Along the Rhine and Moselle Rivers, Day 3

Day 3 – Trier and Luxembourg

Trier is the oldest city in Germany and still has Roman buildings in the city. Our walking tour was started from Porta Nigra, a Roman city gate that was still in perfect condition. After collecting guide map from the tourist information center nearby the Porta Nigra, we walked to the main market square. The big square is surrounded by nice medieval buildings such as the Steipe, St. Gangolf church, and the cathedral. From the square, we entered the cathedral. There was a farewell mass for the youth that would go to Cologne so the church was very crowded. Further away from the square, we arrived at the huge building of Roman basilica. The building is still used as Protestant church. Adjacent to the basilica we found Electoral Palace, a beautiful building with very nice and colorful gardens.


Main Market Square, Trier

Still walking further, we visited another important Roman preservation, the Imperial Baths. Some more distance from the Baths we arrived at old Roman Amphitheater. After these walks we really felt back to the old golden Roman era.

After walking back to the city center to get our car, we headed back to the Amphitheater, because we had found out that there was a nice hill beside the Amphitheater so we could look the city panorama. From the top we could enjoy the old buildings that we had visited before.

View of the Basilica and the Cathedral, Trier

That’s it, from the hill we drove away from Trier, crossing the Moselle after passing the old (yet another Roman) bridge, and headed back to Holland. Goodbye to the Moselle and the Rhine.

But wait, we had a bonus trip! We stopped in the Luxembourg City on our way back. The main goal was for lunch, which we had a fast-food style Mexican restaurant in the city center. Quick food, but nice. After lunch we had a short walking tour around the old part of the city. We walked along the sides of the Petrusse and Alzette valleys, the Adolphe Bridge across the Petrusse, the town hall, the city wall beside the Alzette, and the Grand Ducal Palace.

The Luxembourg Valley

And, the trip was really over. We back to Eindhoven via Ardennen area of Belgium, and arrived safely at home.

Along the Rhine and Moselle Rivers, Day 2

Day 2 – Koblenz, Cochem, Bernkastel-Kues, Trier

The Sunday morning was started with cloudy and rainy weather in Cologne. We drove from Cologne to Koblenz, the city where the Moselle river joins the Rhine. It was still raining when we arrived at Koblenz. After having a brunch in the center area, we visited the 'Festung Ehrenbreitstein', a fortress on the hill on the side of the Rhine, opposite to the town. The fortress was actively used during the 1st and 2nd world war, and currently the buildings inside the complex were used as museum, restaurant, and youth hostel.

The most interesting part from the fortress is the strategic location, on top of the hill directly across the joining point of the two rivers. The view from the fortress was beautiful, where we could see the color difference of the Moselle and the Rhine, the row of bridges along the Moselle, and enjoyed the great view of the statue of Wilhelm I at the joining point.

View of Koblenz from Ehrenbreitstein fortress

From the fortress, we back to the center area of the city. We visited the joining point of the river, passing the St. Castor church and looking closely the big status of Wilhelm I. Unfortunately because of the bad weather, we did not stay long there.

After visiting the cities along the Rhine, from Koblenz we drove along the Moselle. Not far from Koblenz, we stopped on a small village along the Moselle. We entered a small house that turned into a café. They sold several kinds of cakes and drinks. I ordered a plum pie with warm chocolate. It tasted very nice!

About two hours from Koblenz, after driving along the Moselle with most of the riverside covered with vineyards, we arrived at Cochem, a small tourist town on the side of the Moselle. The city was very crowded, and relevant with the vineyards, it was famous for the wine shops. We visited a small old wine shop, where we could taste the wine before buying, and end up bought ten bottles. Even me that is not a wine lover could say that the wine was very nice, white wine type with sweet taste.

View of Moselle from Cochem

The center area of Cochem also nice to see. It has hilly small streets with shops on both sides. The city was full of tourists, and all shops were open even on Sunday, where commonly shops are closed in Europe.

Continuing our drive, we stopped at Bernkastel-Kues, another small city at the riverside. It also has nice buildings in the center area. We rested in a small restaurant that had happy hour for wine promotion. In the end we decided to have dinner there, and it was a good decision. The food was nice! After enjoying the dinner we still had some times to walk near the vineyards.

From Bernkastel-Kues, we decided to go via highway to Trier because it was quite late already. We arrived at Trier sooner than what we had expected. After checked in at our hotel, we still could visit the center area in the late evening, and enjoyed a big cup of ice cream for our late dessert.

Since the sun was already set, we saved the walking tour of Trier for the following day.

(to be continued)

Along the Rhine and Moselle Rivers, Day 1

13-15 August 2005

The Rhine is the most important river in Germany. Several big cities in the west part of the country are existed because of the river, from Karlsruhe in the south part until Bonn, Cologne, Dusseldorf, and Duisburg in the west. In the past I had visited Dusseldorf and Cologne, and in this trip I visited Bonn and Cologne.

One of the rivers that join to the Rhine is the Moselle. It flows along the valley full of vineyard. In this trip I visited cities along the Moselle, which were Trier, Bernkastel-Kues, Cochem, and Koblenz, in where the Moselle joins the Rhine.

Day 1 - Bonn and Cologne

In this trip I went by car with my wife and three friends of us from The Netherlands. We started in a nice Saturday morning from Eindhoven to Bonn as the first destination. We arrived at Bonn around mid-day, with a nice sunny weather in the city. Bonn has important historical track in Germany. It was the capital of the former West Germany until the country re-united in 1990. Bonn is also recognized as “Beethoven’s city” because this famous composer was born there at 1770.

Beethoven statue, Bonn

Our short walking tour started in Münsterplatz, a square with Beethoven’s bronze statue as landmark. From there we passed Sterntor (Star Gate), a piece of medieval city wall, and stopped to enjoy ‘bratwurst’, the popular German sausage bread. Then we visited the house where Beethoven was born. The front part of the house was changed as a souvenir shop selling things related to Beethoven, from CD and songbooks until shirts and key chains.

The next stop was the Rathaus, the town hall, which still used for many events. It was used for a wedding when we were there. From the Rathaus we walked pass the opera house to reach the side of the Rhine. Strolling along the riverside on the wide pedestrian, we arrived at the university complex. The interesting landmarks inside the complex are the ‘Koblenzer tor’ (Koblenz gate), the main building of the university that in the past was the electoral castle, and the main university park. Heading further from the Rhine we saw the long straight park from the university until the Poppelsdorf castle. Not far from there we arrived at the Münster Basilica, church that built in the 12th century. From the basilica we reached back in the Münsterplatz. We rested for a while in one of the outdoor cafes in the park before continuing the trip. We spent about 3 hours in Bonn before went to Cologne.

In Cologne, we parked the car exactly under the Dom (cathedral) square. The square was crowded with people, since Cologne was hosting Catholic world youth day. Passing the huge cathedral, we walked to the side of the Rhine. After enjoying our homemade sushi, we walked along the old town, passing the crowded old fish market square, the town hall, and arrived at the shopping streets of the city. After buying a cap in Hard Rock Cafe, we tried to find place for dinner, but could not find any interesting place, so we back to the Dom square. We had dinner in a nice Mexican-Italian restaurant.

Cologne Cathedral

The first night we stayed in Holiday Inn, about 6 km from the central of Cologne. The hotel location was very nice, surrounded by small forest with lake. We rested well before the trip in second day.

(to be continued)

Sunday in the Park

Venlo, 7 August 2005

On the first Sunday in August 2005 me and my wife were invited by a friend in Venlo, The Netherlands. There was a yearly ‘Klassiek op locatie’ event, series of classical music concerts that held in unique and interesting places in Venlo and surrounding areas.
The event has been always a popular event in Venlo, with good musicians and best locations. They have held concerts in various places such as castle, church, park, museum, even in prison.

The concert that we visited was held in Auxiliatrixpark, a green park within the nursing complex for elderly or chronically ill people. The location is peaceful but magnificent, green grass, big trees, and coincidentally they had sculptures exhibition in the park. For the concert they set a small round stage in the middle of the park and chairs for about 150-200 audiences.

We arrived around 3 in the afternoon, an hour before the show. We observed that the audiences in majority were elderly people, and some local residents on power wheelchair (wheelchair with engine). The weather was mild cold, around 17 degree, rainy, but the show was a sold out! As precaution, they put tent roof on the stage and audience place.

About the musician, Grupetto Ensemble is a Belgium quintet playing light classical music with specific historical themes. For this event they performed three themes, which are “The Last Waltz of the Titanic”, “In Flanders’ Fields”, and “Marlene Dietrich, Falling in love Again”.

The first part was the tribute to the musician of the Titanic. It was performed in composition of two violins, a clarinet, a cello, and a piano. They brought the situation back to the time of Titanic journey, with narration between the repertoires describing the performance sequence since the ship started in Southampton until it sank. The performed pieces were popular songs in 1900-1910 decade, salon orchestra songs with waltz tunes and American ragtime music. A touching moment when the band played "Nearer, my God, to Thee", an old man also sang the sad song. What a nostalgic melancholy.

The second part was about the First World War in Flemish region of Belgium. Again, the band was able to bring the audiences back to the past with the pieces that they performed. They opened the part with Réveil, the military waking call, and closed it with The Last Post, the standard military funeral tune. In between they interestingly mixed the favorite soldiers’ tunes, classical compositions from Debussy and Stravinsky that inspired by the war, and a new piece composed by the cellist of the Grupetto. The audiences joined the singing in the It's a long way to Tipperary.

After these two sets we had a chance to break, enjoyed refreshment drink and discussed the performance. The general comment was that the band highly exceeded our expectations! Personally I was in open mind mode since I never know the songs before, and I could appreciate and enjoy it.

Back from the break with Réveil call by the band, we enjoyed a different set. The set introduced a female singer to bring us back to Berlin around year 1930, time when the city was the central of music and entertainment, period when Marlene Dietrich was a famous actress.

The band performed highlights of Marlene, the majority were German songs, with mixture of strings or brass arrangements. In one of the songs the band used ‘musical saw’, which basically used a saw as violin. The musician placed the saw handle between the legs and held the other end with one hand. The combination of drawing the violin bow across the edge of the saw and bending the saw produced an eerie sound.

In general we were very pleased with the performance of the band. They were able to play multiple instruments like switching from strings to brass and able to bring nostalgic nuances with their songs. The vocal quality of the singer also suitable for the old tunes. The location also made the event better, with the peaceful park and also some showers during the show.

Another interesting fact was about the audiences. Since most were old people that once lived in the era of the songs, they were really enjoying the songs. Even some could follow the popular songs and sang loudly with the band. It was quite emotional experience to watch the old people happy. And it made me hope that even 50 years later I still can find someone performs Genesis, so I still can shout (well..sing..er..maybe humming)…’Me, I’m just a lawnmower, you can tell me by the way I walk. Walk!’

Complete performed songs list:
The Last Waltz of the Titanic
1. Passing of Salome (A. Joyce)
2. Apache's Dance (J. Offenbach)
3. Vision of Salome (A. Joyce)
4. Alexander's Ragtime Band (I. Berlin)
5. Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life (V. Herbert)
6. By the Light of the Silvery Moon (G. Edwards)
7. Shine on Harvest Moon (J. Norworth)
8. Nearer, my God, to Thee (L. Mason)
9. Songe d' Automne (A. Joyce)

In Flanders' Fields
1. Réveil
2. Niemandslandsmarch (H. Eisler)
3. Armeemarsch 606 (P. Hindemith)
4. The Soldier's March (I. Stravinsky)
5. Berceuse Héroique (C. Debussy)
6. It's a long way to Tipperary (J. Judge & H. Williams)
7. Blighty Blues (V. Biesemans)
8. The Last Post

Marlene Dietrich, Falling in love Again
1 Wenn die Elisabeth nicht so schöne Beine hätt (R.Katscher/H.Gardens)
2 You're the cream in my Coffee (de Sylva, Brown, Henderson)
3 Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuss auf Liebe eingestellt (F.Hollaender)
4 Ich bin die fesche Lola (F.Hollaender)
5 Spatzenkonzert (Boerschel/Burkhardt/Stolzenwald)
6 Nimm dich in acht vor blonden Frau'n (F.Hollaender)
7 Quand l'amour meurt (Crémieux/Robin/Millandy)
8 Wenn ich mir was wünschen dürfte (F.Hollaender)
9 Jonny (F.Hollander)
10 Pagan Love Song (N.H.Brown)
11 Lilli Marlene (H.Leip/N.Schultze)
12 The Boys in the Backroom (F.Hollander)
13 Nach meine Beene ist ja ganz Berlin verrückt (W.Kallo)
(Might be incorrect since the band played in different order from the distributed concert programme.)

Grupetto Ensemble:
Jo Vercruysse: Violin, trumpet, percussion
Henk Soenen: Clarinets, saxophone
Bruno de Schaepdrijver: Alto Violin, trumpet
Valentijn Biesemans: Cello, contrabass, musical saw
Jan Lust: Piano, percussion

Hannelore Muyllaert: Singer

Notes:
More information about the Grupetto Ensemble can be found in their web site, http://www.grupetto.be/.
More information about the ‘Klassiek op locatie’ event can be found in the event's web site, http://www.klassiekoplocatie.nl/

Biesbosch Trip, 30 July 2005

Biesbosch, 30 July 2005

This was my second visit to Biesbosch in one month. The first visit was quite adventurous. We rented motor boats and canoes and enjoyed the quiet small rivers in the area. I think that was my first time driving a motor boat and also rowing in canoe (not very successful in the second part, the canoe went zigzag instead of straight line J). At that time we started in Drimmelen, a small village in the south part of the Biesbosch area.

Short history about the area, the Biesbosch small rivers were created as the excess of the great flood in the area in year 1421. The water did not fully flow back to the main river and the sea, and created the small rivers and some ponds. Before the flood, the area was a cultivate land with several villages. Until year 1970 there was direct connection from the rivers to the sea, and it was closed during the Delta Works dams building in The Netherlands.

The name of Biesbosch originated literally from ‘de bosch van biezen’, which means the ‘land of reeds (a kind of tall grass)’. The reeds are dominant plant and in the past were used in the daily life, for example as the roof of the houses.
Another dominant flora in the area is the willow trees, which were also harvested by the local people.
Currently the area is one of the largest national parks in the country with size of about 9,000 ha.



In the recent visit we arrived in different side of Biesbosch, which is the Biesboschcentrum in city Dordrecht, the north side of the area. This time we did a boat trip using an electric boat with capacity about 70 persons. The trip passed through some interesting parts in the area, with detail explanation about the history and the facts about the nature. We saw the only left farmer house in the area, the willow forest, and the old worker house.

The boat tour lasted for an hour, and we were back in the Biesboschcentrum. After the relaxing and luxurious tour, we prepared the walking trip in the area. There are several possible routes, and we chose a route that comprises about 6 km path. The route lies beside the small rivers and separated into 3 parts of the land connected by small bridges. The first two parts contain natural bushes and trees in both sides of the path including the itchy ‘stinging nettle’, small insects, and a tiny frog.

The last part, which is the largest part, is a historical route where we can visit the old worker houses (one of them still actively used) and see the samples of different willow tree species. There was a local guide in this area, who explained the history of the houses.

We spent about 3 hours for the walking trip, including a sandwich lunch rest and duck-feeding. The ducks were really get familiar with humans and bravely approached us, expecting some foods.

In general it was a nice trip, experiencing Dutch nature and also with additional knowledge about the history.