Part 41: Great Misadventures on the Rhine

We are blessed with a number of people in our circle that have visited us while we have been over here. Quite honestly, I think this is one of the things that keeps our attitudes high; the ability to look forward to another guest arriving.

So far (including this blog), my Mom has come twice, her Mom has come three times, her Dad has come 2 times, and my Dad and Step-Mom have come once. In addition to that, my Sister, Amanda's Sister and my Aunt Sherry have all come over too. From the friends side, we have had a lot of visitors too: Phil, Brett and Beth, Brandon and Kristi, Jason and Terri (with a second trip planned in March), and PJ...

It seems like every 1-2 months someone new comes over to visit. So, this trip was another made by Amanda's Mom and Dad.

Originally, we thought we could fly off for a destination weekend, but the logistics and cost planning just weren't working out in our favor. Instead, we decided to take it easy and drive over to Germany for a three day trip to the Rhine. It was definitely off-season, but with any luck we could see all the major sites and catch a cruise on the river.

The trip started off brilliantly. Gary and Judy arrived on Friday morning and nearly kicked the jet lag the first night. The next morning we completed the most critical part of the trip for Gary; we made it to the morning market for appleflaps and cheese. As expected, they didn't disappoint.

Our general plan was to leave on Saturday afternoon and try to catch the Burg Eltz (Rick Steve's #1 rated castle in Europe - Amanda has been 3 times) and then drive over to the Rhine for two nights in a hotel. Amanda did all of the research on this trip and opted for Bacharach, a small town directly on the Rhine River in the middle of castle country.

As you probably know, Rhine River cruises are "all the rage" in Europe. When I mentioned this to my colleagues they all agreed, but added "if your older than 70". I guess the mystique of the cruise is largely lost on Europeans. Still, that single 10 mile stretch of river has approximately 15 castles on its banks. Pretty impressive. Where else in the world can you go to see so many historical sites packed into one area.

Since it was supremely "off-season" we didn't know what would be open, but expected it to be fairly slim. That turned out to be a relatively accurate assumption.

So, after lunch on Saturday, we left basically on-time. And, aside from the turnabout 10 minutes into the trip to get Passports, it started off without a hitch. The first pictures below where taken at the Burg Eltz. As mentioned before, this is a great castle nestled in a valley just south of Cologne.

We arrived just at dusk so the pictures were a little dark and the doors were closed due to off-season (which we knew in advance), but still a good site to see from the hilltop above.

Unfortunately, the pictures don't do the site justice. But, then again, that's how it normally works. This was Gary and Judy's first look at a German castle, and they were very impressed. This was also my first time seeing the castle and, after hearing the stories from Amanda's previous visits, was happy to finally have seen it.

It was getting dark and colder by the minute. In fact, in some areas snowflakes were starting to fall... Yes - an ominous start to the next paragraph.

This is where the story gets a little "offtrack" (pun intended). Since we detoured off the main roads to see the Burg, we had to traverse several smaller roads to get us to Bacharach. It basically amounted to climbing one small mountain (really a big hill) and then down the hill to the town by the Rhine.

From my perspective the roads and weather were fine; some Monday morning quarterbacks have since suggested differently. Even though the snow was blowing pretty hard in parts, the roads were still very clear.

Nevertheless, as we crested a hill and headed downward, the brakes stopped working. You know how it goes, right. You gently pump the brakes to control the skid while slowing the car a little. And, you do so as long as you can until you either regain control or start spinning the car. In my case, the later occurred.

It felt like we spun the car around 3-4 times, but it was actually only 180 degrees and slid into the ditch. After taking out 2-3 reflector signposts, we came to a stop against a wall of snow covered dirt. Neither Judy nor I could open our doors since we were pinned against the wall. At that point, I rolled the window down and climbed out the window "Dukes of Hazard" style to inspect the damage. From what I could see there wasn't much except for a dented rear fender (minor) and a broken hubcap. All in all, it wasn't too bad.

After the wreck, 2-3 "English-speaking" Germans stopped and checked in on us. One of them, shockingly, drove a pick-up truck and had a tow-rope in the back. He immediately tied us up and pulled us out. Amazing. Literally, 25 minutes after the accident we were out of the ditch and on our way again. Sort of.

The road, at that point, was so slick that we couldn't drive back up the hill. So, our only option was to spin the car around and drive down the icy gauntlet. Gary and a few other Germans helped out by manually pushing the car around (really slick, not really strong) and we started off. I must say that I was a little gun-shy of driving, so the way down was very, very slow.

Nevertheless, we made it down the hill, which by the way was the only patch of ice on the road, and made it to our destination. Whew.

It did again reinforce the genuine generosity of people of all nationalities. It doesn't matter the flag you carry, if a person is in need, others will help. Our German angels made an awful event very okay. The worst injury was my seriously wounded pride.

We made it to the hotel and found a nearly deserted town. There was only one restaurant open and we were the only people staying in our hotel --- weird. I mean the town was completely abandoned.

After a traditional German meal, we headed back to the hotel for an early night. Well, early for most, but I was about 800 pages into Atlas Shrugged, so I stayed up a while to read.

The next morning we met for breakfast (included in our dirt cheap rates) and developed a game plan. Everything we read indicated a Rhine Cruise was highly unlikely, but we decided that finding out for sure was our top priority. The most likely departure point was 5 miles upstream in a town call St. Goar, so we headed that way.

On arrival we learned that there was a Rhine Cruise, only one per day, but there was a cruise. We were ecstatic. Since the cruise didn't leave until 11:30 and we had a couple of hours to kill, we decided to do some shopping around the town.

The first shop we stopped at was a nice "general purpose" souvenir shop owned by a German couple. Interestingly enough, they were the people that helped us get out the ditch the night before. It was one of those small world moments. They told us that that particular stretch of road is the worst in the area and people often wreck their cars there.

Since they saved the day for us, we decided it was our duty to purchase all of our gifts in that shop. We left about 100 Euros poorer, but felt good about spending every cent.

After leaving their shop we wandered onto another "World's (insert word here) Stein Shop in Germany". It was an impressive shop. Maybe not as good as the sign advertised, but still very impressive. They had thousands of steins of every shape, size, and style for sale. You could find a stein with the local futbol team, with a piece of the Berlin wall or with the coat of arms of a 4th century tribe --- literally, anything you can think of, could be found there.

The problem with the shop is each stein cost about 100 Euros. So, instead of buying, we snagged a few illegal pictures for the blog.

There wasn't much open, so we spent more time walking around than we otherwise would have. Still it was enough to get a sense of the town and the activities during the busy Spring, Summer, and Fall...

At 11:30, we boarded the boat for the 3hr cruise. We were lucky to have a relatively nice day: cold, clear, and no rain. The boat probably held 500 people, but there were only 15 passengers on board. Needless to say, we had plenty of room to move about.

I don't really know where to go with the story of this cruise. We saw a lot of castles, most of which are shown below and each of them have their own story. The Rhine is riddled with Medieval stories of conquest and power and laden with despair and sadness. The river, in this section, follows a tortuous path where many shipwrecks have occurred.

Today it is still the most highly travelled river in Germany (maybe in Europe). In fact, I personally move a lot of Propylene Oxide via barge to customers in Dormagen.

The landscape around the Rhine is beautiful. Hills bank each side (a.k.a. great opportunities for misadventures) and vineyards lace most of the hills. Since it had snowed over the past couple of days, the white blanket added a nice touch to the pictures.

There are very few bridges crossing the Rhine, but both highways and rail tracks parallel each side of the river. And, multiple tunnels interrupted the transportation lines.

We had just purchased a new camera (Nikon D80) because the price dropped over 500 USD and while the quality probably won't show up on the blog, the difference is quite noticeable. As such, with the new telephoto capabilities, I tried to capture a few impromptu moments. You can see that Jacob is also a big fan of Rick Steves.

After the cruise, we took the train back to St. Goar (where we had left our car) and then drove back to Bacharach. The snow really added a neat touch to that small town. Especially, to the church on the hill.

The bottom-right picture was taken from the boat with the telephoto lens --- cool huh?

The following morning we headed back home early since we didn't know what the weather would be doing. And, my driving had become extremely conservative (and slow) over the weekend.

Our final stop on the Rhine was the Marksburg Castle. This castle is open to the public for tours and is one of the few that never fell during battle. As a result, the castle is in remarkable condition and still looks as it did 500 years ago.

There was a battalion of cannons still standing in defense.

Much of the castle is carved directly out the rock foundation. The top-left picture shows the castle entrance where the knight would ride their horses up to the stable. The top-right shows the blacksmith shop: still equipped with authentic equipment.

The bottom-outside pictures show the toilet -- what you can't see is that it empties directly into the garden two stories below. And the bottom-center picture shows how the knights would pass their time while others were passing gas.

This is a collection of random takeaways from the castle. The left pictures show the winery - a fermentation process and a grape press. The two glasses carry an interesting story. In medieval times, it was customary to eat without utensils and personal hygiene wasn't a top priority. So, to keep too many glasses from slipping through slimy hands, the glass makers started to make glasses with multiple "hold-points" - either by twisting the glass or by adding nubs to the glassware.

These pictures show an assortment of battle wear and torture devises. The "near" top-left picture is of a chastity belt... Did they really have those?

After leaving the castle, we decided to make a quick stop at Cologne so Gary could see the church (everyone else had already been there) and to grab some food at an authentic German Christmas market. Amanda and Judy bought some kaas spatzel and Gary and I tore into grilled pork sandwiches, roasted mushrooms, and crepes. It was a good break for the drive home.

We made it home around 7pm Monday evening without any more problems. I am sure everyone learned a lot and took countless memories away from the trip. However, I have no doubt that the top story, told around the campfire, will be how I put everyone's life in danger with a careless accident. Oh well, add it to the list. For me it is just one more goof to live down.

Part 40: Sinterklaas

Christmas is very different for the Dutch. Instead of the massive celebration with gifts and the arrival of Santa Clause on the 25th of December, they celebrate the arrival of Sinterklaas.

Sinterklaas is a character that looks just like Santa Claus, however, there are several notable differences.

First, celebrating Sinterklaas' arrival is not a private event. It is a very public event. Kids all over the town dress up as Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) and gather at the town center to await the arrival of Sinterklaas. Community bands band together and celebrate with parades, singing, and candy.

Second, Sinterklaas is from Spain. In mid-November Sinterklaas sails a boat from Spain to Holland. He rides his horse off the boat and to meet all the kids and receive their letters.

Third, Sinterklaas doesn't have elvish helpers. He has Zwarte Piet. Zwarte Piet is a caucasian person who has shoveled coal into the boat furnaces to get Sinterklaas to Holland. By the time they arrive in Holland, Pete is completely covered head to toe in soot. Hence, the name Black Pete. There are other versions of this story, but this is the most politically correct one we've heard. Amanda already thinks elves are weird; Zwart Piet, on the other hand, is totally over the top (or freakish, as Amanda says).

Fourth, Sinterklaas doesn't come on 25-Dec. He first arrives to Holland in Mid-November and then returns on 5-Dec with gifts for the kids. Traditionally, he places the gifts in a wooden shoe by the fireplace.

Celebrating Sinterklaas was very cool. Granted Zwarte Piet is highly freakish, but after you accept that and just start enjoying the day, it is intensely fun to watch the kids go crazy. We had a great time.

Part 39: A Dutch Halloween

In Holland, and Europe for that matter, they don't celebrate Halloween. I know, I know... How dare they? But, when you really think about the pretense for Halloween, most Europeans are saying "how dare they".

However, since every kid has to have a reason to dress up and ask for candy, the Dutch have declared Sint Maarten's Day as a national holiday.

Sint Maarten was born in "modern-day Hungary", joined the Roman army, rose through the ranks, and was knighted by the Roman Emperor. Aside from being a good soldier, he also found a calling to help the poor, the homeless, and under-priveledged children. He soon dropped the army to become a monk. As a monk he traveled Europe and started a half dozen monestaries.

I don't know why, but today, Holland has adopted Sint Maaren as the patron of all things "almost halloween". On every November 11, kids will walk the neighborhoods, with pails ready for candy, and sing to the neighbors for a treat.

In our neighboorhood the local band also got together and paraded right in front of our house. As you can imagine it was a cool night because the kids were super excited to get into the candy.

We weren't ready for this one though. When the kids started coming by the house and singing, we had to scramble to the cabinets for something. We ended up finding a few boxes of theatre candy, some lifesavers, and a few packages of Oreos. Most parents seemed ok with the hodge-podge of offerings, but then other parents immediately took the candy away when they left. Oh well, we tried.

It was a cool "improptu" evening.

Part 38: Rembrandt, Flanders, and Trenches

When the daylight hours shrink and winter rains set in, the gloomy Dutch reputation bears full light. During these days, it is important to maintain a full agenda so to force oneself out of the house. If not, it is likely that one will get very lonely and depressed…

So, let the planning begin. Last weekend, we didn’t really have anything on the agenda. We kept talking about doing something, but then, we didn’t do anything to get ready. Nonetheless, with tour book in hand, we made our weekly vigil to the outdoor market tp purchase appleflaps, stroopwafels and the Sunday meal. While munching on the snacks we decided that a Saturday road trip was not in the cards, but instead, we should stay around and tour Den Haag.

So after a yummy lunch of leftover corn chowder, we headed out to find the Mauritshuis, Den Haag’s premier museum. We made it there in perfect timing to the garage closest to the building… and, by the way, felt pretty good about navigating Den Haag successfully for the first time in 2 years (for some reason, we always seem to make a wrong turn).

The Mauritshuis is located inside the Binnenhoff building. This is the old parliament building for the Hague and where the Queen rides her golden coach once a year. It is a really nice setting with lots of trees, ponds and cool architecture.

The museum was really first class. It is set in an older building that feels like a home more so than a museum. The floors are wooden and the mood is soft. It is well lighted and people move through at a comfortable pace. The art is spectacular. From this visit I really got a good sense of why the Dutch Masters are considered masters. During the 17th century, Holland was a Mecca for new art. It was to Europe what the Renaissance was to Italy. Literally, this small country generated and attracted some of the best artists in the world. The most notable was Rembrandt, but there were many others too --- Vermeer, van der Huygen, etc.

We left the museum and found our way back home. This is one of those trips that makes you feel good --- like you avoided watching college football and sitting on the couch all day. Plus, we were able to keep the Dutch Depression at arm’s length one more day.

On Sunday, we were a bit more ambitious. We decided to take a driving trip into Belgium. Ever since January (when DJ visited) I have wanted to come back to the town called Ypres. When DJ and I visited earlier in the year, the museum we wanted to see was closed. So, on Sunday, Amanda, Jacob, and I decided to make a go at it again.

The drive wasn’t too bad --- approximately 2hrs 15min --- and it wasn’t raining. By northwest European standards that was a success in its own right. The town of Ypres is pretty cool, a little different, but still pretty cool. We made it there around noon and quickly found a restaurant for lunch. In case you haven’t tried it, Flemish food is some of the best in the world. It is very rich, creamy, and unique. The Belgium chefs really know how to pull together a meal. And, this meal was no exception.

After the nice Belgium meal, we headed over to the Museum called Flanders Fields. Flanders is the ethnic name for the people that live in the Ypres area. It is also the location of a critial battlefield during WWI. The Ypres Saliant was critical because it was an allied "pennisula" surrounded on three sides by German attackers. The Belgium, British, and French soldiers held this area throughout the entire war. In a speech after the war, Winston Churchill said "there is no other place on earth where British soldiers have paid a greater sacrifice for the freedom of the world". I wonder if he would maintain that thought after WWII; I doubt it.

This museum is really well done. At the beginning everyone is given a card with a barcode and name. Throughout the museum you scan your card and get an update on how you were holding up during the war. The museum is a little strange because it is chaotically organized. It is loosely organized in chronological order, but you had to criss-cross back and forth across the museum to stay on track.

The museum is largely organized around the the Ypres battles, but also provides a good context to the broader implications. Mostly though, the museum attempts to evoke the daily human experience during the war. It includes scenes where German and Allied soldiers put the weapons down during Christmas, met during the evening, and shared gifts with one another. It also includes a sound room where audio clips (and a few video clips) from battles played.

In general, I think the museum did a good job tugging the emotional strings. When we left, Amanda and I turned to each other and both said "that was good". I don't think anyone can be too often reminded of the hellish nature of war.

After the museum we drove to a place call Hill 62. The is a hill on the outskirts of town where the war trenches are actually preserved.

We didn't have enough cash left over to pay full entrance to the site, so Jacob and I left Amanda at the car. Before going to the trenches the guides let us borrow rubber boots to slosh around in the mud. It was definitely a little over priced, but when you step back and consider the significance of the location and the raw carnage that overtook the hill, it was well worth it. Jacob and I had a great time wandering through the trenches.

After the trenches, we started our journey back home. After a day like this, you feel really good about forcing yourself to take the time to learn a little more about the history that has shaped our world.

Here are a few other pictures from the Hill 62 museum.

A bunch of old equipment that has been excavated from this site.

German and Allied headstones from two soldiers that lost their lives during the war.

A dummy used to trick the enemy during the war. They would use this mannequin to draw the enemy fire and give up their position. This one survived; it did better than 9 million other people during the war.