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Travel Notes
- Antwerp, Belgium
- Silver City, the Netherlands
- Gouda, the Netherlands
- Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Germany's Moselle Wine Region
- The Castles of the Middle Rhine
Antwerp, Belgium
In many ways, Belgium has been given a bum wrap. Many foreign tourists seem to see it as 'France light', or a country you go through on your train to somewhere else. This cruise does justice to Belgium's unique character and culture, starting with Antwerp.
You don't want to miss Antwerp's historic core; the magnificent Town Hall, guild halls, and Notre Dame Cathedral (check out the altarpieces by Rubens here, and the 400 foot spire that's still the tallest building in town!) speak to Antwerp's wealth and prominence in the 16th and 17th centuries. There are quaint narrow streets radiating out of the main square with more historic charm, but if you confine yourself to the historic, you're missing a big part of the story of Antwerp.
Nowadays, it has the reputation of one of the most interesting, avant-garde cities in Europe. You can see it first in the new architecture – only a five minute walk from the Cathedral, for example, is the city's old festival hall. On the outside, it looks like a period restoration, but inside, our jaws dropped. It's a luxury department store, ultra-modern in design, with a space age champagne bar in the lobby. Retail therapy AND champagne in an avant-garde setting? Living the dream, baby! The Jetson's dream.
And if the Jetsons ever had to go to court, the new Antwerp Law Courts would be the place. Its spectacular rooftop is reminiscent of sails in full wind. An avant-garde nod to the significance of shipping and maritime life in Antwerp's heritage.
But some of the hip-factor in Antwerp is experiential, too. It's known as a clothing design mecca, where the famous 'Antwerp 6' designers cut a radical new pattern for European design that still thrives in Antwerp today. All the more reason to shop!
And taste! Antwerp's nightlife adds to its new reputation, too. SIPS cocktail bar is a landmark for those in the mixology world, and its chief bartender is in world-wide demand for catering, recipe creation, and workshops. Bottoms up!
One more thing you must taste in Antwerp: Belgian Frites. Nothing avant-garde about them; there are stories of peasants frying potatoes in the area in the 1600's. Connoisseurs say there's a clear distinction between Belgian fries (or frites) and any other 'fry': true Belgian frites are thick, irregularly shaped, and DOUBLE fried. Clearly, part of the 'more is better' school of fatty cuisine, which frites fans compound by traditionally dipping them in mayonnaise! Indulge in a paper cone of frites while wandering the streets, or find a restaurant serving 'moules et frites', that is, steamed mussels and fries – the Belgian version of 'fish and chips'. Greasy-lip-smacking goodness!
Schoonhoven, Silver City, the Netherlands
Hi Ho Silver! The city of Schoonhoven dates back to the 1200's, but it was in the 1600's that the city became a centre of silver smithing. Now, it's known in the Netherlands as "Silver City", with dozens of boutiques and workshops and even the International Silver School.
The town is lovely, criss-crossed by canals, whose banks are lined with shops and boutiques. We went a bit off the beaten tourist track to Studio 925, whose owner and silver smith Jan VanNouhuys welcomed us to the gallery in the striking modern building built next to a canal on the site of 14th century fortifications. Jan is a delightful character!, with a charming, quirky sense of humour (there's a squeezy horn where you'd expect a door knob!) We were inspired by his passion for design, and for creating the high-end, ultra-modern, sometimes whimsical, and very European-designed silver vases, pitchers, sculpture, bowls, and art on display along with pieces by other silver artisans.
Back on our ship, we met a friend of Jan's whose style is at the opposite end of the history timeline. We're told Cor Kuijf is the last person making traditional silver filigree. Filigree comes from a word meaning 'thread', and silver filigree looks like silver threads wound into elaborate curlicues, and turned into belt buckles, broaches, necklaces and earrings. They're part of traditional Dutch costume, and it's a tradition that dates back hundreds of years. Cor gamely tries to teach us how to twist the tiny silver threads into patterns that fit inside their larger silver frames; it's times like this when you realize how big and clumsy your fingers really are!
Gouda, the Netherlands
You have it all figured out, right? This place is all about cheese. Well, that's half true. We did spend the whole day eating!
In the morning, we paid homage to the Netherlands' famed dairy cow. And one of its tasty contributions to cuisine: Gouda cheese, made in the Netherlands for centuries. We got a 'mouths on' tour of the whole process at the Hoogerwaard Cheese Farm, where they make certified 'farmstead' cheese: only unpasteurized milk, produced only on this farm, can be used in the cheese it produces. The smell of the aging room may have even been more delectable than the taste of the cheese itself! A portable treat! We stocked up and enjoyed back on our ship with wine.
But wait, there's more to eat! For the Dutch, Gouda's real claim to fame is syrup waffles. The syrup waffle is a thin crisp waffle, split in two, with a spicy caramel filling. They even let us try our hands at making a few, and the best thing is: even the ones we didn't cut right tasted divine! Apparently the Dutch eat an average of 20 per year. We exceeded the national average in one day! Good thing we also did lots of walking in Gouda (now we're talking about the town), with its impressive Gothic historic centre.
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Amsterdam
Amsterdam is on the top of the itinerary of every student traveling for the first time through Europe. It's got a well-deserved reputation for an open, tolerant, even permissive lifestyle that Puritan-rooted North Americans can't resist. For the strictly-raised, Amsterdam is Sin City, with the legal prostitutes in the Red Light district, the 'coffee shops' that serve pot (but no alcohol!), the famously fabulous nightlife.
Then we all grew up (or sobered up). And discovered there was so much more to Amsterdam. Our canal cruise through the world's most monumental inner-city highlights why it's a UNESCO World Heritage site, and offers a glimpse into its rich history in shipping and world wide trade. The Van Gogh Museum and the heart-breaking Anne Frank museum inspire. And the modern architecture is the juxtaposition with history that makes both more beautiful.
We do a bit of sipping as we wander the historic part of Amsterdam. At Wynand Fockinck, we learn that although the British are so identified historically with gin, they didn't actually invent it; they derived it from Dutch genever. It doesn't taste much like gin, although it does contain the requisite juniper berry flavour. The tasting room, dating from the 1600's, with its copper sink, shelves bent by the weight of bottles over the centuries feels so authentic.
Then we find ourselves at Café Chris, thought to be the oldest bar in Amsterdam (it was founded in 1624) where it's rumoured Rembrandt himself hung out while he lived in the neighbourhood in the late 1600's. We try advocaat, a hearty dessert-like alcoholic 'drink' (so thick you need a spoon to try it!) that seems like a cross between egg nog, crème brulee, hollandaise sauce, and brandy! (Maybe it's some of all three, though there are theories its name came from avocados produced by Dutch plantation owners who invented the drink, and substituted egg yolks for a similar effect in their home country).
Our cruise gives us an overnight stop here, so we do indulge in a bit of nightlife at the ground-breaking SupperClub Amsterdam. Which is a grown up version of extravagant nightlife crossed with wild décor and performance art that reminds us of what we loved about Amsterdam the first time all of us visited all those many years ago.
Germany's Moselle Wine Region
At our port of call in Koblenz, where the Rhine and the Moselle Rivers meet, we take a quick road trip to discover one of Germany's 13 premiere wine regions: the Moselle. We'd seen the vineyards, planted on the nearly vertical banks of the river, shocking to think anyone could plant and pick grapes – you'd need to be a mountain goat!
This is the native home of the Riesling grape, selected by early winemakers here from wild vines in the 1400's. By 1500, it was 'the' grape for all landowners in the region.
The Hahn family of the Von Schleinitz vineyard has been making wine for nearly that long, since 1650, so we visited their winery to ask why anyone would plant vines on vertical hills? The answer is the unique micro climate. Moselle wines are made in some of the coldest climates used for commercial winemaking, and hills with south / west exposure produce some of the finest wines in Germany. Unlike some of their counterparts in other wine regions, though, Moselle vintners can't benefit from technology; the grapes on the steep slopes are still tended and picked entirely by hand.
It's worth the effort! In our tasting, we compared both sweet and dry Rieslings and even tried the local sparkling wine (in Germany, it's not champagne, it's called sekt.) Rieslings are now produced around the world, but to taste them in the Moselle, grown on their native soil, gives you the 'real' flavour of Riesling wines.
Castles along the Middle Rhine
There is a magical part of a Northern Europe cruise that includes the middle Rhine. Specifically, its dozens of castles that have made it a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This stretch of the Rhine has a higher density of castles than any other river valley in the world – nearly one every mile for about 40 miles! This is the highlight of the cruise, and the reason many people take a Rhine cruise. It's one of the oldest and most iconic scenic river cruise routes in the world.
The castles pop up in the landscape along both sides of the river – really, a river cruise is the ONLY way to really get the full picture and the impact of history on the Rhine. From the sundeck of the Viking Sun, we get the full impact, even on a cloudy day – it gets us in a gothic kind of mood, and makes us appreciate the surroundings even more.
Of course, our big question, and what everyone wants to know is WHY? Why so many castles so close together? They look romantic, but the answer is not.
The castles date back to the Middle Ages, local warlords built them on hilltops where they could see to protect their little patches of land in the valley. It was like an early keeping up with the Joneses: if the count, duke, or prince next door had more power, a bigger castle, you lost your land.
They also served as early toll booths! the Rhine was vitally important for communications and shipping even in Roman times. In the Middle Ages, it was the passage into Italy, traveled by rich merchants with their wares. The castle owners controlled the flow of traffic, and the strongmen of the castles could strong arm payments for passage.
But today, they do seem romantic, whether well-preserved or in picturesque ruins. No Prince Charming's galloped into our lives on their trusty steeds… but a girl can dream, right? Certainly along the Middle Rhine!
