I can already tell you that I need another suitcase!

We were loaded up on coach buses after breakfast and then made our way about 1.5 hours to the city of Cologne, Germany. The German name for Cologne is Köln and it is the fourth largest city in Germany. It was a Roman Colony in 50 AD and we were shown some pieces of the Roman wall that originally surrounded the city. 

Much of Cologne was destroyed during WWII but the Cologne Cathedral survived 84 bombings. It is a massive gothic style church which took 600 years to build (1248-1880). We were unable to go inside because of time constraints which was unfortunate. Viking may be hearing about that..

The city is on the Rhine river which we were supposed to be arriving on. The is river down 4-6 feet of where it is supposed to be. Not only is this effecting the tour business in this area but also many goods that are usually imported by ships have to be shipped by truck or train which is more expensive. The result is the prices of things are going up for all Germans. 

A fun fact is that Cologne is the birthplace of Eau de Cologne in 1709, a famous fragrance created by Italian perfumer Johann Maria Farina. It was first marketed as medicinal and called “miracle water”. I bought a liter!

Viking treated us and over 100 of our Viking friends to lunch at Peter’s Brauhaus. Cologne is known for their Kölsch beer which is served in slim small glasses. We were forewarned that the Köbes (waiter) will keep bringing you full glasses of beer until you put your coaster on top of your empty glass. We fact checked that today and it’s true! After lunch we had a small window of time for shopping and then headed back to the bus. 

Most of the people on the bus slept after all that beer  - luckily the ride included another pit stop on the way - and we got to Frankfurt around 5:45. About a 2.5 hour drive. We then boarded our new ship Gefjon where we hope to sail on for at least a few days. We have a whole new crew and they seemed happy to see us. We have the same rooms and our luggage was waiting for us when we got there so that was pretty easy. They didn’t unpack for us though…

Meandering Maastricht

 Friday,  September 18

After cruising all through the night, we arrived in Maastricht, The Netherlands this afternoon around 1pm. It was a sunny day and we thought we might spend the morning on the top deck but it was closed. There were many low bridges along our voyage that our ship barely made it under so the railings on the top deck had to be down in order to finagle it. If the railings couldn’t  be up,  a person certainly couldn’t  be standing on top!

The original itinerary had us arriving in Cologne, Germany today instead of Maastricht.  However, due to low water levels we could not make it to Cologne. Instead, Viking had arranged for local tour guides to take groups on a walking tour of the  Maastricht.

Our guide’s name was Karen and she was a resident of Maastricht. This town is on the Meuse River and is very quaint with cobblestone streets. It was established in 50 BC by the Romans and you can still see remnants of the stone walls that surrounded the city many years ago. It is one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands. Maastricht was really bustling and has many shops. There was a market going on in one of the squares but shopping was not built into the tour. There were lots of fabric and sewing notions but no time to shop. However, Karen managed to buy some socks in record time whithout losing our group. 

At one time Maastricht had over 50 churches. Not many people go to churches anymore so many have converted them into pubs and restaurants, etc. Karen the tour guide took us to a church that is now a popular book store called Book Store Dominicanen.  I would have loved to spend some time there too.

We did have time at the end of the tour to walk around by ourselves so we found an outdoor cafe for a beer and shopped around a bit. 

Unfortunately, because of the low water levels, we have to pack our bags tonight so that they can be transported to another ship outside of Frankfurt to  continue our voyage. We have two options to choose from to get ourselves there. We chose the option to tour Cologne, Germany but it looks like we will be spending around 5 hours on the tour bus. On the plus side we will be getting to see some of the countryside. 

A Gouda Time

 Thursday, September 17

We pulled into Dordrecht around 7am this morning. This was an early day as we needed to be ready to board a ferry this morning at 7:45am. It is a cloudy day and in the low 60’s. 

The short ferry ride took us to Kinderdijk which translates to child dike. There are different opinions as to why the town is named this. Many versions revolve around a terrible flood in the 14th century. It is said that a cradle with a baby was swept away by the raging waters and a cat jumped into the cradle and kept the cradle rocking back and forth to prevent the water from spilling in and drowning the baby. The cat kept this up until the baby was rescued. 

Our tour guide was a woman named Janet and she is a resident of Kinderdijk. She was raised here and her grandfather was a miller. A miller is the person who runs the windmill and most often lives there with their family. If the windmill is running, the miller has to be there. She was quite informative as we toured one of the 16 windmills in this area. All of them are very old and don’t really run much but they keep them all in working condition in case the electricity goes out and the new technology used can’t operate. It is very important to have a back up plan because the purpose is to pump the water constantly so the dikes hold and there is just enough water to prevent the land from sinking. The town is built on peat and if too much water is pumped, the peat will shrink and things will sink. 

The windmill they have open for touring is working so it gave us a feel for what it would have been like to live in a windmill. First of all you would have to like to climb stairs because the rooms are on different levels and small. The bathrooms are outside as well as the cooking house. 

In his later years, Janet’s grandfather lost his eyesight due to glaucoma. He didn’t want to move and being a miller was all he had known so his wife became his eyes. She would help him direct the windmill and although blind, would crawl up the blades to attach the canvas by feel. 

After the windmills our group boarded a bus to travel into the countryside. It is very lush green but because of the peat soil, no crops are grown besides grass for the cows. There are few beef cows because it is not as economical as having dairy cows so dairy cows are what we mostly saw. We also saw an abundance of sheep and storks. They do not like swans because swans eat a lot of grass that should have been for cows. 

Our next stop was to Booij (pronounced boy) Gouda Farm. This family has been making Gouda and other cheeses for 300 years. Evelyn showed us around the farm where we met a few of their 160 or so dairy cows and then explained their process of making award winning Gouda. Cheese making begins at 6am right after their cows are milked for the first time. They do not pasteurize their milk but just warm it. Then the curds are separated from the whey, Bacteria is added to the curds and then they are rinsed and packed into wheels of various sizes. The wheels are aged in brine/whey combination and the outside is painted with a product called cheese coating wihich protects the cheese but also allows it to age. The cheese wheels are aged at least 3 weeks or longer. 

The best part was that we got to taste a variety of their cheeses. We did buy a few cheese wedges because it was vacuumed packed and does not need to be refrigerated and is good for 8 weeks. A really Gouda time!

After a short bus ride a leisurely walk through the small town of Gorinchem we boarded back on our ship in time for lunch. You do not go hungry on river cruises! 

Walkabout Through Amsterdam

 Wednesday, September 16

We had a leisurely morning in Amsterdam and decided to just walk around since we have done most of the standard sightseeing on our previous trip here. After finding coffee we meandered to the Red Light district and other neighborhoods surrounding it. We were reminded that in Amsterdam you not only have to watch out for speeding cars but maybe more importantly to watch out for speeding bicyclists. Bikes are everywhere and they go fast. 

We ended up in the museum area where you find the Rijksmuseum, the Modern Art museum and the Van Gogh museum. Since we have already been to the Rijksmuseum we decided to go to see Van Gogh. We didn’t have tickets and the only tickets available were in the late afternoon which didn’t work for us. Oh well, maybe next time.

By the time we got back to our hotel, we had walked over 5 miles and experienced a few rain storms. Actually the weather was partly cloudy and sunny at times so it was a great day for sightseeing. After retrieving our luggage from the hotel we hopped in a private car (arranged by the hotel) for the short ride to the river boat port. As soon as we got out of our car, our friends, Karen and Gary showed up. We couldn’t have planned it better if we had tried!

We sale tonight for Dordrecht.

Roll Out the Grolla!

 Monday, September 14

Today was a leisure day decompressing from our little mini-trip. This is the first day of school for Italian students in the area. Great nephews Noah and Nathan headed off to their schools. Even though one is in 8th grade and the other high school, the school setup is the same. They are with  the same group of students every year and it is the teachers that rotate from classroom to classroom and most of the teachers are the same every year for the various subjects. 

Don, Antonio, and I accompanied Barb to the grocery store so we could snoop around a bit. Grocery stores are pretty much the same although to use a grocery cart, you put one euro in the coin box to release the basket and after you bring the cart back, you get your euro back. This cuts out the need for the parking lot basket retrievers.  Another difference is that plastic gloves are provided for you to wear when touching the produce. This was a thing even before Covid. 

The high school ends at 1pm with the expectation that students will continue studying at home during the afternoon. We decided to pick Noah up so he wouldn’t have to ride the bus and there was a crowd waiting for students. Teens are not allowed to get a drivers license until age 18 although they can get a Vespa or motorcycle license at age 16. Most of the kids are picked up by family or ride public transportation as many are from a different town. Noah’s school is a technology/science centered high school. 

The entire family came together again for a big dinner which was nice because I forgot to take a photo last time. We enjoyed wine from their grapes grown in their little orchard. Their friend harvests them every year and then makes the wine. I enjoyed it. After dinner they showed us how to use the Grolla which is a tradition to share with friends. The Grolla is a wooden bowl with a lid with spouts around the edge for drinking. There is a process involved in making the beverage that includes coffee, orange/lemon peels, sugar and grappa. After it is mixed in the Grolla it is set on fire to carmelize the mixture. When the fire is out you pass it around and take sips until it is gone. It is bad luck to set the Grolla down between sips. I think the bad luck is because if you set it down you forget which spout you were drinking from! Francesco and Daniela gave us a Grolla a few years ago and now we know how to use it!