Europe June 2016 Part 1 of 3 Belgium and Netherlands

Brugge City Market

This was our first trip to Belgium and Netherlands. We flew AerLingus from Dulles to Brussels, and then took a train to Brugge. Brugge turned out to be our favorite city. We took a canal boat ride, climbed to the top of the Bell Tower, followed a local guide around town, ate a lot of Belgium chocolate and drank plenty of Belgium beer. From Brugge we took a day trip to the WWI battle site, Flanders Field. Here ANZAC forces battled German forces for four years. The first full scale deployment of chemical weapons (chlorine gas) occurred here April 22, 1915.

Brugge Canal

Enjoying a chocolate covered Belgian Waffle

Windmills

WWI Trench

Belfry and Cloth Hall in Ghent

After Brugge, we took the train to Ghent. Unlike Brugge, Ghent had many modern buildings along with its historical ones. We took another canal boat ride, but found that a tour given in four languages just didn’t work for us. From Ghent we took a day trip to Brussels. While there was an historical square, many of the sites were spread out through a busy modern city. We enjoyed the Musical Instrument Museum, but after a full day we tired of the hassle of finding our way around town and headed back to a more peaceful Ghent.

Gravensteen Castle in Ghent

Canal and Towers of Ghent

Brussels' Grand Place

Fancy Eclair

Brussels' Pissing Boy

Enkhrizen Folk Museum

From Ghent we moved on to Amsterdam. Our biggest shock was the number of people on bikes. In Amsterdam, bikes rule, they have their own lanes and yield to no one. You cross a bike lane at your own risk. After visiting Brugge and Ghent, Amsterdam took quite an adjustment. Hordes of tourist everywhere; tour busses dumping more visitors out, faster than the chocolates on Lucy’s conveyor belt. Amsterdam has an excellent public transportation system, so getting around town was no problem. We toured the Anne Frank House; fortunately we had reservations and avoided the 2 hour wait to enter. We took a day trip to Enkhrizen to tour the Folk Museum. On the train we met a guy travelling out to see his parents. After several hours at the museum, we got back on the return train, and he was there also! He shared his local knowledge with us. We planned to meet up with him and his wife in Amsterdam, but we just ran out of time.

Mounted Outside Doctors' Office

Ann Frank House

Leaning Houses in Amsterdam

After a couple of days in Amsterdam, we meet up with the Vantage Travel group at a local hotel. Since Vantage had very little planned, we continued to explore on our own. On our last night in Amsterdam, they did take us on a walking tour of the Red Light District. That was fun, but no pictures allowed. On our fifth day in Amsterdam, we got on a tour bus and headed for our river boat in Bonn, Germany.

Beer on Wheels

Europe 2016 Part 2 of 3 Rhine, Main and Main-Danube Canal Bonn to Kelheim

Cologne Cathedral

Once we got settled in along with the 170 other passengers, we headed downstream to Cologne Germany. We took a city walking tour in the morning and explored in the afternoon on our own. This pattern would repeat itself in most of the towns we visited. Afterward we cruised up the through the Middle Rhine River valley. At Rudesheim we rode cable cars to the top of the hill for a good view of the area. We left the Rhine River and headed up the Main River. From Frankfurt we took a bus to Heidelberg to join the crowds at the Heidelberg Castle. Maybe they were all there to see the world’s largest wine barrel (58,000 gal).

Cologne at night

Stolzenfel Castle

Town of Oberwesel 

In Wertheim, we attended a Vantage sponsored German Fest with lots of food, drink and dancing. It was the highlight of our river trip.  We climbed up to the fortress in Wurzburg, after visiting the Residence and Cathedral of St Kilian. At Bamberg, we entered the Main-Danube Canal which would take us over the Continental Divide. More than 60 locks were needed as we moved up and over the continent.

Town of Wurzburg

In Wertheim, we attended a Vantage sponsored German Fest with lots of food, drink and dancing. It was the highlight of our river trip.  We climbed up to the fortress in Wurzburg, after visiting the Residence and Cathedral of St Kilian. 

Flooding was a problem

Europe had been experiencing a wet spring and our first three weeks in Europe were mostly cool and cloudy with a chance of rain. As a result all the rivers we traveled were well above normal and over the banks at times. This proved to be a challenge for riverboats. Our Captain added extra ballast and had our sundeck stripped down (lounge chairs removed) for maximum clearance. We didn’t mind because one riverboat got stuck under a bridge and some riverboat lines were busing their passengers when their boats couldn’t go any further. We got under all the bridges (maybe because of all the weight the passengers gained).

Zeppelin Field Nuremberg

The trip took a serious turn in Nuremberg. We visited the Zeppelin Field where Hitler held his massive parades. He had more people marching than watching. We learned that recently a tourist got up to the platform where Hitler stood and gave the Nazi salute. He thought it was good for a laugh until he got arrested and the rest of his tour group had to return to their boat. I guess that is why the neo-Nazis are in the Land of the Free! We also visited courtroom 600, the most important courtroom in the world, where the Nazis were put on trial. At the Documentation Center, we learned how Hitler rose to power. The parallels to today’s politics were striking and a bit scary.

Nuremberg

Our Riverboat

Danube Gorge

At Bamberg, we entered the Main-Danube Canal which would take us over the Continental Divide. More than 60 locks were needed as we moved up and over the continent.

Passau and its 3 rivers

Europe June 2016 Part 3 of 3 Danube - Kelheim to Budapest

Johann Strauss with Pat

St Charles Church

The Main-Danube Canal ended at Kelheim. Here we took a smaller boat and cruised through the Danube Gorge (a protected area not accessible by big boats). Now we could continue downstream on the Danube all the way to Budapest. We did considerable exploring in Regensburg and Passau before we reached Vienna. In Passau, we attended a concert played on the world’s largest church organ with over 17,000 pipes in St Stephen’s Cathedral. Afterwards we climbed up to the Fortress “Veste Oberhaus”. I enjoyed the Fortress Museum, while Pat spent a couple hours at the Glass Museum. In Vienna, we attended a classical music concert complete with singers and dancers. We toured St Stephen’s Church, St Charles Church, The Imperial Treasury, and the Art History Museum.

The Blue Danube

Stolen from Imperial Treasury

Concert in Vienna

Dinning with Richard and Tanya

St Matthais Church

Our final stop was Budapest. Like lemmings we followed our guide through the crowds at Castle Hill just to get a good view from Fisherman’s Bastion. We prefer exploring on our own - we toured St Stephen’s Cathedral (yes, every town has a St Stephen’s Church), the Great Market Hall and the Opera House which is more beautiful than the one in Vienna.  On our last night, the Captain cruised up and down the river so we could enjoy the night lights of Budapest.

Budapest Opera House

Chain Bridge

Parliament Building

When this trip started I didn’t know what BREXIT was. By the end of the trip I was sick of the 24/7 coverage. On our way home we had a night in Brussels, and were staying next to a new massive EU Building. I was wondering how many English Pounds were spent on this blue glass monstrosity. ” Be careful what you wish for, ‘cause you just might get it.”

End of a great trip