BELGIUM AND THE NETHERLANDS RIVER CRUISE 2009
TULIPS AND WINDMILLS – April 13 -23
By Susan Lissack, Gabriola Island, British Columbia

Monday April 13th     Departed Vancouver for my flight to Toronto.  After a restful evening in Toronto, I met with my fellow travellers at Pearson Airport the next afternoon.  We left on our Lufthansa overseas flight at 6 p.m.

Tuesday April 14th  We arrived in Brussels at 11:30 a.m.  From there we were transferred to Antwerp, arriving at the River Empress, berthed on the Schelde River, at 12:15 p.m.  After seeing our cabin we enjoyed lunch on the ship and relaxed with an afternoon at leisure.  Pauline, my roommate, and I walked to the cathedral, strolled around various streets, then back to the ship and laid in the warm sun out on the upper deck.  (‘Cathedral’ in Latin means ‘seat’.)  Antwerp is famous for its beers; boasting 280 brands. The construction of the River Empress was started in 2001 and finished in May 2002. Its length is 110 metres, width 11.4 m., and weight 1,725,000 kg.  There are 69 cabins that hold 138 passengers.  Carries 36 crew.

Wed. 15th  (some showers and cool).  We left the ship at 9am with our local guide, Bob.  We walked to Grote Markt with its Guild Houses and the statue of Brabo throwing the hand. Silvius Brabo is a mythical Roman soldier who is said to have killed a giant, and by this would have created the name Brabant.  Later this story was also used to explain the name Antwerp (meaning hand throw). Brabo once killed a giant, called Druon Antigoon, who asked for money from people who wanted to pass by the river Scheldt.  When they didn't want to pay, he cut off their hand and threw it in the river. Because of this Brabo also removed the hand of the giant, and threw it in the river.  This mythical story is still shown by the statue in front of the Antwerp City Hall.  We carried on to Groen Plaats and its statue of the painter, Peter Paul Rubens.  This square used to be a cemetery.  We also had a tour through the Cathedral of Our Lady built from 1352-1521.  After lunch Pauline and I took the cruise bus to Diamondland.  Later I bought some chocolates at Del Rey at 5 Appelmanstraat.  We walked along the Meir to Wapper Straat where Rubens’ house is located.  We toured through the house then carried on to 2 Orgelstraat where my brother-in-law used to live.  We wandered among the streets and finally returned to the boat.  I later went back to Grote Markt to buy some ‘hand’ cookies and chocolates.  At 6:30 we had a champagne reception followed by the Captain’s welcome 5-course dinner at 7:30 – very good!

Thursday 16th (cool, cloudy, some showers)  Boarded touring coach at 8:30 a.m. for Bruges.  The city’s symbol is a brown bear.  It is a medieval walled city in the Flemish part of Belgium and is the country’s second largest port, after Antwerp.  The average is 260 days of rain per year.  Leaving the coach we walked about ½ hour through Bruges, starting in the Beguinage, which began in 1246 by the first liberated women who owned their own houses and worked independently.  The population is 50,000 and tourism is the #1 industry.  We enjoyed, between the rain drops, a half hour boat ride on the canals. Flanders is known for its tapestries.  Clay in the soil is used to make bricks to build the houses.  Following the canal ride we visited the Church of our Lady and the Belfry Tower.  We were then left on our own to wander about and visit the shops.  Back to the River Empress in time for dinner.  In the evening we enjoyed the entertainment of the piano player in the lounge.

Friday 17th (cool, windy) Our ship left at midnight for the Netherlands.  Holland, north and south, are two provinces in the Netherlands.  In the past, all commerce and shipping commenced from Amsterdam so people thought the whole county was Holland.  There are 10 other provinces which make up the Netherlands. Each has a capital and Amsterdam is the capital of the country.  It resides in the province of North Holland and its capital is Haarlem.  75% of the land is under water. Polarland is reclaimed or water-managed flat land.  Poplar trees grow by canals with roots in water and act as wind breaks.  Tulips did not originate in Holland as most believe, but in Turkey.  By breakfast time we had landed at Veere; an island.  We took a 20 minute tour bus ride to the Delta Project on  another island.  We watched 2 very interesting movies about the disastrous flood on February 1, 1953, when 1835 people died, many on their roof in freezing weather waiting to be rescued.  Dikes, dams and surge barriers now cross all inlets and rivers on the west coast except the Schelde which was left open to allow the ships access to Antwerp, one of the largest and most important ports on/near the coast.  We then walked to the Oosterscheldt storm surge barrier (65 concrete piers and 62 gates) and climbed the tower.  The concrete is expected to last 200 years but the gates for only 50-60 years as they will corrode.  They are frequently painted to prevent them from rusting.  After lunch on board, we walked about in charming Veere.  The ship left at 4pm.  During the evening we passed through 3 locks.

Saturday 18th (clear, sunny, warm) When we awoke we were in Rotterdam.  Rotterdam = River Rotter.  During breakfast our ship took us on a tour of the harbour:  under the Erasmus bridge, up Koningshaven on the right side of an island and back on the other side, under the bridge and moored.  The harbour is very industrialized.  Rotterdam is the second largest port in Europe and second largest city in the Netherlands. It was the world’s largest harbour until 2005 and now Singapore is. It is dubbed “city without a heart”.  It is famous for its cubist houses and buildings.  Shell Oil is the largest company in the country.  Netherlands is the largest flower country in the world.  52% of the city’s population is immigrants.  All employees receive 5½ weeks of holiday each year.  They have a Calvinistic mentality in Holland:  “don’t show your wealth”.   Our first trip today, after a drive through Rotterdam, was to  Kinderdijk which means “children’s dike”.  There is a group of 19 windmills along a canal.  We were able to enter a windmill which is privately owned and very compact inside. On the main floor is a small sitting room with a bed built into the wall at the far end.  At the end of a hall is a very small kitchen.  Toilet is in an outside building.  There used to be 14,000 windmills in the Netherlands and now there are 1000.  They were all built in 1738. Windmills originated in Arabia to pump out water.  In the 1200s they were introduced to Europe.  Wooden shoes came from the south of France.  3 million pairs are made annually:  1 m. for Netherlanders and 2 m. exported.  The round toe ones are for farmers and pointed toe ones for fishermen.  Many homes have espaliered linden trees in their front yards.  The roads and sidewalks are kept very clean.  Lace curtains can be seen in the front windows of many homes.  They are left open so people can see the houses are kept clean.  After lunch the ship left for Dordrecht.  Some took an optional trip to Delft.  We were free to walk about the hundreds of shops on our own.  In the evening a Shanty Choir of about 30 former sailors entertained us with their singing of sailing and drinking songs, both in Dutch and English.

Sunday 19th  (mostly clear)  Sailed until noon to Nijmegen.  In the p.m. we were driven over the Arnhem bridge where the Battle of Arnhem during WWII took place.  It is featured in the movie “A Bridge Too Far”.  We continued through Arnhem, which is near the German border, and on to the 6000 acre Hoge Veluwe National Park.  Helene Kroller-Muller was born in 1869 and assembled the largest private art collection of the 20th century.  Within the park was built the Kroller-Muller museum which displays 180 drawings and 87 paintings by Van Gogh.  In 1935 she donated them to the Dutch state.  The museum was opened in 1938.  She was the first director and died in 1939.  It is a nice museum with an interesting gift shop.  No hunting is allowed in the Netherlands. In the evening we were invited to play a guessing game called “A,B, or C”.  Our table of 4 won and we each were presented with a 10 Euro shipboard credit.

Monday 20th (very warm and clear) We docked at Enkhuizen after breakfast and at 9 am walked into the town with a guide.  We were shown the lovely sights for 1½ hours and then strolled about on our own.  Unfortunately the stores close on Monday mornings.  However one was open and did a good business with us.  Huiz = house; huizen = houses.  The town is on the Zuider Zee (South Sea) which flows into the Nord Zee.  Set sail at noon and arrived in Hoorn at 4pm.  During the sail we sat out on the open deck or in the lounge – the views were beautiful!  On arrival we walked about the shopping area of Hoorn.  After dinner 5 Dutch couples came on board and entertained us with their traditional dancing.  We were shown the various garments which make up their national dress.  For the second half they danced with their clogs on. This evening I won the Broad Horizons door prize at dinner which was a lovely set of Dutch coasters.

Tuesday 21st (very warm and clear) We arrived overnight in Amsterdam.  At 9am we left for a city tour and on to the Rijksmuseum, built in 1885.  Rijk = national.  We had a great guide and, among many wonderful works of art, saw Vermeer’s “Night Watch” plus “Little Street in Delft” painted in 1658 (which we have a copy of in our dining room – or do we have the original and the museum has the copy???) .  This is the only time he painted an outdoor scene such as this.  It is oil on canvas.  We had more city tour on our way back to the ship.  Amsterdam has a population of one million and 750,000 bicycles.  Another 250,000 people live in the suburbs.  It has 20 miles of harbour, 8 windmills, 100 canals and 1170 bridges within the city which is on the Amstel River. One of its famous products is Amstel beer.  Parking costs 7.50 Euros per hour (about $12).  To buy a house you pay according to its width, regardless if it is 2, 4 or 5 stories high.  About 15,000 bikes are parked downtown every day.  There are parkades only for them.  Even small retired boats are used to park them on.  They are also chained to metal fences everywhere.  Almost all the bikes are black so I don’t know how anyone finds their own. In the evening we had a champagne reception and then the captain’s delicious farewell dinner.

Wednesday 22nd  (warm and clear)  Left at 8:30 a.m. for Keukenhof Gardens, a 45 minute drive from Amsterdam.  We had 3 hours to walk along the paths, visit the 7 pavilions and shops, and drink in the beauty of 7 million tulips planted on 32 hectares.  They were first planted for medical research.  The garden is only open for 8 weeks each spring.  One of the large pavilions was filled with hundreds of beautiful orchids. 1949 was the first showing of tulip bulbs.   800,000 visit each year with a total of 45 million since it opened.  This year is the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson founding New Amsterdam which later became New York.  A castle in the park was built in the 1300s.  A countess lived there in the 1400s and died in 1436.  The castle was called Keukenhof as it had vegetable and herb gardens which were called “kitchen gardens = Keukenhof.  One man now owns the castle and gardens and the exhibitors rent their space from him.  Last year the garden exported 4 billion bulbs and earned 5.3 billion euros from the flowers and bulbs.  In the afternoon I took the tram to Central Station then walked along Damrak Street to Dam Square.  16 million people live in the Netherlands.  The flag has 3 horizontal stripes topped by red, next white and bottom is blue.  The town hall was built in 1638 and later became the Royal Palace. Before dinner Susan gathered us in the Captain’s lounge and treated us to a drink of bubbly.  We were a great group of 15 women and I think it was a perfect number.  After dinner the ship’s entertainment director took some of the passengers for a walk through the red light district, as well as provided us with a very interesting commentary.  Later was a wonderful fireworks display across the bay – the perfect ending for our trip!

Thursday 23rd  (warm)  Flew Amsterdam to Frankfurt at 11 a.m.  Left Frankfurt 2:20 p.m. and arrived Vancouver 3 p.m .