Prinsendam,and Sailing Away to Hamburg

On Board Prinsendam..

An orderly departure and check in ,for HAL, ever efficient ,and on board by 1pm,our cabin is very well planned, and the large walk in wardrobe a great asset, tons of space for my ample belongings..! Nice bathroom, refurbished and very functional ,it is an older ship, so a little wear creeping in, but we knew that, it’s a very “easy ship” only 835 passengers and is full. Everything easily accessible. A light lunch and later a welcome function for returning passengers, meeting with the Officers, and a nice bunch they are .It is a different atmosphere to other ships ,this is a voyage of exploration, rather than come along for the food and glamourous occasions of formality. One of the Officers, Dutch, regaled his recent trip to NZ, walked Milford track, the Routeburn and on to The Rail Trail, so he knew our region well, and had lots of tales to tell.. and questions to ask us…all very friendly. Our captain is a tall middle aged Norwegian chap, Dag, chats away, at times ,[ some you never hear a word from…] and was very forceful and insistent during our drill ,instilling much confidence .Our fellow passengers are, in the main ,US residents, older and quaint souls, in their best denim , they have had from younger days, and hairstyles to match ,we have some Dutch, very concise and to the point folk, and met a nice couple from Lincoln, Ch Ch, who we had lengthy chats to last night at dinner… Its interesting getting to know the US physic again, a whole new world ..Our neighbours approached ,I greeted them warmly, but just asked for a spare Bible, they needed two.

Sail away down the North Sea channel was so very interesting, and just loved everything we saw, and there was so much, a commentary ,that was so very informative ,by a woman with a very pleasant voice, and ease of manner, so that bodes well for the days ahead. The channel is through residential and industrial areas. Huge and clever modern designs, allotments amongst the apartments ,nothing high rise it seems, except the occasional one that stands out. Further down the ship yards, with much more to see, in huge craft for various purposes , Floating large Hotel ,an amazingly huge Wind Carrier, for the many wind farms and individual wind generators , dotted beside the channel , we came so close to so many, just meters away, in the evening silence ,so quiet we could hear people talking to their dogs, on their evening walks on shore ,it was interesting to dispel the myth that they make a noise ,they are whisper quiet, and noted no piles of dead birds around either.! Road tunnels under the channel now days ,it was begun in the 18oo’s.Many swans, white and graceful ,and then the Farms, all so neat and tidy ,crops ,and cycle tracks dot the land, and are used constantly. Strong people as a result ,the average Dutch man is 184 cm tall and women 170cm, just so as you know that.! We passed through Zandam, which originated in the 1600’s. Claude Monet resided there ,for a time ,and painted some famous works. It was misty, and cool, but we watched until we reached the locks to the North sea, had to have our fog horn going for hours.It was beautiful and so lovely to see. The Chanel is only about 300mtrs wide but brings shipping right to the centre of Amsterdam, a feat of engineering.
Today a journey of 80ks up the Elbe river to Hamburg, a distant shore to begin with, then towns, and pretty homes ,and more industry nearer to the city, warm but cloudy .Air Bus has a huge complex on the river, which is the design and ingenuity centre for all Planes ,interesting, we thought it was in France, many aircraft and a huge runway. Later a city tour of 4 hours, with time to walk to things included, at first an ugly place , plain brick buildings, built post war, canals ,and many places have huge “Water Doors”, from times past and still required ,it seems flooding is a real danger here ,from the Nth sea, even this distance up river ,sometimes large parts of the city have been inundated. It is below sea level. St Michaels Church, a survivor of the war, is huge and has impressive statues, wooden spire of a great height .The city centre and city hall are much nicer, and a man made ,very large lake, completes the picture of a pretty inner city. I thought it would be older and chocolate box looking, but no not much left after the bombing .We had drinks and pastries on the shore ,under beautiful trees ,before an extensive look around. A delightful young man for our guide, who told it as it is good and bad. This is a very Turkish place they came to work here , and are a large part of Hamburg, but divided religion wise. He said we do not say we lost the War, we say we were liberated from the Nazis, they damaged our society unbelievably, and so a different way of thinking of how it was, in terrible times.
Its sunny and warm and we are here for another day, trips to Berlin for some.
We will explore more tomorrow. Settled now, very comfortable and relaxing.. Bye from GermanyRead more