Blog Europe 2023 Part 1
Emirates have a new flight that departs from Sydney at 6am
and you arrive at London at 8:15pm on the same day. We went to Rydges on Saturday, ate at 17:30,
in bed by 21:00 woke up at 3am walked to the international terminal. It all went seamlessly, all the luggage was
on the carousel and the emirates chauffer service worked efficiently. We arrived at Virginia and Pierre’s at 9:30pm.
We had one meal at Caro in Chiswick before I left for Bath
on Friday for the 60th reunion of the Old Sulians as graduates of
the City of Bath Boys’ School are known.
Reunions can be tricky affairs and this one was organised by Anthony
Mayer (my Oxford counterparty) and it all went surprisingly well. The weather was glorious, Bath is looking in
tip-top condition, and the three organised events went off well. Bandook is highly recommended, the George Inn
at Bathampton is as reliable as ever, and I would not return to The Architect
at the Empire Hotel. We took the train
there and back. The train to Bath was
meant to be 9 coaches but was actually 5 so as we boarded we were met with
announcement that seat reservations for the journey were cancelled. Somehow we both got a seat but on the return
leg we boarded 1st class and bought the £20 upgrade on the train. Well worth it
On Monday 28/6 we flew to Amsterdam. BA were efficient and we arrived on
time. It took us over 2 hours to get to
Passport Control. The queue was enormous;
No e-Passport terminals and only 3 controllers.
If you are going to Amsterdam catch the train. Unfortunately, next year the train terminal
undergoing renovations so find out first if you can. Fortunately, our luggage was still on the carousel
and our driver was waiting.
We now joined my sister, Wendy, and Anthony Mayer at the
Movenpick hotel next to the Passenger Terminal to catch the Viking cruise to
Basel in 2 days. On Tuesday we started
with a Viking walking tour of Amsterdam beginning at the hotel and finishing at
the Dam Square. We then caught a tram to the new Van Gogh Museum where Wendy
had booked the tickets for the four of us..
Our plan was to have lunch at the museum but the restaurant was
undergoing renovations so we skipped lunch and did the Van Gogh highlights tour
that was superb. That night we went to
dinner at Hemelse Modder, a 2 Star Michelin restaurant on the Oude Waal; great
restaurant and highly recommended.
The next day we transferred to the Viking Sigrun and started
our 7 day cruise up the Rhine to Basel.
Each day was similar. Morning
walk around the town, followed by light lunch, nap, talk in the late afternoon,
drinks, dinner and some form of entertainment.
29/6/23 Windmills of Kinderdijk:
19 Windmills used to transfer water upwards between two
polders. Originally there were were over
150 which were then replaced by steam engines and then electricity pumps as
they were more reliable. Think Net Zero
in reverse.
30/6/23 Cologne
Cologne Cathedral took some 800 years to build and has two
stunning towers and great stained glass windows. We found the “Saturn” window that was
sponsored by the department store chain with the eponymous name. The Kölsh
beer brewed here is pretty good.
1/7/23 Koblenz and the Middle Rhine Castles
City at the conjunction of the Rhine and Moselle
Rivers. Famous for the “German Corner”
that contains the massive equestrian statue of the Kaiser William I with Otto
von Bismarck holding the Holy Roman Crown who together created Germany in 1871. The other famous statue is the spitting boy
(Schāngelbrunnen)
in William Horter Platz who is also seen on all the manhole covers. In the afternoon we then did the famous
Middle Rhine Cruise with its 21 castles and the Lorelei Rock. We finally docked at Rūdesheim where we were treated to a massive firework
display at around midnight. (Annual
event lucky to be there.)
2/7/23 Speyer
It is said that the tourist guides have called the Middle
Rhine Cruise the ABC cruise which is short for Another Bloody Castle. You could say Speyer is an ABC town for
Another Bloody Cathedral. That would be
doing it a disservice as 8 Holy Roman Emperors are buried here. This is the town where the Protestant religion got its name in 1529 where 14 free cities
and six princes protested the Diet of Worms that had banned the writings of
Martin Luther and branded him a heretic.
3/7/23 Strasbourg
This year Strasburg is currently in France. Over the past 150 years it has switched
between France and Germany four times. Accordingly,
Churchill said it would be the perfect city to host the formation of the EEC
and it has come to pass with the various European institutions such as the European Parliament and the Council of Europe operating
in this city.
The Cathédrale Notre-Dame is one of the finest examples of
late Gothic architecture in Europe. It
is famous for its Astronomical Clock with sculptures that animate at different
times during the day. It has magnificent
stained glass windows including the 5 Emperor Windows and a magnificent rose
window.
The other interesting area is the picturesque Petit France
where soldiers that had contracted syphilis were sent to recover.
4/7/ 23 Breisach and the Black Forest
Cuckoo clocks, fairy tales, schnapps and Black Forest cake
in abundance. Very picturesque place to
live but not so good for the urban man.
5-7/7/23 Basel
This is another impressive town. On arrival we were transferred to the
Movenpick hotel located near to the SSB rail station and also a major tram
hub. I have never seen to many trams in
my life. Using the Basel City Card which
we were given meant free travel on the trams which we did for the first two
days. Great restaurants abound: au
violon was pretty good.
Funniest thing was the Tinguely Fountain. The Kunst Museum is one of the first art
museums opened in 1661 and is very
impressive. It has a good bistro for
lunch.
We are now at the halfway point of this holiday and I will
stop Part I here. Part 2 begins with the
train trip to Venice.
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