Antwerp, Belgium

Our ship was docked about 15 minutes from the city center, making it easy to tour the major squares as well as the side alleys in town. Antwerp is a major shipping port in Europe, second only to Rotterdam. An interesting feature next to our ship was the world's oldest escalator made of wood and leading to a pedestrian tunnel underneath the river. We saw lots of chocolate stores, liquor stores featuring some of Belgium's 1000 beers, and snack shops featuring Belgian Fries and sausages. The Belgians are proud of their fries which are fried twice.

Grote Square and Brabo Fountain

Our first square was the Grote Market with the guild houses lining the square and an interesting Brabo Fountain in the center featuring a figure holding a cut off hand. This represents the legend of the giant Druon Antigoon, who cut off a hand of all ship captains who refused to pay the toll. But then was surprised by Brabo, a captain of the Roman Army, who cut of Druon’s hand and his handless body lies bleeding at the base of the fountain. This story is celebrated by chocolate shaped like a hand (which of course we sampled).

Raising of the Cross by Reuben

The Cathedral of Our Lady is quite unique. Inside are four Reubens paintings as well as some interesting woodwork in the choir telling Mary’s story. Nearby is a bar filled with many of the old statues from the church. Quite a few of us ended up enjoying some Belgian beers and food there.

Church Bar

Belgium itself is a rather young country, founded in 1830 and set up as a monarchy republic to provide a buffer between France and Germany, who were always having wars. The first king, Leopold I, is well thought of because of his investments in infrastructure. Unfortunately, Leopold II felt they needed an African colony, so they were given the Congo by the European powers, again to separate German and French colonies. Belgium exploited the riches of the country, particularly diamonds, rubber, and chocolate, and in the process killed over 10 million Africans. Belgium has a unique political structure, each language group (Flemish, French, and German) has their own parliament as well as the national parliament.

In the afternoon, we got to watch an Argentine Navy Trainer Tall ship ceremoniously set sail right in front of us. We ended our day with a great Captain's dinner and went to bed early for the early start to the airport.

Euthanasia Discussion

Our afternoon speaker introduced us to the fact that Euthanasia is legal in Belgium (as well as the Netherlands and Luxembourg). They consider it a way to have a dignified death when dealing with unbearable or unending pain. The individual is the decision maker and the doctor has the right to not participate. After signing a paper, that you desire to be euthanized, the doctor must review your options for the future and ask for a 2^nd opinion. In Belgium, it is not necessary for you to be terminally ill to ask, but you must have a physical or mental problem. There is no age restriction, but for minors, the parents must agree. But you must be able to make a decision when the chemicals are given to you, so this is a problem for people with dementia.  Legally, euthanasia is a form of natural death for insurance and criminal law purposes. About 2% of Belgium’s deaths are via euthanasia.

Of course, there are many people opposed to euthanasia. The primary cons are:

·         Religious reasons, that this is suicide

·         Fear of forced euthanasia

·         No recourse “what is done, is done”

·         Pressure from family “I’m a burden to them”

Trip Summary

A 23 minutes video of this trip is available on youtube.

Overall, this has been a relaxing cruise. Each day started with a walking tour of a new town, followed by time to explore further on your own or just relax on the ship. We met some great people on the ship, and had fun joking around with each other. Jörn our program manager had a story or joke for every occasion as well as sharing the facts about each location. Finally, Captain Richard was always available, welcoming us every time we returned to the ship.

Windmills and Dams

Kinderdijk Wind Mills in the Fog

This morning we had the choice of walking and a boat ride, or biking among the 19 windmills of Kinderdijk. We're on a 250 square km. Waard or island between the rivers. In 1100 this was all swamp. Then they started digging canals to channel the water to the rivers and create arable land. In 1400 they put dikes along the rivers to prevent flooding and windmills to pump the water up about 5 feet to a higher canal or the river. This area has preserved its windmills, 17 of which are still occupied by families and two as museums. The one we toured was from 1630 with a large, heavy square structure on top. Most were built in 1738-40 and have smaller, lighter round tops. If the wind is light, you pull down two or four canvases to catch the wind. “Three sheets to the wind" is unstable. What was striking was the measuring pole which shows the various water levels: low tide on the nearby river was about 3 feet higher than the canal, yellow high tide about 9 feet higher and the worst flood seen in this area was about 12 feet above the canal and 9 feet above the land. 

Model of the Delta Works

We sailed on to Willemstad and then took a bus to the Delta Works. A flood here in 1953, from a 30-hour storm on the North Sea broke the existing dikes and killed 1800 people. A new series of dams and storm surge barriers was designed to shorten the Dutch coastline, reducing the number of dikes that had to be raised. The original plan was a series of dikes that would turn the water behind the dikes into a large freshwater lake, useful for farming behind the dikes. But work was stopped in 1973 because of the ecological concerns for turning this large sea water estuary into a fresh water lake. The plan was changed to build the Delta Works, which would leave this an estuary, but by closing the gates under extreme weather conditions, protect the people and land from flooding. It took 8 years of construction and was completed in 1986. As part of the project they had to stabilize  the sandy bottom below the water by creating a carpet of cloth and rocks for an area of 6 miles in length by 1 mile. Then build a permanent structure of pylon islands with gates 6 to 12 meters high. The gates have been closed 27 times in 33 years.

The Surge Gate we visited

We ended our day with the crew show, which had us all laughing. Jörn read a passenger's diary. 

Nijmegen, Netherlands

The name of Netherlands came from the Roman commentary about this being low country or swamp. It became part of the Holy Roman Empire until William of Orange, a German Protestant,  was granted the Netherlands and Belgium by the King of Spain after William had become Catholic. He declared that the Netherlands would have religious freedom. The Dutch national anthem still has lines about having German blood and giving honor to the king of Spain. The Dutch founded the East India Company, which shipped spices from the East to Europe, making the Netherlands the richest in the world, having 12% of the world's wealth. Today, the country has a large social welfare system. Everyone has housing, health insurance, and free schooling. The public housing, we saw was nice and well maintained. If you can't work the state will provide you with a minimum monthly income. Tax rates vary from 18 to 58% to support this system.

Weigh Station now a restaurant

We landed at Nijmegen in the fog and rain. After a lecture on Operation Market Garden. We walked the town. We passed a tax station and a weigh station for collecting shipping taxes. Then came upon a plaque commemorating the names of the Jews who died in concentration camps. World War II was a dark period in the Netherlands' history, 92% of the Jews were terminated. The old town has St. Steven's church, an ecumenical church. We tried some of the local delicacies: pickled herring (not to my taste) and gouda cheese (the aged cheese was great).

Cheese Anyone?

In the afternoon, I walked to the Belvedere watchtower and Valkhof. Originally, Charlemagne built a wooden palace on this hill. In 1155, the Emperor replaced it with a stone stronghold. Most of the castle has been torn down except for the remains of two chapels. 

St. Nicholas Chapel

Operation Market Garden

 Captured Bridge

Our speaker was six years old in September 1944. He came to know General Gaven and several of the soldiers over time. Operation Market Garden was a plan from General Montgoery to circumvent the Ziegfield line protecting Germany by liberating northern Netherlands and going around it to secure a bridgehead across the Rhine. It involved taking a key 100-mile-long road in less than two days before reinforcements could arrive. Three airborne troops landed at various points along the road to secure nine bridges with Nijmegen being the central city. Here the Americans managed to take the town before the railroad bridge could be destroyed. Unfortunately, the British paratroopers north of here dropped on top of two divisions of SS troops and were defeated. From here the Americans tried to cross the Rhine with small boats but were turned back by the Germans. The town of Nijmegen was the farthest north point held by the Allies until after the battle of the Bulge. The attempted crossing is memorialized at sunset every night.

Bonn

University at Bonn

We woke up to another cloudy day with intermittent rain, now our fourth or fifth day. Bonn is not a tourist town, since it was completely bombed out during the war. It did serve as the home of the bishops and prince electors from 1597 to 1794. The University buildings are built from their palace. Bonn is the birthplace of Konrad Adenauer and served as the West German capital after 1946. St. Martin’s is the cathedral here, but it was undergoing major renovation. The Rathaus was the most interesting building. Here President Kennedy gave a speech to the Germans praising them for becoming a center of the free world. On the plaza in front are brass pieces with the name of books burned in this square by the Nazis.

Jorn, not Kennedy at Rathaus

We also toured Beethoven's house, which is now a museum. The highlights were listening to some of his works that I wasn't familiar with and seeing some of the original scores. I'm not sure how they figured out what notes he actually wrote with all the cross-outs in the music. 

That evening we were entertained by the "Mandolin Orchestra of Troisdorf" 

University Education Presentation

We heard from a female student from Jordan who had completed her Master’s degree at the University of Bonn in American studies. She was attracted here because of the low cost, free tuition and dorm costs of about 250 euros/month. All her courses were in English, but she also took classes to learn German. A foreign student can also work up to 20 hours/week for 700 Euros/month. The major restriction for studying in Germany was to have 10000 euros in a bank account to insure you could pay for rent and health insurance (100 euros per month). After graduation you can try to find a permanent job here for 18 months and if you find one after studying for German proficiency and 6 years you can gain citizenship.

Germany, a Nation of Immigrants Discussion

Since World War Two, Germany has accepted many immigrants. It began when the border with Poland was moved 300 km. Many German speakers ended up in Poland and moved to West Germany between 1947 and 1952. Because the Marshall plan was so successful, the German economy boomed in the 50s and ‘temporary' workers came from Turkey, Italy, and Spain. The original plan was they would return to their country after 10 or more years. But of course, they stayed but were never well integrated into Germany. In the 60s many Cubans and North Koreans came to East Germany for education. In the 70s the boat people from South Vietnam came. These were well integrated. In the 90s the European Union set a European policy about refugees that they should stay in the country of entry. This has placed a huge burden on Italy and Greece in recent years. In 2015 Merkle let in 700K asylum seekers. This resulted in quite a lot of controversy and the founding of the ADP, a right-wing, white supremacist organization. There is now a discussion around who are Germans? Legally you can be German if you were born here, or you can show that you came from German ancestors, or you have lived and worked here. For this latter method you must be fluent in German and pass an integration test (which 60% of Germans fail).

Our speaker ended with distinguishing the terms of integration, where we learn from each other, and assimilation where they must become like us. The German experience is that only integration works.

Cochem

Reichsberg

The highlight of Cochem is the Reichsberg built in 1053, destroyed in 1699 by Ludwig XIV, and then rebuilt by Louis Ravené beginning in 1868. The castle was almost storybook because of the flowers, hand painted rooms, and picturesque balconies and towers. There was some interesting furnishing like the wild boar in the hunters room, the windows with their flattened blown glass, the 7 foot 11inch suit of armor and the lion with a helmet, that makes him look like a frog.

Reichsberg

Cochem itself is a town of 5000 people. The streets and restaurants were filled with people on this Saturday, shopping day for most since the stores are closed on Sunday. In the afternoon I went up the chair lift for a beautiful view of the town, castle, and the Mosel river.

View of Cochem from above

Luxembourg

Luxembourg Fortress on a rock

It was a 30-minute drive to reach the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and then about 20 minutes to reach the old town area of Luxembourg city. 160,000 of the country's 600,000 live here. The city of Luxembourg was founded in 963 when Count Ziegfried built his castle on the rock. The city wall defended this community for 1000 years. The views are spectacular on this 44-meter-high rock island in the sky.  We visited the Jesuit church and school which is now the Cathedral as well as the palace of Duke Henri. Across the valley we saw the newest part of the city, which hold the EU offices as well as the Court of Justice.

Grand Ducal Palace 1562

In the afternoon, we visited the Luxembourg American Cemetery. The Battle of the Bulge was fought just north of here. This was Hitler's carefully planned attack to split the American and British forces. The Germans outnumbered American forces by 6 to one. The Americans were pushed back for two weeks but held long enough for reinforcements to arrive. The battle continued for another three weeks with 80,000 casualties. Then the battle to reach the Rhine continued. Forces had to cross multiple rivers and the Siegfried line of 18000 fortifications. They reached the Rhine in 2 months and Germany surrendered six weeks later. There some 5000 Americans buried here as well as General George Patton. He used to have an ordinary grave, but it was constantly a muddy mess because of so many visitors. They moved the grave to protect it and he now faces his troops.

Patton reviewing his troops

We then had a flower laying ceremony with the veterans among us as they played taps. Nearby was a German cemetery, a headstone for one to four soldiers among the oak trees.

The German Cemetery

That evening, Mariya, a member of the crew, gave her first concert. She had been encouraged by the President of Grand Circle after he heard her during karaoke.

Trier

Porta Negra

Trier was founded by the Roman’s in 16 BC and had a bridge across the Mosel making it an important town. It later became the capital of the western Roman Empire with a population of 60,000. One of four gates into the town was the Porta Negra, built in the 2^nd century and still standing because it was incorporated into a church, later destroyed by Napoleon. The gate consists of 7200 sandstone blocks held together by iron clamps.

Electoral Palace

The Roman’s built an Imperial Hall here in 400 AD which also remains standing. 220 ft by 100 and 130 ft high. It was incorporated into a church, then during the time of the Bishop/electors, it was the electoral hall, then part of a palace, and today a protestant church. During Roman times, it had windows and underfloor and wall heating. Next to the Hall is the Electoral Palace, home of the Bishop and Electors from the 16^th to 18^th century.

Dom Cathedral

After lunch, I visited the 13th century gothic style Church of our Lady as well as the 4th century Dom Cathedral. In the crypt of the cathedral was the roll of bishops from 250 till today. Behind the altar is the Chapel of the Seamless Robe, said to be worn by Jesus before his crucifixion.

Altar from the Dom

The Museum of the Dom has a model of the four Trier basilicas as they were in 380, a 3D model of some of the excavations around the basilica as well as Roman ceilings and other artifacts found in Trier. There also many of the original carvings and statues from the two churches. Quite an interesting collection!

European Union discussion

The European Union today is 28 countries with 500 million people and 24 official languages (out of about 200). There is an annual income difference of 15X between Luxemburg and Bulgaria. In 1951, the Union began with six members. Robert Schuman who was born in Luxemburg, but lived in Mainz under both German and French rule, proposed the Coal and Steel Community as a way to stop the never ending European wars. The EU has 3 capitals: Strasburg, Brussels, and Luxemburg. The Senate consisting of the leaders of each country sets the budget for a 5-year period, based on each country paying a set fee per person (currently 86 euros).  The Court of Justice adjudicates between states or between individuals and states. There are three countries Switzerland, Norway and Iceland that are members of the common market, but not the EU.

What happens with Brexit? (which is supposed to happen at the end of the month) Short term there will be huge slowdowns of the 9000 trucks per day that go between the EU and the UK. Some restaurants and stores in Britain have large storage reserves to reduce the effect. Ireland has built Brexit Buster ships to ship directly to France instead of going through the UK. It will be difficult without any trade agreement!