Amsterdam

We don't have much to show for our nearly five days in Amsterdam. We were there principally to put the Grey Wanderer in storage before our return to the States, to get it ready for storage, effect a variety of repairs, give it a good cleaning, and to sort through things and pack, with one eye on the coming year in California and the other on returning to Europe in 2012. Three days of sheets of rain didn't help with our sightseeing program either.

We'll do Amsterdam more properly, especially the Rijksmuseum, one of our favorites, when we're back in June of 2012. We EasyJet'd to Britland on Saturday afternoon, the16th, carefully weighing in both checked and unchecked baggage so as to avoid the various surcharges. It was a mercifully short 45 minute flight. From Gatwick we took the National Express bus into town (5.50L for us seniors) and then the Underground to our B&B in East Finchley, north of the city. The bus ride took 90 minutes, but was comfortable and a great opportunity to visually re-acquaint ourselves with beloved Britland, leaving the driving to someone else. Our stay here will be relatively short, with no opportunity to re-visit Beastleigh Dorking on-the-Bum or other favorite country sites.

We stayed at a place called Droompark Sparnwoude,

outside Amsterdam, beyond the port; apparently a state or

national park, there were several campgrounds, very

popular, not so many campers, but many, many static

trailers and rental units; they honored our ACSI card which

made the cost relatively reasonable; and good bus service

into the city

But our first two days were spent not in camping or cleaning,

but in having some work done: the BBQ regulator (something

we never and never have used) failed, causing a serious

propane leak; we finally had it removed and the line capped at

a Volvo truck center in Amsterdam, the third referral

And then there was the partial failure of the Go Charge

dual battery charger, which took another day to analyze,

and (partially) work around; sheesh! the thing is two months

old and probably hadn't two weeks of usage

So, anyway, we appear to be in Holland (this

is from Friday, the one day it didn't rain)

And took the bus into Amsterdam, not to see anything in

particular, but just to walk around and do the ambience thing

A major part of which is drinking in the streets

and the consequent effluence, relieved, as it

were, by these strategically but not discreetly
located outdoor pissoirs

A street scene or two

Two

Vicki in line for the world-famous "vegetarian" pommes frites

at VleminckX (since 1887); they were decadently good,

especially with the curry sauce

Cologne

Cologne is only an hour's drive or less from Aachen and we arrived about 2:30 in the afternoon. We parked a few miles out in the suburbs and took the tram into the centrum and back. We visited Cologne in 1979, then as now, mostly for the great cathedral.

Monster cathedral; I don't know where it ranks on the
Vatican's "mine's bigger than yours" list, but it is a bit
overwhelming both outside and inside

Chapel of the 3 Magi in the ambulatory; windows are the
oldest in the cathedral, 13th century

The center two windows date from 1265 and
depict corresponding scenes from the Old
Testament (prophecies) and the New
(realizations)

The Gero Cross, donated by Archbishop Gero
in 976; it is the oldest remaining monumental
crucifixion

Shrine of the 3 Magi; Fred Barbarossa donated
the bones of the 3 Magi, which became the
major relics of the cathedral and made it a major
pilgrimage site; late 12th, early 13th, actually
antedate the present cathedral

Beautiful mosaic floor throughout

North side windows, 1507-1509

Notable for the coats of arms of their donors; this one notable
for its elephants; or possibly a contribution of a political
action committee of the current Party of Greed and Hate

Ever popular crucifixion of St. Peter

Extremely rare fully rotated view

From the stern to the bow: immensity, yet light and lightness

We skipped the German-Roman museum this time; we think

we have seen our fair share of Roman stuff

The twin towers; Vicki poses for scale; they

are each 505 feet high--fifty stories

Cologne in 1945; it was the target for some 262 Allied

bombing raids; most were nuisance or diversionary raids, but

also included the first "thousand bomber" raid and other

major attacks; Germans nowadays joke that the Brits and

Americans were trying to hit the cathedral...which suffered

no major damage

We cross the Rhine and head for Holland

Aachen

From Eupen we were only a short distance to Aachen, a town I had always wanted to see but never quite got around to seeing. We got to Aachen by 9 Sunday morning and easily found a parking place on the street just 3 blocks from the main square and cathedral. But the cathedral was in service, so to speak, and not open to visitors until 12:30. So we strolled about (shops were open), bought some of the decadent local gingerbread cookies, and bided our time.

Why Aachen? you ask. Several reasons. Aachen (aka Aix-la-Chappelle) was Charlemagne's capital; the "father of Europe," he who battled the Moors in Spain and who conquered and unified much of Europe late in the 8th century. The Aachen cathedral is also the oldest around in this part of the world, dating from 800, and it is widely regarded as the beginning of truly European art and architecture; the Carolingian Renaissance. Its central structure was Charlemagne's royal chapel, copied very closely on what he and his artistic advisors had seen at San Vitale in Ravenna. So we had to see it.

But first, Aachen's Rathaus...

The right tower of which is thought to have included (up to

13m), part of Charlemagne's great hall and throne room

The cathedral itself, although relatively small, is difficult to
see and photograph

The brass model helps; it's the central dome that is of chief

interest, being the oldest (although the rest is pretty old too);
the tower and choir are later add-ons; truly a hodge-podge, but
an understandable one

In a 2009 excavation, two large wooden pegs were found in

the cathedral's foundations; dendrochronology showed them

to be from c. 781

Inside the dome; very similar in lay-out to San Vitale; mosaic

and gold everywhere; but little of the mosaic is more than

geometric design...almost more Islamic than Christian; see our
posts from June 27, 2011, or search vitale

Later Medieval windows near the altar

Altar; lots of gold; Pantokrator and 4 evangelists

Mosaic over the altar area; no Pantokrator!

More mosaic designs; no Bible stories going on here; could
just as well be Islamic...

This mosaic by the entrance was of great interest...Roman-

looking figures, all of them Roman river gods...Tigris,

Eurphrates, etc.

Pulpit of Emperor Henry II; (looks gold but is
actually copper); 13th

12th century chandelier, a gift of Frederick Barbarossa, whose

coronation occurred in Aachen, as did those of most of the

Holy Roman Emperors

In the narthex, a She-wolf, 2nd century

Eupen (Belgium)

So from Bernkastel we headed further north toward our last two goals for Germany on this trip: Aachen and Cologne. But Belgium got in the way, at least long enough for us to find another interesting camperstop. It was in the Parc Naturelle National Hautes Fagnes-Eifel Raerenwald; or somesuch. I construed it to be the Belgian Grand Canyon, with Hoover Dam and Lake Mead to boot.

The usual mixture...Belgian, Dutch, German, French, GB, Montana

The dam (from the main resort hotel, which was catering one tour bus group from 
the UK of GB; otherwise closed (in mid-July))

Grand Canyon

Lake Mead

Of interest to me was the climbing tower at the resort, also 
closed, which must surely be one of the tallest such in the 
world; seriously

The kiddie side at the bottom

Bernkastel, Germany, 2011

We drove the Moselle several miles before coming to our goal of Bernkastel. The camper parking was across the river in Kues, but that afforded us a pleasant walk along the river and then the bridge to one of Germany's better known wine villages. We had visited Bernkastel before, in 1989 with Rachel and Rebecca, and other times too. In 1989, we made a special trip to Zell for Rachel to see the Zeller Black Cat. I think she may still have a Zeller Schwartze Katz bottle (empty). At Bernkastel, I bought a bottle of Bernkasteler Doktor, an auslese, as I recall. It did not travel well, but the suitcase had a very pleasant odor for the rest of its days. I bought another bottle this time, and, hopefully, it will not have to travel all that far.

Castle above the Moselle and Bernkastel

The tower towering over the little village
church

Main square Bernkastel

Panning around

Ditto

Enlarge and look for four acres cordoned off, just left of
upper center; that's where Bernkasteler Doktor grows (as I
recall; there used to be little red flags)

Kues was Nicholas of Cusa's home town; here's a reminder
of him on the bridge

A Renaissance philosopher and humanist of note, he founded
this hospice in Kues in the 15th century or so; we last saw
Nicholas at his tomb/shrine, you will recall, at the St. Peter
in Vincula church in Rome; you do remember?!

Neumagen-Dhron, Germany

Up over a hill and there before you, a bit east of Trier, 

is a graceful bend of the Moselle; and vineyards everywhere

They do the rose thing here, as in Bordeaux, but only every

30 rows or so, and with a religious shrine, of course

And in three glasses is three times as much

truth, as the t-shirt in Beaune said

We stopped for lunch in Neumagen-Dhron, but mainly to walk

the town and see this wonderful sculpture of a Roman wine

boat on the Moselle

Lots of Roman bits and pieces, generally 2nd

or 3rd centuries (we're a good bit west of the

Rhine); here a road mile-marker

And many beautiful old buildings; many of

them re-built, one assumes, after the war