Maurice ready for takeoff in Vancouver.

German countryside as seen on the train from Frankfurt to Berlin

After checking in we walked to the Berliner Dom.

German Emperor Wilhelm II, the last German Emperor and King of Prussia of the Hohenzollern Dynasty and the eldest grandchild of Queen Victoria of the UK, rebuilt the Berliner Dom in 1905 to be the central Protestant Church ⛪ in Germany 🇩🇪, with aspersions of influence beyond Germany.
Great audio tour of the Dom explained the symbolism of the ornate interior and the unification of Lutheran (Martin Luther) and Reformed (John Calvin) churches, both of which broke off from the Roman Catholic Church, due to dislike of the Roman Catholic practice of selling absolution from sins, amongst other beliefs.

Good views from the roof; and tour Hohenzollern caskets in the crypt.

Peggy (in red) on the steps of Berliner Dom.

Protestant Cathedral, on par with Roman Catholic Cathedrals.

View of flat Berlin from dome of Cathedral.

We ended the day with dinner at a Michelin Guide restaurant specializing in Austria-German cuisine. Delicious and excellent.

Peggy’s dinner: Sauerbraten “Lutter & Wegner“ with apple red cabbage, pointed cabbage and potato mash (Winner of the German Sauerbraten Championship).

I had the Pan fried Wiener Schnitzel “Lutter & Wegner“ style with lukewarm potato endive cucumber salad.

Opera House on Bebelplatz Square.

Library on the square.

St. Hedwig's Roman Catholic Church.

From there, we walked down Unger den Linden Boulevard which runs from the Stadtschloss royal palace (which is currently being rebuilt, after being demolished in the 1950’s by the East Germans) to the Brandenburg Gate.  We stopped at the sculpture of 'Mother with her Dead Son', the Russian Embassy, the “Ghost Station”, the American Embassy, and the €10,000 per night hotel where Michael Jackson introduced Blanket by holding him out an upper floor window.

Käthe Kollwitz's sculpture 'Mother with her Dead Son'.

Peggy at Brandenburg Gate.

Then we visited Pariser Platz, the location of Hitler’s bunker and the Holocaust Memorial. Walking through the Memorial was very moving.

Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe.

Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe.

We viewed the outdoor exhibit of the Topography of Terror Museum, situated at the former Gestapo and SS Headquarters.

Foundation of Gestapo and SS Headquarters at Topography of Terror Museum.

The Schutzstaffel (SS) was one of the most powerful organizations in Nazi Germany. It was the foremost agency of security, surveillance, and terror within Germany and German-occupied Europe.

The General-SS was responsible for enforcing the racial policy of Nazi Germany. The Armed-SS consisted of combat units within Nazi Germany's military. The SS-TV ran the concentration camps and extermination camps. 

The SS was the organization most responsible for the genocidal killing of 6 million Jews and millions of other victims in the Holocaust.  The SS was also involved in commercial enterprises and exploited concentration camp inmates as slave labor. After Nazi Germany's defeat, the SS was judged by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg to be a criminal organization. 

The Gestapo, an arm of the SS, had the authority to investigate cases of treason, espionage, sabotage and criminal attacks on the Nazi Party and Germany.

Georg Elser, who attempted to assassinate Hitler is honored by a nearby sculpture.

Sculpture of Georg Elser, who planted a bomb in an attempt to assassinate Hitler on November 8, 1939.  He planned everything down to the last detail. Elser spent many evenings at the Bürgerbräukeller Beer Hall. He would eat a simple meal and wait for the last guests to leave. Then, bit by bit, for thirty nights, he worked at hollowing out a column in the beer hall basement, where he ultimately placed his explosives and detonator.  It was a column that meant to rain down on Hitler in an explosion. \240But Elser's scheme went awry when Hitler ended his speech earlier than planned and left the Bürgerbräuhaus. Less than 15-minutes later Elser's bomb exploded. The explosion killed eight people and injured many more, but not Hitler. There, where the dictator had stood moments before lay a heap of rubble. During interrogations Elser revealed his motivations: "I wanted to prevent the war".

Lynsey told us about the Berlin Wall separating families.

BerlinWall.

Mutter Hoppe for lunch:

Peggy’s cauliflower and broccoli on mashed potatoes, baked with buttery cheese.

My Braiseknuckle of Pork on wine sauerkraut.

Then off to the Neues Museum, which was not our favorite, except for Nefertiti.

Bust of Nefertiti, who was an Egyptian queen.

Back to the hotel for a nap, then out for dinner.

One of the many, many beautiful buildings in Potsdam.

The lands around Potsdam have a number of palaces which were the summer homes of Prussian Royalty.

Cecilienhof palace, where the Potsdam Conference was held in 1945. \240This was the last palace built by the Hohenzollern family, built in the style of an English manor house. Completed in 1917, it has 176 rooms arranged around several courtyards.

We drove past the buildings from which the KGB ran its western espionage operations during the Cold War, and where Gary Powers (downed U2 pilot) was held.

Drove over the “spy’s bridge” that connected Potsdam to The American Sector of West Berlin, over which prisoner/spy exchanges, including Gary Powers, were made during the Cold War.

Sanssouci was the summer palace of Frederick the Great, to fulfill King Frederick's need for a private residence where he could relax away from the pomp and ceremony of the Berlin court. The palace's name emphasises this; it is a French phrase (sans souci), which translates as "without concerns".

Sansoucci Palace.

Sansoucci Palace.

View from Sansoucci Palace.

Peggy and John on Sansoucci Palace Grounds.

Fountain behind Sansoucci Palace.

Back of Sansoucci Palace.

Back of Sansoucci Palace.

Back of Sansoucci Palace.

Frederick the Great’s grave. \240Note the potatoes. He was known as the ”potato king” — he wanted to save wheat for soldiers so he introduced potatoes to Germany to feed the commoners. Germans do love their potatoes!

His beloved greyhound dogs were buried in the same plot as Frederick the Great. Not his queen, Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern; not his children.

Train back to Berlin zoo; then a picnic in Tiergarten Park; then walked through Tiergarten park to the Brandenburg Gate; then walked up Unter den Linden back to our hotel.

We had dinner in the revolving restaurant in the Berlin TV tower, which was built by the East German government in the 1965-69, and modeled after Sputnik, the 1st artificial Earth satellite.

TV tower, built to prove that East Germany could build something tall.

Sunset from TV Tower.

Sprawling Berlin has a lot of history, but is not so pretty to look at versus Vancouver (big mountains rolling down into the big ocean) or Shanghai (innovative architecture) or other major cities (sky scrapers).

My saddle of lamb, with sukkah crust, potato gratin, spinach, carrots, and pomegranate gravy.

Peggy’s veal tenderloin steak, zataar dip, green asparagus, and beet root couscous. \240Special thanks to our meal sponsors, Bryan and Joan Quinlan.

Dinner was delicious!

Our hotel, Gasthof zum Greifen, was built in the 14 c. as the home of Mayor Toppler.

Our room on the 3rd floor has 2 windows looking up to the market square.

It feels like walking around a town near Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Our spacious room in Gasthof zum Greifen.

View from our 3rd floor room.

This is a shopper’s paradise with many little shops on each of the 6 streets that intersect the market square.

View of the market square from the front door of our hotel. \240On the left, the town hall. Straight ahead, the town Councillor’s tavern, with the town clock.

John near one of the gates in the massive stone town wall that completely encircles this medieval town. Nothing much happened here for 250 years — from the end of the Thirty Years’ War in 1648 until Rothenburg was ‘discovered’ by artists such as Richter and Spitzweg in the 19th c. So having sat impoverished and virtually unchanged for 250 years, it became a tourist destination in the early 1900’s.

Now the 12,500 inhabitants are employed mainly in the tourism industry.

Peggy outside a Huge Christmas store, that took a couple of hours to explore.

Inside Christmas store (play video)

Inside Christmas store (play video).

Town clock (play video).

Our waiter for lunch.

Interesting house near a gate in the wall.

Doug and Penny join us in the evening and Maurice meets Bernard.

Medieval doorways were not designed for Doug’s 6’2” frame.

View from the town hall tower down to the market square.

View from the tower South over the Tauber river valley.

View from the tower North, with St. Jakobs Lutheran Church in the foreground; the town wall with 2 of the 42 towers which stud the town wall in the centre; and homes outside the town wall in the background.

Altar of the Twelve Apostles in St. Jakobs, 1466. Note wood carvings including crucifix with four angels representing Faith, Prayer, Unbelief and Doubt.

... even the rear side is painted (Legend of St. James).

Holy Blood Alter is said to incorporate a rock crystal capsule with three drops of the blood of Jesus. \240In the wood carving of the Last Supper, Christ is giving Judas the morsel of bread which marks him as the traitor. \240I was on my way out of the church when the attendant directed me upstairs to see the church’s most precious piece.

Two Canadian girls sitting on a bench near the former Dominican convent, which fed the poor via a lazy Susan imbedded in the convent wall, so the nuns could feed the poor, without being seen.

A low portion of the wall, as it was along a cliff face. \240

Walking along the wall ...

Doug and Penny at Vito for dinner.

Peggy’s Gnocconcini - homemade noodles filled with tomatoes and mozzarella with light basil-tomatosauce.

My Sacchettini - homemade noodles with cheese and pear in Sacramento Gorgonzola sauce, walnuts and poppyseed.

After dinner we took the Night Watchman's Tour, where the watchman jokes like a medieval John Cleese, while telling slice-of-gritty-life tales.

Selfie

Night Watchman explaining his duties and stature within the medieval community — third from the bottom, ahead of gravediggers and executioners.

Other tales included the plague which decimated 90% of the population; the manholes in the huge wooden gates; the town being besieged and taken by Tilly in 1631 after a townsman unwittingly (drunkenly?) carried a torch into the gunpowder storage room to see how much remained; and how John McCloy prevented the destruction of the town near the end of WW II.

The highlight of the day was the Old Town Hall rebuilt after a fire disaster in 1440. \240The frescos are particularly impressive.

Note the 3-dimensional leg sticking out from Cupid on this fresco.

Emperor Heinrich II founded the bishopric of Bamberg 1007; the first cathedral was consecrated in 1012.

The present day building was finished in 1237.

Imperial cathedral of St. Peter and St. George.

Tomb of the imperial couple, Heinrich II and Kunigunde.

Old Court (play video).

The Old Court is the location of the former imperial and bishop’s palace, which was once directly connected with the cathedral.

Neptune Fountain at Gruner Markt.

Gruner Markt (Green Market), with sumptuous looking fruit and vegetables. We bought some grapes that were great!

Fishermens’ homes, on left, show how important fishermen were in medieval times, and how plentiful the fish were.

Typical Bamberg street. Very quaint.

We got drenched in a downpour.

Bought some sandwiches, chocolate pastries and red wine for dinner in our hotel room.

The Ontario Nurses — BettyAnn Dickinson (Uxbridge) actually a teacher, Marg Drury (Barrie), Marg Sallows (Orillia), Monica McMillen (Port Perry) an accountant, Judy Hemming (Toronto), Sharon Schmidt (Port Perry) — met 56 years ago in nursing school, and still vacation together. Their first trip some years ago filled the barge with 24 nurses. Apparently it was a large ‘pajama party’.

Eltz Castle in the background, which was never taken by force. \240

The Castle sits on a steep rock, encircled on 3 sides by the river Eltz, a tributary of the famous Mosel River.

Rudolph von Eltz received a deed of gift from the Emperor in 1157.

850 years and 33 generations later, the Castle and surrounding 450 hectares of unspoiled ancient woodlands are still privately owned by one of Germany’s most eminent noble families. \240Count Karl of Eltz is the current head of the family.

The first division of the family into 3 lines took place in 1268. Subsequently the 3 families lived in the Castle, in separate households.

Philipp Karl was unanimously chosen Elector by the Mainz chapter on June 9, 1732. Thus he became the spiritual leader and most powerful prince of the church North of the Alps. \240In addition as Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire, he was the most important person after the Emperor.

Clearly the American ideal of separation of church and state had not caught on in Germany at that time.

Eltz Castle is one of the few castles never to have been destroyed by force. By skillful diplomacy, the castle survived even the turbulence of the Thirty Years’ War (1618 - 1648) without being damaged.

(Photo credit: Doug Redden) All exhibits belonged to members of the Eltz family and, originally at least, were acquired for actual use.

The oldest firearms on display are the 15th century arquebuses.

The Halberds — typical weapons of foot soldiers from the 14th century onwards — consisted of a combined battle-axe, spear and hook for unseating horsemen.

Full armour, helmets and \240breast plates.

At this point we were told: ”no photos inside castle.”

Our fascinating tour continued through the living area; the lord’s bedroom with it’s raised bed and ensuite bathroom - an outhouse protruding from the side of the Castle; the children’s bedroom (childhood was shorter in Medieval times, ending at age 7) the knights’ hall, the hunting room; and the kitchen.

All the rooms have been well preserved and largely furnished with original contents.

Afterward we continued to Cochem for dinner on the Iris and a brief walking tour of the town; then off to bed.

View from the breakfast table as we sailed upstream.

Maurice and Bernard ready to start biking.

Apparently Beilstein is often used as a location for Christmas 🎄 movies — just add snow.

We biked upstream from Beilstein to Edinger,  where we stopped for coffee, overlooking the river.

Campers along Mosel river, German style, complete with satellite TV dish.

Coffee break at Edinger.

After coffee we split into two groups. Our group climbed the hills and through the narrow cobblestone roads of the small towns. This was excellent aerobic exercise.

View from the vineyards to Edinger below, and beyond to the Mosel River.

We eat our box lunches in this small town square.

Timber-framed house.

We biked through Zell and on to Traben-Tranbach.

Traben-Tranbach has some special art nouveau buildings - we were across the river from the hotel decorated in the art deco style, complete with a large nude mural in the men's bathroom, so Doug was unable to take a picture for this journal.

Traben-Trarbach.

End of the first day’s cycling. \24052 km on the bikes today - Peggy and I are both feeling fine.

Our end-of-day assembly point was a wine festival in Traben-Trarbach.  Wasn’t that handy?

From Traben we sailed to Bernkastel-Kues.

Riding through the rain forest — play video — Peggy in red is the 10th person; John is last. (video credit: Pierre Fugere).

Maurice makes it to the top of the hill near Schalkenmakren.

We missed a turn; so this year we didn’t circle the Eiffel volcano and the volcanic lake at Schalkenmakren.
After retracing our steps we rejoined the abandoned railway and coasted downhill for 10 km to Wittlich, where we took our afternoon “coffee break” in a beer garden.

Beer garden near Wittlich.

Then we road back to Bernkastel for dinner. We rode 58 km today.

In the evening, we went wine 🍷 tasting at a small local wine estate.

They only produce 40,000 bottles per year.

Vineyard prices have fallen from €20/square meter 10 years ago, to only €5/ square meter today.

This was our favorite wine of the evening.

Bernkastel is an old, picturesque town, reputedly with the best wine regions of the mid-Mosel.

Cusanusstift. \240Nikolaus von Kues built Cusanusstift in 1458 with apartments for 21 older (i.e. 40 yrs.) men who could no longer look after themselves - 7 lower class, 7 upper class & 7 middle class.

Ready to leave Bernkastel-Kues.

Then we biked upstream alongside the Mosel beside vineyards to Trier.

We stopped for lunch in Piesporter, where the guides treated us to some Flammkuchen.

John, Lia, Jeroen, and Jacques.

On route to Trier ... more vineyards in the background.

We had dinner at the Paulaner restaurant on the Trier riverfront.

I learned that my “arse limit” is 70 km per day.  Today we road 74 km.

Porta Nigra, the Trier city gate, which was built around 18 AD. (John is waving from 3rd window from the left.)

Imperial Baths at Trier ...

... were tall ...

... and broad.

Artist’s impression of design, in front of the ancient ruins.

At the beginning of the 4th century, Trier rose to become the imperial residence.  The western part of the Roman Empire, encompassing Britannia, Gaul and the Iberian Peninsula was administered from here.

Then we road along the Saar river to Saarburg.

We had cocktails in Saarburg beside a 20 meter waterfall and amongst the old houses from the 17th and 18th century, which make Saarburg picturesque.

Waterfall.

Then we rode a couple of kilometers to where the Iris was docked for the evening.

After dinner, Peggy, Penny, Laura and Lia walked a few kilometers up to the castle of Saarburg.

Castle of Saarburg which was built in the middle of the 10th century.

... we then took a ferry across the Mosel river into Luxembourg, and followed the Mosel south to Wormeldange.

I asked Wouter Van Den Berg how tiny Luxembourg had survived the hundreds of years, without being subsumed by one of its larger more powerful neighbors France or Germany.

He responded: Well that is a good question.  It is a bit complicated but the most defining moment was that in 1815, after Napoleon was defeated, the victors decided that they needed a big nation above France to keep them under control. The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg were put together and made into one country.  Then after Belgium got independence, Netherlands-Luxembourg was reduced in size but stayed under the Dutch crown as a separate country.  Then something very odd happened when William III died in 1890 and the crown went to a woman (Wilhelmina) in the Netherlands:-  Luxembourg started looking for a different lord because they followed salic law that only men could succeed to the Luxembourg throne, so the throne of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg passed to a 6-centuries-distant cousin, Adolphe.

The so called “fast group” in their colorful rain gear.

We visited the Caves Cooperatives des Vignerons Wormeldange, an industrial scale winery which makes Crémant de Luxembourg, i.e. an excellent Luxembourg “Champagne” (only wines from the Champagne area of France can be called Champagne).

Crémant de Luxembourg is a sparkling wine made according to the traditional method of sparkling wine production which includes a second fermentation in the bottle followed by nine months of maturation.

Crémant de Luxembourg.

We then continued in Luxembourg to Remich, where we made a side trip to visit the Roman mosaic floor in Nenning.

Sarcophagus at Nenning.

Finally we sailed to Schengen, where we docked for the night.

The Schengen Agreement was signed in 1985 in Schengen, Luxembourg. The 26 European countries in the Schengen Area have officially abolished passports and all other types of border control at their mutual borders.

Duke of Lorraine’s Castle in Sierch-Les-Bain’s

From Sierck-les-Bains we biked in France to Thionville.

At coffee break we took note of the French “Arret” sign – apparently the language police in France are not as strident as those in Quebec.

 Along the way we passed the Cattenom Nuclear Power Plant, one of France’s fifty-eight nuclear power plants.

Thionville is part of the Maginot line, an enormous line of defense, built early in the 20th century against a possible German invasion.

At Thionville we said goodbye to our new friends and boarded the trains to Frankfurt Airport. 

Our bike and barge companions include:

Laura Cava Smith and Linda Reisinger of San Jose, CA.

Peter Horwood and Lise Houle of New Westminster, BC.

Patricia Emmons and Steve Schroeder of Phoenix, AZ.

Pierre Fugere and Jacques Fugere of Quebec City, Quebec.

Kevin Hilgers and Janice McNeice of Victoria, BC.

Penny and Doug Redden of Victoria, BC.

Ann and Gregg Goold from Wales.

The Ontario Girls — BettyAnn Dickinson (Uxbridge), Marg Drury (Barrie), Marg Sallows (Orillia), Monica McMillen (Port Perry), Judy Hemming (Toronto), Sharon Schmidt (Port Perry).

John and Peggy Bean of West Vancouver, BC.

Our guides, Lia Van Zaal and Jeroen Kuiper from The Netherlands.