Lover of Wine – Travel along on our adventures – DAVID & JANEEN

April 25, 2019April 26, 2024

4-23-19 Amsterdam The Hermitage and Portuguese Synagogue

On Monday we boarded our new home, The River Empress,

for the next 11-days cruising along various rivers from Amsterdam to Basel Switzerland ,stopping along the way at eight different spots on the rivers. Prior to leaving Amsterdam, however, we were treated to a private visit to the Hermitage Museum. This is an Amsterdam based extension of Russia’s famed Hermitage Museum housed in the former Amstelhof, a classical style building from 1681.

Tsar Peter (1682 – 1725) had a special relationship with Amsterdam, having lived in the city for several years. He founded the very first public museum in Russia, and some of the exhibits at the original Hermitage were items he acquired in the Netherlands. Therefore it only seemed natural to create an extension of the famous Hermitage in St Petersburg in Amsterdam. The Museum was opened about 10 years ago with a rotating exhibit staying for 6-months then being replaced with an entirely new exhibit of items.

One of the first galleries we entered was filled with Old Dutch master paintings.

Multiple old Dutch Master paintings and shields of wealthy patrons

These paintings were huge! Not of royalty, but of Citizens.

Governors and Governesses of the Charitable Works Dutch companies. Cared for orphans, widows, poor.

Many of these painted were completed in the late 1600’s and depicted various Guilds of the time. It seems groups of men would band together for a common cause and then want to have their portrait painted to commemorate the group. The person who paid the most was the more important in the painting while those with lesser means were depicted more in the background. The room holding these paintings is huge – as is required to be able to exhibit these paintings some of which are quite large.

Spotlighted exhibits had a couple of paintings, one by Rembrandt depicting dissections.

This was Rembrandt’s depiction of dissection of a thief as by the famous Dutch anatomist.

Drawings of muscle and skeleton were studied by artists as well as physicians.

Anatomy dissection was a group activity where people paid to watch from an amphitheater

Any criminal or a stillborn child could be used for anatomy dissection, as it was believed they would not be going to heaven.

Around another corner was Donna Nuda – oil on canvas, transferred from panel by Leonardo da Vinci. It seems Catherine the Great bought this painting in 1779 from Sir Robert Walpole as a work by Leonardo.

Donna Nuda by Leonardo da Vinci
Does anyone look at Her smile?

The Musée Condé in Chantilly, France, has a drawing that bears many similarities to this work and that Leonardo specialists largely attribute to the master himself in 2017. Over ten versions of the Donna Nuda exist in various collections. The Hermitage version is the best of them all.

William of Orange plaster bust 1816 He promoted an independent Netherlands.

Anna Pavlovna of Russia – Crown Princess of the Netherlands plaster 1816

This was the church hall where services were held when this building was a Seniors Home

Next was an exhibit of the Green Room Malachite pieces which helped make up the Malachite room in the royal Russian palace.

Some of the many wardrobe pieces stored at Hermitage in Russia , displayed in wedding room.

Solid disc of malachite , clocks, vases, eggs, were on display, the walls of malachite remain in Russia

The stone was considered to be therapeutic for stress relief. It was where all royal princesses were prepared for marriage.

Swan, embattled, compare with painting in Rijksmuseum

The Threatened Swan (c. 1650) by Jan Asselijn held in the Rijksmuseum

We had the place basically to ourselves for a few hours and it was lovely for sure. The central exhibit contrasted ancient works with modern aspirations of the same theme.

Medieval St. George and Dragon
Compare with 19th century painting

19th Century St. George April 23 is his day, and that of our son Jason’s birth.

This lion was just stalking outside the Hermitage near the kinder museum

After our visit to the Hermitage we walked over to the Portuguese Synagogue – a late 17^th-century Sephardic synagogue completed in 1675.

Front of the Portuguese Synagogue built by those expelled from Spain and Portugal, with Navigation and mercantile knowledge

This was one of the largest and richest Jewish communities in Europe during the Dutch Golden age and their very large synagogue reflected this. The wood for the arc was jacaranda from Peru. The synagogue remains an active place of worship. The building is still without electricity and all services are held under candlelight.

Inside the Portuguese Synagogue Note the Jacaranda wood arc

Over 600 candles are needed to light the Portuguese Synagogue

After our tour, we returned to the boat to settle in for dinner and the evening’s entertainment.

April 23, 2019April 26, 2024

4-22-19 The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam

There are over 50 different museums in Amsterdam. Top amongst them is the Anne Frank House, Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum. However, there are a lot of others including Rembrandt House, NEMO Science Museum, the National Maritime Museum, MOCO Museum, the Cheese Museum, the Houseboat Museum and a bunch of others. As it was impossible to get tickets for Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum was sold out we were pleased to get tickets to the Rijksmuseum.

Entrance plaza to the Rijksmuseum Museum

The Rijksmuseum is a large national museum is dedicated to the arts and history of Amsterdam. Sunday, after our friends Gloria and Jerry arrived, we gathered everyone and walked to the Museum for a visit. Located in Museum Square and close to the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum and the Concertgebouw it is an impressive building filled with lovely art.

Originally founded in The Hague in 1800 it was moved to Amsterdam in 1808 and was originally located in the Royal Palace. The current building was first opened in 1885 and reopened in 2013 after a ten-year renovation.

The library within the Museum was quite spectacular all by itself

A Windmill on a Polder Waterway 1889 by Paul Joseph Constantin Gabriël . This really reflected the windmills we visited previously in our trip.

Bacchus and Ariadne, Gerard de Lairesse, c. 1680

It is the most visited museum in the Netherlands with over 2.2 million visitors annually.

This tin-glazed earthenware violin cannot be played, for it is a decorative object. When the collector John Loudon purchased it for a record 1500 guilders in 1876, this violin was considered to be the absolute masterpiece of Delft earthenware. The modeling and painted decoration certainly make it an exceptional object.

Displaying over 8,000 objects of art and history from the total collection of 1 million objects from the years 1200 to 2000. Among the collection are pieces by Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Johannes Vermeer and Vincent Van Gogh.

The Meagre Company (1633–37) by Frans Hals and Pieter Codde

The Threatened Swan (c. 1650) by Jan Asselijn

Vincent Self-portrait 1887 . Vincent moved to Paris in 1886, after hearing from his brother Theo about the new colorful style of French Painting. Wasting no time, he tried it out in several self-portraits. He did this mostly to avoid having to pay for a model. Using rhythmic brushstrokes in striking colors, he portrayed himself here as a fashionably dressed Parisian.

WE spent the better part of the afternoon walking around the Museum trying to follow the Highlights Tour.

Rembrandt (ca 1630) Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem

The Night Watch (1642) by Rembrandt . This is actually a daytime march – not a night scene.

Dueling pistols made in the workshop of Jean Le Page in Paris in 1815. The case came into the possession of Lt Henry Sagermans of Brussels shortly after the Battle of Waterloo. Sagermans claimed the pistols were found in Napoleon’s travel carriage that had been abandoned near the battlefield.

This tour was supposed to bring us to all the most significant pieces in the collection and thus to get us through the place without having to camp overnight.

April 20, 2019

4-20-19 Amsterdam – Touring on our own

Did you know that more than 25% of the country of Netherlands is below sea level and more than 50% of the country lies less than three feet below sea level? Well I didn’t, but it is something that is very apparent when you see all the dikes and waterways around the country.

A large large lake was created by placing a dam across the Amstel river

Amsterdam, the capital city, is built entirely on poles driven almost 11 meters into the soil made up of clay and fen (fen is a type of wetland dominated by peat). Furthermore, today’s Amsterdam rests atop 10 layers of ruins (or at least one source I read states).

More modern buildings along the canals too.

Our first river cruise of this trip started here but we didn’t do much touring in city as the first off-boat excursion was to the Keukenhof gardens (see 4-8-19 Holland at Tulip Time for more info). This time, we are here a full week prior to our second river cruise so we are booked into the Hilton Hotel and just doing whatever we want.

Our first day, after getting all settled into our room, we walked to the Hop on Hop off Bus/Boat tour of Amsterdam.

There are two different boat tours of the canals, each lasting over an hour. It seems this ‘Venice’ of the north has over 165 canals and more than 1,200 bridges.

The buildings all have changed occupancies over the years – warehouses became apartments, apartments became stores, never staying the same.

The canals are lined with trees and very typical canal houses or old warehouses from the Golden Age (17^th century). Along the way the commentary points out various historic or iconic buildings and generally it was a sunny, relaxing time on the water.

The facades of the buildings were all different

These buildings are called the Dancing houses – they seem to lean – well they don’t have many vertical lines that is for sure.

With all the canals, there are approximately 2,500 houseboats. Residents occupy most of them but some are available for rent by visitors.

There are a variety of different styles of houseboats for sure.

Plus there is one houseboat just for cats, another that is a Museum about Houseboats. These houseboats are not cheap.

The houseboat on the right is actually on a concrete ‘boat’ much less maintenance.

A recent sale of one in good condition one was over a million euros!

Bicycles – there are LOTS of bicycles in Amsterdam and beware the riders.

OK, there are a lot of bicycles in Amsterdam

Current estimates indicated there are something like 880,000 of them in the city – and in a city with about 800,00 people. Some estimates say around 60,000 bicycles are stolen each year and literally thousands of them end up in the canals each year.

Whole families use these things – take your kids to school or go shopping.

You really have to watch where you are walking or you will end up in a bike roadway and in deep trouble .

Within the City there are a number of museums, but we haven’t ventured into any of them yet – several are part of our upcoming River Cruise agenda and at least one, Rikjs Museum, we are doing when our friends Gloria and Jerry arrive on Sunday and on Monday we are going to the Hermitage. Of course one of the most well known museums is the hidden room of Anne Frank – yes, Diary of Anne Frank fame. This place is by reservation only and it books 2 months in advance – so no chance of that for a visit (although, I admit it wasn’t on my to do list anyway). The Van Gough museum was also sold out for the week.

Over the centuries, many religious buildings have been built in Amsterdam, including a number of important and stunning churches that are still standing today.

The Westerkerk Church was built between 1620 and 1631 in Renaissance style

The tower of the Westerkerk is the highest church tower in Amsterdam, at 87 meters (±286 feet). It is crowned with the Imperial crown of Austria of Maximilian.

Several of these incredible churches rank among the oldest surviving buildings in the city, whereas others were completed in response to the Reformation in the 17th century.

The Oude Kerk Church is the oldest building and oldest parish church founded circa 1213.

Once we finished the water tour we stopped at the Central station to buy a metro pass.

Central Station – a major hub for buses, trains and on the water side boats.

This pass is good for all buses, trams and even ferry boats, and can be used for outlying areas as well, if you pay extra. We have tried out the 2 5, 7, 12 and 24 tramlines, so far.

We also got a recommendation from the front desk for Janeen to schedule a pedicure and manicure to last through mid-May. While in the nail salon neighborhood, David discovered the “hidden” post offices of Amsterdam, and found postal workers to be informative, happy to help, and the source for most stationery store products.

Just sitting by the canal having a cold one.

And yes, there is a windmill in Amsterdam

In our strolls out for breakfast coffee, we see green space everywhere, required by the city since the 16^th century. The 21^st century city plants a tulip bulb for every single citizen of Amsterdam! Add to that, pots of tulips in front of every hotel, parkways planted with daffodils and narcissus, blooming rhododendron, hyacinth, camellia as well as tulips at every flower shop with residential flower boxes spruced up for spring, and Easter will be filled with flowers. All in all a very pretty city.

April 18, 2019May 17, 2019

4-12 & 4-13-19 Antwerp & Brussels

So, it’s been a while since we have updated our blog and we have traveled along several different rivers stopping along the way at Maastricht (where we didn’t get off to join the walking tour of the town);

This looks a lot like John Wayne – without the hat of course – not sure what it was trying to be on the streets of Antwerp.

Antwerp and finally Brussels. Along the way we watched the world go by on our riverboat and enjoyed beautiful weather the entire time.

The River Queen was our home for a week of lovely times on the River.

While most passengers toured Maastricht ,we chose to pass and stayed on the boat for a day of leisure (well, we did do a load of laundry) and relaxation. Once everyone was back on board we motored on to Antwerp.

The Guild houses on the square in Antwerp.

Antwerp is a major port city in Belgium on the River Scheldt with history dating back to the Middle Ages.

Best know for the centuries old Diamond District where thousands of traders, cutters and polishers work on virtually ALL the worlds’ diamonds. Unfortunately they don’t give out free samples. In addition to Diamonds, the City is a major shipping center and was the home of the Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens.

Our walking tour included the sights, sounds, and smells and yes, even the tastes of Belgium.

In every town we have stopped there is always a record store selling a WIDE selection of music.

Yes, there were a lot of beer joints in town.

On our walking tour we sampled some grey shrimp, a unique Flemish sea product described as the ‘queen of seafood’ .They are less than an inch long when peeled, have a greyish-pink color and a more pronounced taste than the traditional pink shrimps.

We followed this with an Elixir d’Anvers herbal liquor that has been produced since 1863 – this was known for its good digestive and beneficial properties and was used on horses to prevent colic!

After this, on to waffles, whipped cream and coffee – yum is all I can say here.

Of course, along the way we saw lovely sights including several Rubens paintings in the

The Cathedral of Our Lady is Roman Catholic started in 1352 and, although the first stage of construction was ended in 1521, has never been ‘completed’.

Cathedral of Our Lady – actually four different paintings are on display in the church.

The Raising of the Cross by Peter Paul Rubens

The Central Square is lined with Guild Buildings (recreated after all the bombing from WWII) very lovely with their ornamentation and gilding.

David and Janeen in the central square of Antwerp.

Janeen way ahead of the group on our way back to the bus after our walking tour in Antwerp.

The bus followed us along as we traveled from port to port

After Antwerp it was on to Brussels (again) where there was another tour (we skipped) and the final day on the ship. Our goal, when back in Brussels was to take the shuttle bus into town to get CHOCOLATE (and a special box for K.B.) at the Neuhaus store.

Janeen with our chocolate treasures from the Neuhaus store in Brussels.

After the final cruise dinner, the next morning we took a taxi to the train station and boarded the 9:52 train to Amsterdam.

Another life boat ring picture for our collection

April 13, 2019

4-10-19 Baking Sausage Rolls and Vincent Van Gogh

As one of the options for the day, UniWorld had arranged for a local baker to take us in hand and show us his shop, teach us to make a sausage rolls and give us an introduction into the local baking world of Heusden.

Heusden was first mentioned in the 11^th century and has had a rich history with a number of castles dotting the area (we didn’t get to any sadly). Our day was focused on meeting the local baker, walking from the boat to his shop and learning a bit about what it means to be a baker, businessman and parent in this little spot along the river.

Baking, not in a tent like the British Baking Show, but at the shop of Lucas Vermulen in the village of Heusden was on tap for todays adventure.

Lucas pointing out the name of his shop on the door.

Lucas Vermeulen, our guide and baker, is at least a fourth generation baker and purchased his current location 8 or 9 years ago. Originally it was a small shop but over time he has expanded his capabilities and purchased adjacent properties to expand the physical footprint to accommodate his expanding business.

We started off with a cup of coffee and general introduction by Lucas. However, we were only give a few minutes before the instructions began.

First up was to see how he makes a sausage roll.

Admittedly the hard part was already done for us – the dough had been made, allowed to rest and was ready for us to flatten out to accommodate the sausage. So, after about a 5 minute introduction, we were all given 5 dough balls and 5 pieces of sausage with instructions to flatten out the dough, get the sausage inside and roll them – using both hands – so the sausage was fully enclosed and the dough sealed.

David and his ready to bake rolls. Note the round “ball”. It seems the ability to make a roll was beyond him.

After getting these done, they were all collected and taken to the proofing area to allow the dough to rise again and the baking to be completed.

Lucas at the proofing oven – a walk in room.

While this was underway off we went for a tour of his facilities. As he has expanded, and purchased adjacent properties, there were slopes, steps, small rooms and hidden corners to go around. To make things more exciting the shop experienced a power outage so the lighting became an issue!

After seeing the stacks of flour; large mixing areas; stacks of completed breads;

Janeen with all the lovely hair net ladies

walking by the large ovens, we got back to where we started and were given a bag with our finished sausage rolls.

Here’s Davids attempt at a sausage roll.

Here’s the receipt for the sausage rolls – of course it is in Dutch so good luck.

Needless to say, while they were tastier, the presentation wasn’t as good as a professional might have completed. However, all in all a delightful experience.

Janeen and Lucas after our baking adventure

About a month ago, we were in Saint Remy France where we walked in “Vincent’s Footsteps” to places where he set up his easel and painted various pictures. Saint Remy came after he left the village of Nuenen so it was interesting to see a part of his earlier history. This time we followed our guide to various spots in the village where he did the same thing – over two years producing around 500 paintings, drawings, sketches and watercolors.

The part of the home Vincent used as his studio for two years.

Unfortunately none of his works are on view in the village as most are in the museum in Amsterdam. However, the Van Gogh Heritage Centre did a great job of highlighting his time in this village.

Vincent came to Nuenen to stay with his parents, a pastor in the local church. During his time in the Village he produced one of his first major works – the Potato Eaters

Vincent’s Potato Eaters – a very dark work for sure.

and there was information about its creation as part of the museum.

This is a three-story building that illustrates Vincent’s life until the time he left

All things Vincent while he lived in Nuenen are in this building

Nuenen in 1885 and includes a short film illustrating how his first masterpiece, the Potato Eaters came to be made.

Just one of the displays inside the museum

Although there are NO actual Van Gogh paintings in the village, statues, viewpoints of paintings and village views are of interest.

The house where Vincent’s parents lived is just across the road from the Vincentre and still houses the minister of the local (protestant) Dutch Reformed Church. In the garden at the rear of the house is where Vincent had a studio and painted most of the works completed in the village.

Other stops along our walk included the park where a three dimensional representation of the Potato Eaters has been created along with a statue of Vincent.

It is clear that this village doesn’t have a lot going for it beyond the history of Vincent’s 2 years living in the place, but it does have the name of Jason’s friend Aardaaple for a street.