Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and our cruise comes to an end

Our last port on this cruise is Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands.  It is the country's largest city and its financial, cultural and creative center.

Amsterdam is known as "Venice of the North" because of the canals that criss-cross the city, its impressive architecture and more than 1,500 bridges.

We started our day with a canal boat tour through the heart of Amsterdam. 

 A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Canal Ring was dug in the 17th century to attract wealthy home owners.  It is  still a posh neighborhood with many Dutch celebrities owning property.

Ornate lamp posts on this bridge.

Amsterdam's tallest church tower is the Westerkerk, which was completed in 1638.  It stands 272 feet tall and its most recognizable feature is the colorful replica of the imperial crown of Maximilian of Austria, who gifted it to Amsterdam in thanks for the city's support.

Our canal ride ended at the Anne Frank House where Anne and her family hid from the Nazi occupation in the city for years before they were finally caught and taken to concentration camps.

Her diary about her time in hiding, published after her death by her father, is one of the world's most widely read books.

Seeing the Anne Frank House was a must-see for us while in Amsterdam.  We secured tickets prior to traveling on this trip....in fact 2 months to the day before our visit.  I was up early and on the computer the morning that the tickets for this day opened up for sale.  They sell out quickly.  It is possible to visit the house without prior purchase of tickets, but one must stand in line at 3:00 pm and wait your turn to enter, which could take hours.

I'm glad we didn't have to do that as my cold was getting worse and I wasn't feeling very well at all.  We had tickets for a specific time slot and could walk right in.

A little review of Anne Frank's story...

Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt Germany in 1929.  She is one of the millions of victims of the Nazi persecution of the Jews during World War II.  In 1933, when Hitler comes to power,the Jewish Frank family moved to Amsterdam where Father Otto started a business.

In May, 1940, the German army occupied the Netherlands and anti-Jewish measures are increasingly implemented.

The Frank family goes into hiding in June, 1942 at 263 Prinsengracht in the building where Otto Frank's business is located.  The Van Pels family and Fritz Pfeffer join them a while later.  The company's building is made up of two parts:  a front house and a back house (annex).  The eight people in hiding live on the upper floors of the annex.

Anne gets a diary as a present from her parents for her 13th birthday.  When the Frank family goes into hiding, Anne's diary goes with her.

Of the eight people in hiding, only Otto Frank survives the war.  He makes the decision to have Anne's diary published.  In 1960, the hiding place is made into a museum.

We were able to tour the museum and walk up the steep steps behind the book case to the secret hiding place.

Upstairs in the annex, no photographs are allowed; it was an emotional experience to walk through the rooms and imagine what life was like for the families living in hiding.

Anne drew comfort from the ringing of the Westerkerk church bells located across the street from her hiding place. 

The statue of her is outside the church.

This young lady was wise beyond her years....

There are more bikes than people in Amsterdam...

The stairwells are so steep and narrow inside the buildings, that in order to move furniture into the apartments, it is put on a rope with a pulley system and hoisted up outside the building and into a window!

After five weeks of travel, we have been in 10 countries, cruised 2,176 miles between the Black Sea and Amsterdam on 3 different rivers and 2 different ships, and enjoyed trip extensions to Transylvania and the Czech Republic.

It was a most wonderful vacation and we are eager to do more river cruises.  Our next trip will be in March, 2017 when we go to Asia...see you then!

Cologne, Germany

The next day we make our last stop in Germany at Koln (Cologne).  Cologne's roots can be found almost 2,000 years ago when it was still in the hands of the Romans and called "Colonia", making it one of the oldest cities in Germany.

Throughout the Middle Ages it was the largest German city and an important cultural and religious center.  It is famous for its toilet water:  Eau de Cologne was first made here by an Italian chemist in 1709.

The twin-spired Gothic church that can be seen from nearly anywhere in the city is the Hohe Domkirche St. Petrus--a Catholic Cathedral, seat of the Archbishop, and Germany's most visited landmark.

During World War II, the Allies bombed Cologne hard in retaliation for Germany's bombing of London.  

Cologne, 1945

The bombs destroyed 95 percent of the city.  It was rebuilt in mostly modern style, except for the "old town", which was rebuilt in the old style. 

We peeked through the Roman-Germanic Museum's window for a look at a beautifully preserved mosaic floor, once the dining room floor of a rich Roman merchant.

The cathedral--the most ambitious Gothic building project north of France in the 13th century--was stalled in the Middle Ages and not finished until 1880.

We had hoped to tour the inside of the cathedral but there was a service going on and all we could do was stand at the back of the nave and admire the 140-foot tall ceiling and the stained-glass windows, which fills the church with light.

In centuries past, a clutter of half-timbered huts crowded around the outside of the cathedral.  They were all cleared out in the late 1800s so the great building would have a suitable approach to the entrance.

The Roman arch was discovered nearby and set up outside the cathedral as a reminder of the town's Roman roots.

There is an excavation site within the cathedral that shows the foundations from the cathedral's predecessor.

At the end of our walking tour, our Program Director, Wes, treated us all to some local beer at a bier haus.

We sat with Roger, Shellee, Mary and Michael.

We then left our group to find a pharmacy and buy some cold meds.  Joyce's cold has taken a turn for the worse.

It was the most unusual pharmacy we had ever seen.  No product on shelves.  Behind the counter were computer screens with various ailments listed.  With the help of the pharmacist we narrowed down the symptoms and chose a product pictured on the screen.  Then with a push of a button by the pharmacist, the product came from behind the wall on a conveyor belt so we could purchase it.

After lunch on the ship, Terry returned to the cathedral to climb the 509 steps up the south tower's spire.  Joyce stayed on the ship and let the cold meds do its job.

There are 9 huge bells; one called Deicke Peter (24-ton Fat Peter) claimed to be the largest free-swinging bell in the world.

From the top of the spire, there were great views of the city of Cologne.  

And back down from the climb, Terry found a bier haus with a great view and a refreshing drink.

We missed seeing the highlights of the interior of the cathedral--the Gero-Crucifix, the Shrine of the Magi, and the Madonna of Milan....guess we will just have to return to Cologne some day!

We have one more posting for this trip.  To continue reading, scroll up towards the top of this page and click in the right-hand column the entry entitled:  "Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and our cruise comes to an end".