The Netherlands--Delft and the windmills

After a long train ride from Koln, and a long day of wandering through the streets of Amsterdam, we were ready for a nice train ride to the picturesque little village of Delft to spend the night.

We had picked out this touristy village as our last stop in this European adventure, because it's an easy train ride from Amsterdam and several other places we might visit. 

But just like the trains were on strike in Sorrento, and the metro workers were on strike in Rome, and the buses didn't stop as scheduled on the Amalfi coast . . . we ran into transportation changes around Delft. Instead of an easy train ride, the tracks outside of town were closed for maintenance. So we had to ride the train to the capitol city of The Hague, find the correct bus to the station, and then ride another bus to Delft. We've learned that traveling on public transportation in Europe means you must be flexible.

After checking into our hotel across from the train station, we set out to explore Delft. Instead of taking public transportation, we chose to walk our way around town. 

Those that choose to drive in The Netherlands must have good parking skills. These coveted parking spots next to the canal take a careful driver to back in between the trees without backing right into the water.

Most people choose to ride bikes, the favorite form of transportation in the flat land of The Netherlands.

While most of the water in the canals was clear, some was a little green. We're not completely sure why these houses have doors that open right into the water of the canal.

Our destination was the Market Center with its open plaza ringed by stores and restaurants. The plaza was anchored on one end with the Old Church.

The other end of the plaza was the Delft City Hall with its trademark red shutters.

In between the two, was an unusually large number of unusually large cheese shops.

But Denisa was on a mission to shop for the pottery that made this village famous. The Delft Pottery factory was down the street, and Denisa was looking for a blue Delft pottery cross. She was successful!

Delft was a good place to stay to make day trips to the capitol of The Netherlands at The Hague, or the cheese-loving town of Gouda. If we weren't battling the flu, we probably would have visited both of those stops. But we weren't running in high gear, so we opted for one main stop. Besides, having to catch a bus and then transfer to a train made traveling in this section of south Holland more difficult than usual. So we opted for a bus/train ride to Rotterdam. From the station, we walked to the Erasmusburg bridge to ride that strange boat that was approaching. That was the Netherlands version of a water taxi.

In a few minutes, we were on Waterbus #21, gliding under the bridge. All of our bus, train, and water taxi transportation was covered by the tourist-day-ticket we bought this morning at the tourist information office in Delft. 

Unexpectedly, our water taxi took us right beside Noah's ark!

Our destination for the day was Kinderdijk. This was the home of some big wooden shoes . . .

and wooden windmills.

A UNESCO world heritage site, Kinderdijk has 19 wooden windmills from the 18th century on display. This is the largest wooden windmill complex in the world.

These windmills were used to pump the water out of the polder for centuries. Much of this country was under water before the innovative Dutch figured out a way to reclaim the land from the sea to increase their land mass.

Windmills were everywhere along a walking trail that winds through the park. Entrance into this national park was free, and visitors are welcome to walk the trails and see the windmills from this distance. 

But if visitors want to ride on the boat coming down the canal, or watch the informational film, or enter the museum, they must purchase a ticket for 19 Euro.

We opted for the free walk on this beautiful day. We had once again wandered through more of God's wonders sprinkled with a few man-made windmills for interest.

This was our last full day in Europe, and it took all of our energy to make this day trip. This flu had really taken its toll on our energy level these last few days.

We had planned to make several stops in Rotterdam, and perhaps stop in the village of Gouda on the way back to Delft. But it was all Denisa could do to make it back to our hotel room in Delft. This flu and its cough were really getting worse on our last full day in Europe.

The next day we made the bus/train ride to the Amsterdam airport for the long airplane trip across seven time zones back to the United States. After two-hours of inching our way through the customs line at the Chicago airport, we narrowly caught our final plane to Kansas City. What a journey! 

Amsterdam with Rick Steves

We used another day of our Eurail pass to make the trip out of Koln's busy train station. The high speed ICE train required reservations, and whisked us across Germany and into another new-to-us country. We arrived at the historic Amsterdam train station for our first day in The Netherlands.

This Sunday afternoon the streets were already crowded with locals and tourists wandering through another of Europe's most popular cities. We wouldn't know where to start our exploration of Amsterdam, but we had a secret weapon this day. We had downloaded an audio tour from the Rick Steves web site. We became fans of this famous travel guide when we visited Europe over twenty years ago. He's still the best source of good information in his iconic "Europe Through the Back Door" handbooks and guides.  Some of his information is free, like the audio guides for Rome, Paris, Florence, Amsterdam . . . As we started the audio guide, it told us to turn with our back to the central train station facing south to see the city streets that spread out like a fan. We were instructed to walk down Damrack Street--which was once a river.

Because we weren't spending the night in Amsterdam, we were wheeling our suitcases around for this stop. In hindsight, we would recommend finding a luggage storage spot, as we really looked like tourists as we made the stops recommended in our Rick Steves' audio tour. For example, this was the entrance to a tiny shopping mall at #68 Damrack. Thanks Steve, for reminding us to fill our water bottles from the fish fountain here.

We each had one airpod in one ear as we listened to the directions and commentary that our favorite Europe tour guide provided for free. Rick led us to Dam Square, ringed with historic buildings in this city that has been here since 1250. The Royal Palace here was Holland's most recognizable building. 

After a couple turns, our next stop was right next to McDonald's at #58 Calverstradt. This hidden Catholic Church was behind a very plain small door in a very plain neighborhood. It was built and used when Catholics had to hide to worship in this country.

Rick's next stop would take several more twists and turns to a hard-to-find entrance into the Begijnhof community. Now it is a quiet neighborhood built around a church. But it was built to house poor widows dedicated to God who lived pious lives in Christian poverty. The last Begijnhof died in the 1970's, but single women still live here and tourists are forbidden from taking their pictures.

We stepped into the small church that was the center of their community.

Rick gave directions (that were sometimes hard to follow) down to one of the many canals that fan out from central Amsterdam.

This canal was on the edge of the Bloomingmarkt. From one bridge to the next, this canal was lined with products that celebrate Holland's flowers.

Everything from seeds to bulbs to fresh flowers and vases can be bought at this huge flower market. Of course, they are best known for their tulips. We managed to find room in our limited luggage to bring home a package of certified tulip bulbs that are guaranteed to go through international customs.

Across the tram tracks, we entered Koningsplein Square (King's Square). Another stop that Rick Steves has made famous was this local herring stand.

Rick recommends getting the local treat of raw herring covered in raw onions. For the less adventurous, the fried cod is quite good. For two travelers still feeling a bit flu-ish, we decided to just watch this local icon from a distance.

Instead, we stopped in at a local bakery that smelled less fishy. We bought this flaky spinach pastry that honestly looked better than it tasted.

We had a beautiful weather day to wander through the streets of Amsterdam. We walked over many of the 100 bridges that cross the canals of Amsterdam. 

We also found more of the random bike parking spaces that are peppered throughout this city. They even have bicycle parking garages here! Rick warned us to always be watching out for bikes as we walked around Amsterdam. His audio told us that there were 700,000 people and 700,000 bikes in Amsterdam.

Our next stop was Dam Square, home of the National Monument commemorating the casualties of World War II.

We enjoyed listening to Rick Steves' comments and historical background as we finished up our "Amsterdam City Walk" audio tour. We were getting tired, but we decided to start one more audio tour . . .

the "Red Light District" tour. Instead of making their jails bigger, the Dutch just decided to make more things legal. That would include prostitution (no pictures allowed on the red light streets) and marijuana. Rick's audio tour took us to the most famous convenience store--The Bulldog. Customers were enjoying their perfectly legal marijuana products inside and outside as well.

We decided not to finish all of the red light district tour. So we wandered our way back through the city on this beautiful blue-sky day. 

Amsterdam was a lovely place to spend a day. While many visit this city to go to the Anne Frank House Museum or the National Holocaust Memorial, we enjoyed our walk around the city while listening to one of the premier European travel guides.

We continued to follow the canal as it angled back towards the center of town. Eventually it brought us back to the train station where we first started our walk with Rick Steves.  Rick might recommend an overnight stay and spending several days to see more of Amsterdam. But we're heading on down the train tracks to our next destination in The Netherlands.

Koln (aka Cologne), Germany

Our destination today was Koln--which Americans usually refer to as Cologne, Germany. But since we are feeling very German (and because it is also shorter to type) we're going to use its European spelling for this blog.

After seven days on our cruise, it was time to repack our suitcases and get off our very comfortable ship. While Mark was feeling better every day, Denisa seemed to be feeling worse. It was a shame to have a flu that took away our appetites while on a cruise ship with its abundance of food! The last morning on the ship we would forego the delicious four-course breakfast menu and instead ate cream of wheat and oatmeal. On this European cruise we didn't have to go through customs as we departed the ship. With our two little rolling bags we left the ship in the first self-assisted departure group. It was a mile-walk to the bus stop to catch bus #11 for the ride to Klein, Germany's train station. Then we had four minutes to catch the hourly train. We might not have felt well, but we can be fast when we have to be. We made it on the train to Hamburg's Damtor station, where we switched to a very crowded train for the ride south. We were fortunate to find a seat for the four-hour ride, as Denisa was eating acetaminophen and cough medicine like it was candy.

When we got off the second train, we made the five-minute walk to the new Urban Loft Hotel and checked in. We probably should have gone directly to bed for the rest of the day. But we were visiting a famous European city that we have never seen before. So we left our luggage, and immediately started a tour of Koln's highlights. Most of them were in the historic old town area called Altstadt, on the west bank of the Rhine River. As we entered this section we were greeted by protesters and Palestinian flags in front of the Koln Cathedral.

While we planned to see the interior of this famous church, our first priority was the belfry. We paid admission for the privilege to climb the narrow and winding 533 steps. Notice that the steps were wider on the outside of the curve, but quite narrow on the inside. When meeting someone coming down, one of you had to traverse the narrow side of those steps. While this would be a daunting task on any day, it was especially difficult on a flu day.

After an invigorating climb up about half those steps, we came to an opening where we could see the bells in this bell tower.

The most famous is "Fat Peter." Until 2016 this was the largest bell on a straight yoke in the world.

After a breather to check out Fat Peter, we climbed on. The next section included steps enclosed in a metal cage.

When we got to the next landing, some people chose to go no further. The unprotected spiral stairs were daunting for anyone afraid of heights.

We were walking on clouds at this height as we peeked through the cathedral's ornamental openings.

The observation deck at the very top provided the best views at the top of Koln's famous cathedral.

It also provided the best views of the Rhine River that snakes it way through Koln.

The observation deck was a narrow walkway that completely encircled the bell tower.

We took too many pictures from the top, but we assumed this was another once-in-a-lifetime trek on this epic trip.

While going down was somewhat easier, we wouldn't say that it was easy. Again, meeting tourists going the opposite direction was tricky.

While climbing the bell tower required a ticket, visiting the inside of the Koln Cathedral did not.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, an average of 20,000 visitors come to see the Koln Cathedral's exquisite stained-glass windows every day.

In the middle of the summer tourist season we were way above average in attendance numbers.

But the Cathedral is so huge it is hard for it to feel crowded even in the height of tourist season.

Back outside, we were enjoying the beautiful blue sky weather with the twin cathedral spires behind us.

The good news was that our appetites seemed to be returning. Lunch at the best-reviewed shop selling doners was also on Denisa's check list. These turkish sandwiches include shaved meat, vegetables, and tzatziki sauce.

We wandered around Koln's Old Town to find the Heinzelmannchenbrunnen fountain. That is not an easy word to type or pronounce.

This ornate 19th-century fountain features the legendary house gnomes of Koln.

Wherever we wandered in Koln, we could always see the top of the Cathedral. The plaza surrounding it was a good place to meet or people-watch, or take a picture of the over-sized soccer ball celebrating the Eurocup games that Germany was proud to host for 2024.

While the cathedral was the most famous, we also found the Great St. Martin Church in Koln.

We were in Koln on a Saturday, and discovered this was the weekend-bridal-party town. 

We found a couple dozen groups attired in veils and sashes and matching attire celebrating upcoming weddings.

We also found German ice cream. After a week on a ship with little of Mark's favorite frozen treat, he was happy to wander with a cone in his hand once again.

Our next wandering took us to the Hohenzollern Bridge that crosses the Rhine River. In fact, this is the most heavily used railway bridge in Germany. Over 1,200 trains will cross the Rhine River here each day.

But the reason we wanted to walk the pedestrian side of the bridge was to see the record number of padlocks that hang here. Couples use a lock to immortalize their love on this famous landmark.

This practice has added 15 tons of weight to this bridge that is now commonly called the Love Lock Bridge. They estimate that more than 50,000 locks are hanging here, with 50,000 keys thrown into the Rhine River.

After our cruise, we literally hit the ground running, anxious to experience as much of Europe as possible this summer. We walked 7 miles this day. 

Even on a day when we didn't feel the best, Koln (aka Cologne), Germany, provided a beautiful place to wander.