25 May 2014, Kiel Kanal, Schleswig Holstein, Germany

Schleswig Holstein and Denmark

It was a long transit, so this edition comes in two parts….

Part 1 Kiel Kanal, Schleswig Holstein, Germany

Many people may have never heard of this historic canal, which slices through the German/Danish peninsular connecting the North Sea with the Baltic and shortening the route by a good chunk of time, distance and cost. It was dug quite some time ago. The technology used for the locks is still applicable today, however lock maintenance requires constant attention due to age of the installation and impact of forceful propeller washes from modern ships.

Brunsbuettel Kanal Entrance

Large Locks

Sliding Door Chamber

Opening the Way into the Kanal

The canal handles about 45,000 cargo vessels each year, which is more than the number of ship transits of the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal combined. Only six cruise ships have the required dimensions of draft, width, length and height to fit into the locks, the canal proper and underneath the numerous bridges. Prinsendam is one of the six lucky ones.

Thousands of small pleasure boats make their way along the canal as well, and smaller locks accommodate this traffic beside the large locks for cruise and commercial traffic. There are parallel large locks at either end, Brunsbuettel in the west, and Kiel in the east. Only one lock chamber is required to lift or lower the ships to accommodate the up to two meters difference in water level. The North Sea has large tides, the Baltic hardly any. The North Sea is warmed by the Gulf Stream and never freezes, the Baltic is cut off and parts of it freeze over during winter. During WWII thousands of refugees fled on foot, by horse and cart and many other means from the advance of the Soviet army across the frozen Baltic to safety.

The lock gates do not swing open as they do on the present Panama Canal, but work like ‘sliding doors’ and travel into a recess once equalization of water level has been reached. The new Panama Canal will deploy this sliding door technology as well, whereas the ‘old’ one uses opening doors.

Prinsendam had to lower her antenna and flag mast again to enable her to fit under the bridges, some of them with only six feet of clearance to spare.

Made it - again!

Swimming the Canal anyone?

The peninsular is a little less than 100 km wide at this point. Both shores of the Kanal are German; Denmark’s border is about 50 km further north. To let Germans freely travel between the two shores, there are of course many bridges, but also numerous small ferries – free of charge as Kaiser Wilhelm decreed for eternity – which connects opposite shores near each village – and there are many.

Modern Nesting Places for Gulls

Cows and Refineries at Brunsbuettel

Legs for Oil Rigs maybe??

Once one enters into the Kanal and has passed the industrial refinery sites and wind generator farms, the landscape becomes bucolic. Flat with a little roll to it, the country stretches out for miles on either side blanketed in farm fields, meadows, forests and marshes and small villages. Sandy lanes weave through the fields and lines of trees, and trails hug the shore on either side for the entire length of the Kanal. Being Sunday – many people rode around, walked their dogs, held picnics on the many benches, made themselves comfortable for a day of fishing, enjoyed a meal in one of the many ‘ferry side’ romantic restaurants or just hung out and waved, and waved and waved.

Unidentified Floating Object

Our Fan CLub waving from a Bridge

..and here they are again

Kanal Ferry

Pleasure Craft

One group of people, armed with flags met the ship at Brunsbuettel, and then turned up (driving a little red car) at each ferry crossing and a couple of the bridges waving their flags and shouting welcome greetings. The ship responded in kind, and the deafening horn went off almost every time these faithful followers made their appearance along the 100 km water way. What a way to spend a Sunday with your family!

Sailboats and power boats travelled faster than the Prinsendam, who crawled along at about 6 knots to avoid making a large wake. Bicycles and the odd wheelchair bound stroller all outpaced big Prinsendam.

23 May 2014, Haarlem, Netherlands

Ijmuiden, Holland, was our actual docking port, which – according to Captain Andre van Schoonhooven – sits in the middle of nowhere. Bordering on the North Sea it is the main port for Amsterdam as well, used by many ships who want to avoid the locking systems which separate Amsterdam harbour downtown from the sea. Holland America ships formerly docked right beside Amsterdam’s main railway station – however ‘logistics’ (meaning costs) made Ijmuiden a more advantageous option.

Instead of walking off the ship into downtown Amsterdam, one needs to take a shuttle to the terminal, then another shuttle (10 Euros) to Ijmuiden railway station, which is so tiny that is does not even warrant a station attendant to sell tickets hence one needs to use a ticket vending machine. Coins only, please!!

No one had coins to pay for the 30 minute train ride to Amsterdam (or the 10 minute one to Haarlem which was my destination for the day) and we boarded one of the frequent trains without this little required piece of paper. As luck had it, a ticket inspector made the rounds and advised that penalty ticket price would be 40 Euros (instead of the 2.60 Euros regular fare). After a little explanation in English to a Dutchman about us being ignorant foreigners without ready coin he waved the fine and let us carry on - this time only!

Layover in (what called itself in the Holland America Itinerary) Amsterdam was just long enough to allow all but about 48 people to disembark for good, and enough new passenger to board to bring the head count of paying guests to about 600 – about 2/3 full. For us die-hards staying on, just a little break to sniff more Dutch fresh air on land and wear out footwear some more. My two pairs of walking shoes are holding together by a couple of threads of leather, and they have to last another four weeks.

Haarlem is a mini Amsterdam, with similar canals and houses but without major museums and tourist attractions to draw armies of visitors.  Things were rather quiet here. The canals were peaceful, the market lively, the sights uncrowded, prices reasonable.

I spent the short stay strolling about; sniffing the roses so to speak, except the market offered hundreds of different kinds of Dutch scent free tulips and colourful peonies and freesias – its spring after all. It’s still strawberry and asparagus season, however local restaurants did not appear to embrace the 10 mile diet approach too much.

Haarlem, like all Dutch towns and cities, is bicycle country. No wonder, the country is flat, so exertion is minimal, convenience maximal and cost almost non-existent.

I bought a large chunk of delicious Dutch cheese and a huge bunch of flowers. Thus armed I secured a rail ticket at Haarlem station – large enough for a ticket counter where one may purchase tickets from a real person. Ergo my ten minute return to Ijmuiden was ‘legal’, and no pesky inspector made life difficult. My wonderful dry cabin took on a rather festive air, adorned with fresh Dutch flowers.

23 May 2014, Zeebrugge and Bruges, Belgium

Small Bruges Pillow Case

The Story behind the name of a popular beer...

Cheers!

Historic relief on city hall...

Midtown Bruges

Example of heraldic shields of many Belgian Cities

Quiet Canal Scene in mid town Bruges

Stone faces over windows keep away bad spirits

We docked mid-morning at the industrial port of Zeebrugge, a convenient jumping off point for both Bruges and Ghent further inland of the small country of Belgium. I chose Bruges – again – as my visit here a few years ago left nothing but good memories of a lovely medieval town bathed in lovely present century rain. It appeared that this time I may be able to enjoy the same thing, but bathed in tentative sunshine.

Canal Street Scene in Bruges

Dozens of low bridges over canals

The oldest hospital in Europe

Picturesque Bruges hat retained its historic appearance, where the oldest hospital in Europe dates back to the Middle Ages, so do many monasteries, cathedrals, bridges and town buildings and of course the canals winding through the city lake lace. The canals are the most pleasant way of learning the lay out of the compact centre of town, passing under centuries old bridges (duck – they are very low), following  neat rows of traditional house facades and past sizable flocks of white swans and almost as many ducks.

The main cathedral in mid-town is filled with treasures, one of which is a marble statue of the Madonna and Child by Michelangelo. Priceless Flemish paintings fill the chapels.

 

Michelangelo's Madonna and Child

Flemish Painting

Detail of above

Medieval wood carving

Contemporary Marble

Bruges Main Cathedral

Bruges is a city of lace, beer  and chocolates. Due to the high numbers of visitors, these items are sold in appropriately ‘traditional’ shops in every imaginable variety and price range. Lace, still made by hand using bobbins, ranges in price from bookmark rough lace - cheap (6 Euros) to small super fine doylies  - very expensive (210 Euros). Even a city map beside one of the canals is made of weather resistant lace to celebrate the local art form.

Lace City Plan

Window display for lace doylies

Bobbins

210 Euros will buy you this little piece

Beer is brewed to the tune of about 120 different varieties – each with their distinctive shape of beer glasses – and in May that tastes pretty good when combined with a plate of fresh white asparagus prepared the Flemish way: drenched in warm butter and sprinkled with chopped boiled egg.

Beer and more beer...

Brewing since anno 1130

Asparagus a la Flanders

My luncheon spot

Busy waiters next door

If one has ‘done’ the city boat ride, there are plenty of opportunities to criss cross the narrow roads via horse and carriage. The horses appear lively, well groomed and fed, many of them are of Dutch Warmblood or Frisian breed, and they trot around, ears on alert, and seem to enjoy their work.

Definitely not underfed

Ears perked up - they are off...

Horse Drinking Fountain decoration

Traffic is manageable, however, as a pedestrian one has to watch out for thousands of bicycles. Bicycles are not ‘a way to keep fit’ here, for which riders were little padded tight rubber pants, use multi geared machines, wear speed helmets and hydration systems, little perforated sports tricots and bicycle shoes. The bike is a widespread, traditional way to commute, to school, to the stores, to church or to the theatre, to a day trip destination, to a date, to the produce market. They are simple: wheels, straight handle, bell, light and shopping basket. Fantasy knows no limits when it comes to ‘shopping baskets’: there are wheeled contraptions to transport small kids or goods, reed baskets for groceries and flowers, and mini seats to accommodate a mid-sized kid as well. People drive around, sitting straight up not hunched over the handlebars, in business suits, evening dresses, summer dresses or jeans, sneakers or pumps…but nobody, nobody would ever mar the appearance with a bicycle helmet. Surprisingly the bike crowd does not die from head injuries by the thousands, but they are such experts that they never seem to fall off or are unable to negotiate the most crowded cobblestoned alley. Maybe there is a message here? As an aside, bikes are easier to park in a pedestrian only (sort of) town centre.

A cover emerges from nowhere during a rain shower

Ancient Equestrian under cover of a portal

Casual biker

Going shopping...

No visit would be complete without at least testing and savouring the famed Belgian Chocolates. The recipe is secret, the taste is not. They are delicious and come in hundreds of varieties – delectable in short!

My cabin is back ‘in business’ and it is a pleasure to sit out on the ‘veranda’ and watch yet another glorious sunset. Slowly moving towards summer solstice time and evenings are long….

Drying operations in my cabin

De Humidifyers, buckets, pipes, electrical cords and lots of noise...

Ah, peace again...

Flemish Tapestry

Natural Tapestry

Greenish Flash anyone?