Sunday 28th April 2024: The Rhine Valley, Gorge and the Lorelei Rock

So preoccupied was I to share my visit to Namedy Castle that I forgot to mention that in the morning we had cruised through one of the most picturesque parts of the Rhine Valley and the Rhine Gorge.

The Middle Rhine was the heart of the medieval Holy Roman Empire and the region was a magnet for great artistry, ingenuity, and craftsmanship. During its heyday, it was one of the most important trading areas in Europe.

The voyage from Mainz to Koblenz has been a favourite with travellers since the 19th century. The stretch from Bingen, west of Mainz, runs through a steep and narrow gorge, and has more castles than any other river in the world.  The area is also famous for the Riesling grape grown along the hillsides.

The Rhine has been, and still is,  an important transportation link between the north and south of Europe. This is what led to the creation and development of the many small towns and impressive fortresses along the river's course.

There are far too many castles to mention and do justice to here so you might want to Google the Rhine Castles which will provide you with a map and brief histories. Many today have been converted to hotels, museums or cultural centres.

The average depth of the Rhine is about 5 metres but in the Rhine Gorge the depth increases to 30 metres and the channel narrows around the infamous Lorelei Rock which is a 132-metre-high (433 ft), steep slate rock and lay on our left bank as we travelled south and close to the town of Sankt Goarshausen.

It has been the site of many marine disasters since records began in the 10th century. There are many myths and stories that seek to explain the high number of wrecks.  The most famous of which is the story of an enchanting woman associated with the rock. The beautiful Lore Lay, betrayed by her sweetheart, is accused of bewitching men and causing their death. Rather than sentence her to death, the bishop consigns her to a nunnery. On the way thereto, accompanied by three knights, she comes to the Lorelei rock. She asks permission to climb it and view the Rhine once again. She does so, and, thinking that she sees her love in the Rhine, falls to her death; the rock ever afterward retaining an echo of her name described in the story as a

Song, that distracted navigators from the treacherous currents in this section of the gorge. A sculpture commemorating this beautiful maiden stands on the banks of the river just before the entry to the gorge.

The signals now used to assist shipping in this treacherous part of the river with its "s" bends are interesting.  One of the photos shows a signal with 2 white bars at the base of 2 triangles.  If the other two sides of the triangle are illuminated in the top section of the sign, it indicates that a vessel of over 110metres is heading from the other direction.  Sorry I don't have a photo, but you can see the feint outlines of where those indicators are when illuminated.

 

Sunday 28th April 2024: In New Zealand a Delayed Bus; Tonight a Delayed Ship

After the reception at castle Namedy we were driven the short distance to Andernach to rejoin the AmaVenita but there was no ship to be seen.  There had been a tragic accident on the River and the AmaVenita had been delayed whilst the River Police dealt with the incident.

It transpired that a large river barge had got into some difficulty and a following barge had offered a tow.  As the tow got underway a small, fast, private river launch had weaved between the two barges unaware of the wire tow hawser with the inevitable consequence that both the occupants were killed instantly.

The photo shows one of the barges with the remains of the launch lashed to its side in front of the AmaVenita.

In New Zealand a motorcycle had overtaken on a narrow twisting coast road and went head on into a lorry.

We were not really delayed but it reminds of just how fragile life can be.

We are currently in the 4^th lock of the evening with another 7 to go overnight!  Once again the lock is being patrolled by Canada Geese!

Sunday 28th April 2024: Champagne and Canapés with a Princess!

A correction first of all to my previous posting.  We are in the Main River.  The Main Danube Canal is some days and 34 locks ahead!  Since earlier this evening we have negotiated 3 locks and ascended some 10 to 12 metres if not more.  The highest point will be when we arrive in Nuremberg and then it's all downhill too Budapest.

The visit to Namedy Castle was magical.  We were the guests of Princess Heidi von Hohenzollern at the magnificent castle illustrated in the photos.  The white and mauve Wisteria was pungent with scent in the balmy evening air.  Not quite up to the standard of my own Wisteria on the pergola behind the house!

We were greeted not by the Princess herself, who is in her Winter Residence in Munich but by her Estate Manager and two Ambassadors in the shape of – a black pug dog , Bella, and black and white terrier Flora, perhaps a Jack Russel, both very friendly and really only interested in the crumbs from the scrumptious canapes on offer throughout the house.

We were given free rein to visit almost everywhere with heart-warming hospitality.  The Castle is now used as a Wedding Venue and for music concerts.  Indeed, we were treated to a piano recital in one of the main rooms.

The history of the castle is complex so again I have cheated a little by giving the Wikipedia link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namedy_Castle

In summary the history of its construction goes back to the 14th century when the castle was built by the Husmanns, of Andernach. It was a small moated castle in the late gothic style.

During the 16th century, the buildings were extended by later generations of the H(a)usmann family.

In 1633, the castle suffered from plundering by Swedish troops during the Thirty Years' War.

After the male line became extinct in 1678, the castle passed into the hands of the von Klepping family through marriage, before its new owners sold it in 1700.

Johann Arnold von Solemacher (1657–1734), chancellor of the electorate of Trier, bought the castle in 1700. He transformed the medieval buildings into a baroque style pleasure palace, adding stories and two side wings.

The Solemacher family inhabited the castle until they had to flee before the advancing French army who, in 1794, occupied the region left of the Rhine. French revolutionary troops used the castle as hospital and as powder magazine, which ruined its interiors and structures. Windows, stairs, floors and doors were used as fuel for heating the field hospital.

After renovation in 1856, the castle had several owners during the 19th century, among them were wealthy people of the industrial era.

Finally, Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen bought the castle in 1909 and gave its todays (2021) look. Karl-Anton was a lieutenant general in the service of the kingdom of Prussia, married to Princess Joséphine Caroline of Belgium, who was a sister of King Albert I of Belgium. The couple added a hall of mirrors to the castle, flanked by 2 corner towers.

In 1988 the grandson of Karl-Anton, Godehard Prince of Hohenzollern, developed the castle into a cultural centre. Since his death in 2001 it has been in the care of his widow, Princess Heide of Hohenzollern. The cultural programme includes concerts, theatrical performances and art exhibitions. Namedy Castle and its castle park can also be used for various private celebrations and professional events.

A further note from me.  The oldest part of the house bares the date 1355, the central section 1701 and the extension that includes the Hall of Mirrors 1706.  The exterior walls were laden with the Wisteria in full bloom and the grounds had a profusion of white and red flowered Horse Chestnut Trees in full bloom.

I hope the photo do justice to the interior and exterior of this magnificent castle.

 

Sunday 28th April 2024: Cruising the Rhine - Koln

Once again it's 8.45am on Monday 29^th April and we are about 5kms from the Famous Lorelei Rock in the Rhone Gorge and it's a beautiful sunny morning with the temperature predicted to rise to 27C today.  I will have to interrupt writing this post to take some photos and I could be some time since there is a string of castles for the next 2 to 3 hours!  I have seen them all before so might dig those photos out for reference later.

It's now 17.45 and I have just returned from Rudesheim our stop for the day. The sun ha shone today, and that horrible chill wind has subsided, so it has been a pleasant day.

I thought I would just say a few words about Koln Cathedral with its famous two towers.  Not the best photo since it's taken from the rear rather than the impressive front façade with the two towers.  The Cathedral is also very dirty, the resultant of industrial activity over the last two centuries.

The Wikipedia link is as follows: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cologne

You can also click on any of the underlined and coloured links for more information.

Briefly the city's medieval Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) was the world's tallest building 1880–1890 and is today the third-tallest church and tallest cathedral in the world. It was constructed to house the Shrine of the Three Kings and is a globally recognized landmark and one of the most visited sights and pilgrimage destinations in Europe attracting an average of 6 million people a year.^{[6] At 157 m (515 ft), the cathedral is the tallest twin-spired church in the world, the second tallest church in Europe after Ulm Minster, and the third tallest church of any kind in the world.[7]}

Construction of Cologne Cathedral began in 1248 but was halted in the years around 1560,^{[8] unfinished. Attempts to complete the construction began around 1814 but the project was not properly funded until the 1840s. The edifice was completed to its original medieval plan in 1880.[9] The towers for its two huge spires give the cathedral the largest façade of any church in the world.} 

Cologne's medieval builders had planned a grand structure to house the reliquary of the Three Kings and fit for its role as a place of worship for the Holy Roman Emperor. Despite having been left incomplete during the medieval period, Cologne Cathedral eventually became unified as "a masterpiece of exceptional intrinsic value" and "a powerful testimony to the strength and persistence of Christian belief in medieval and modern Europe".^{[5] In Cologne, only the telecommunications tower is higher than the cathedral.[4]}

I'm cheating a bit by drawing so extensively on Wikipedia.  One telling comment from our Cruise Director is "You have to imagine that there was nothing else around at the time the Cathedral was built", i.e. it's impressive now but it was even more impressive in the 12^th and 13^th Centuries!

 

PS We have just entered the Main Danube Canal so lots of locks and very low bridges coming up tomorrow!  Mind your heads!!  In fact we are just entering the first lock and we have an audience of honking Geese pretesting at our progress!

Saturday 27th April 2024: Lock No 1 out of 68!!

From the windmill village we travelled to Utrecht to rejoin the AmaVenita in bright sunshine but still a chilly wind. We sailed along the Amsterdam to Rhine Canal for a couple of hours before reaching the first of the 68 locks we will encounter on this tour.  This first lock was wide enough to accommodate two ships of our size to fit alongside each other. Many of the locks to come are only 12metres wide.  The AmaVenita is 11.45 metres wide, a tight squeeze!

The rise in this first lock was just over a metre and took less than 10 minutes to fill.

There was one lone duck in the lock that seemed very happy to be taking a free lift!!

Saturday 27th April 2024: Windmills, Clogs and Paint Pigments

As I sit down to begin this post it's 7.00am on Sunday 28^th April.  The sky is still overcast but the cloud is higher, so I am hoping for a brighter day.  We have sailed overnight on the mighty Rhine down through the Ruhr and are now well south of Dusseldorf and not far from Leverkusen and Koln in a couple of hours. It's been like Christmas as we pass the many oil refineries in the Ruhr the lights and gas flares casting long beams of light across the dark waters. Looking at the latest Kilometre (Mile post) signs, by my reckoning we have travelled over 150 kms since yesterday evening.

Incidentally this whole trip from Amsterdam to Budapest via 5 interconnected waterways will be over 1800 kms and we will have ascended from 2 metres below sea-level in Amsterdam to 490 metres above sea-level at the highest point before descending to 110 metres in Budapest but more about the waterways, locks and route in later postings.

My excursion yesterday morning was to the Zaanse Schans Windmill Village about 30 minutes north of Amsterdam on the Coach.

Zaanse Schans is described in Wikipedia as a neighbourhood of Zaandam Netherlands. It is best known for its collection of windmills and wooden houses that were relocated here from the wider region north of Amsterdam for preservation. From 1961 to 1974, old buildings from all over the region known as the Zaanstreek were relocated using lowboy trailers to the Zaanse.

Our first visit was to a Clog making demonstration.  The clogs are manufactured from freshly cut popular or lime wood that retains moisture which in turn makes it easier to work with.  Originally it might take 3 hours to handmake clogs,  with modern manufacture it takes 5 minutes.  The machines used are like key cutting machines making a copy from a pattern and then hand finished.  Once completed the craftsman blew into the clog releasing a flow of water!  The clogs now need to be dried out of the sun or intense heat to prevent cracking for 4 weeks but once dry they are waterproof for life.

The photo shows three of the main Windmills, from right to left is:

• De Huisman (The Houseman), a mustard mill
• De Gekroonde Poelenburg (The Crowned Poelenburg), a sawmill
• De Kat (The Cat), a dyemill

If you click on the links, it will take you to a close-up photo of each of the mills.

The invention of the crankshaft by Cornelis Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1594 was key to the development of milling because the crankshaft made it possible to convert the horizontal wind direction on the mill sails, into a vertical sawing motion.

We visited the dye mill or perhaps better described as a paint mill since it ground pigments for artist's paints.  We learnt from the Miller that it takes two years to qualify as a Miller and today, because all the Mills are Heritage sites, the added responsibility for their preservation.

The second photo is one of the huge mill wheels used to grind the pigments.  It weighs over 3 tons!

Sadly, it was a very wet day so we retired toa Café for Dutch Apple pie and coffee a snack last enjoyed at a rest stop in New Zealand owned and run by Dutch Settlers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday 26th April 2024: There's Nothing Like A Taster Menu to Begin A River Cruise!

Health Warning: This Post will make you envious and very hungry!

 

I'm writing this post on Saturday evening 27^th April 10.00pm as the MS AmaVenita cruises the Rhine on our way to Namedy tomorrow afternoon, so cruising through the night.

 

One of the many experiences offered on this cruise is an opportunity to dine at the Chefs Table.  This is a smaller restaurant in the stern of the vessel that can seat 28 guests to enjoy a Taster Menu prepared by one of the Chefs aboard.  Lesley & Bob invited me to join them on our first evening to celebrate our reunion and toast another adventure together.

Our Taster Menu with associated wines was prepared by our Indonesian Chef and was a fusion menu. We had 7 courses in all as illustrated in the photos.  I don't have the menu so I can't give you the ingredients of each course, but it included Salmon and Braised Rib of Beef.  A delicious meal enlivened with an evening of reminiscences.

Today Sat 27^th has been wet & cold for a visit this morning to the Zaanse Schans Windmill Village. Interesting but very busy.  It's the Kings Holiday Weekend here in the Netherlands with 4 days of celebrations.  We have also passed through the first 2 of the 68 locks on this voyage.  Just to whet your appetite for more postings tomorrow!

It's 'Goodnight' from Germany and it's 'Goodnight' from me.

Friday 26th April 2024 7.00am: Here I Go Again! Just waiting for the Cab to Arrive!!

I leave today from London Heathrow aboard a British Airways flight bound for Schiphol Airport Amsterdam where, after transfer, I will be joining the Ms AmaVenita for a 15 day "Magnificent Europe Amsterdam to Budapest" river cruise.  As for New Zealand this cruise is with Australia Pacific Touring (APT). My home will be a class of river boat known as 'Concerto River Ships'.  The photo (Courtesy of the APT website) is not of the AmaVenita but her sister ship the MS AmaReina.  The AmaVenita is 135metres long, 11.4m wide and has 81 Suites (Cabins) which can accommodate 162 guests and a crew of 51.  My suite is a Category T + on the Violin Deck, no 206 with a Panoramic Balcony and Outside Balcony (See the photo of the ships plan).  Photos of the suite once aboard!!

The map shows the itinerary although there are likely to be some changes.

A particular joy for this cruise is that I will be meeting up with two great friends – Lesley & Bob - whom I first met on an Antarctic Expedition cruise in 2011. We have kept in touch over the years and have in fact met twice since that memorable time, the first in Ho Chi Min City (Saigon) back in 2014 when I was invited to join them on an APT land tour of Vietnam and river tour of Cambodia along the Mekong.  Lesley had been inspired by my River cruise with Viking on the Yangtse and booked to undertake a similar tour with APT but adding on the Vietnam and Cambodian tour. Lesley & Bob are great travellers and visited me in Kent in September 2016 after completing a cruise through the Northwest Passage and around the British Isles.

You can access my 'Imperial Jewels of China' and 'Vietnam and Cambodia" blogs by visiting  'My Profile' when you read this post on the Blog.  Enjoy.