Rhine River Cruise - Day 5

If yesterday was castle day, today was church day. It was Ascension Day, which in Germany is a holiday (and Fathers Day), so the banks and retail stores were closed. While it was a disappointment to some of our traveling companions, it gave us a chance to visit churches.

Our ship docked at Mannheim, but buses took us to Heidelberg for the main excursion of the day. Heidelberg Castle, destroyed three times, either by religious wars or natural disasters, remains a ruin much revered by local residents. You will see a portion of it in the photo.

After the castle tour we descended to the old town. Heidelberg is a Protestant town, so we visited first the large parish church in the center of the city. Next came the Catholic church (pictured), redolent with incense from an earlier service, and then, further down the main shopping street, an Evangelical church.

We met the ship again at Speyer and after warming up a bit (it has been unseasonably cool) we walked into Speyer to see the huge Kaiserdom (the imperial cathedral). It was Romanesque in structure with beautiful, spare, modern furnishings. We even got to hear a brief organ recital before walking the length of the immaculately clean main street. True to the Fathers Day tradition, many families were out celebrating.

Tomorrow we will visit Strasbourg, a French city. More to come...

Rhine River Cruise - Day 4

This was the day that Jan has been waiting for ever since she was in college doing a second major in German: to see the Lorelei cliff and the castles along the Rhine. And it did not disappoint!

After breakfast we boarded buses to the Marburg Castle -- reportedly the only castle never to be conquered over the centuries. One could see why -- first because it was on a cliff high above the river, and four levels of gate security, some sections traversing rough-hewn stones that it was hard to walk on even in modern hiking shoes. There was the obligatory moat, plus passages so narrow that a soldier in armor could not have gotten through. The the castle is seen above us in the picture.

We returned to the ship and began the section where all the castles had been built. Steep hills and cliffs were on both sides of the river, with the castles perched on the tops. We went above to the outside sun deck to take pictures as we passed. We'll post these on a Picasa or Kodak site once we get back. Needless to say, even though it was cloudy, we enjoyed the passing scenes.

After another great dinner, we took a brief stroll through the village of Ruedesheim, a touristy place on a more level section above the valleys.

Tomorrow, we're on to the university town of Heidelburg, for another castle tour and some free time. More to come...

Rhine River Cruise - Day 3

Our floating hotel docked this morning right in the heart of Cologne, Germany, the fourth largest city in the country. After breakfast, our day started with a walking tour of the Old City and the great Cologne Cathedral, one of the great Gothic cathedrals of the world. Our guide was a history major from Oxford who had moved to Cologne to teach, and decided to stay. He was superb.

After lunch we were on our own, so we walked first to one of the Romanesque churches that had been badly destroyed in the war, but rebuilt in a fine restoration. We walked back to the cathedral to tour it at a more leisurely pace and then checked out the excavated Roman praetorium (governor's palace). The Romans founded Cologne and made it their northern-most outpost in the Roman empire, so there is much excavation going on all around the city. And most of the churches were built on top of Roman temples, homes, etc.

Not all of Cologne is historic or serious. We finished our day with a trip to the Schokoladen Museum, dedicated to the story of chocolate and how candy is manufactured. Of course, we had to buy some to keep our chocolate levels up to healthy levels. As usual, the dinner was great.

Tomorrow is "castle day" when we will visit one, and watch for the many others we will pass on our continuing trip up this great river. More to come...

Rhine River Cruise - Day 2

A major part of the Netherlands is below sea level. The Dutch are famously proud of the land they have reclaimed from the sea by building dikes and pumping the water away from the enclosed land. The first pumps were the windmills.

On Day 2 we visited a World Heritage site called Kinderdyk where a total of 19 windmills built in the 18th century were employed to reclaim a major amount of land. We were able to inspect the inner workings of one such, and Jan took a photo of me outside next to the mechanism used to redirect the wings as the direction of the wind changed.

The rest of the day was spent onboard the Viking Sun, heading up the Rhine toward Cologne. The experience could not have been nicer -- sitting in the lounge watching through big picture windows as the scenery unfolded before us. In the afternoon, a Gouda cheese-tasting and a Captain's toast moved us toward a delicious dinner.

Today, Day 3, we will arrive in Cologne and tour the old city and the vast Cologne Cathedral. Then, we move on to the next adventure. More to come...

Rhine River Cruise - Day 1

This is a terrific experience.

We arrived in Amsterdam after a trip to Atlanta to pick up the trans-Atlantic flight to Amsterdam. A four-hour delay caused us to arrive late, and our plans to check out museums there fell through.

After arriving at the Viking Sun, our cruise ship, we unpacked and walked from the dock to the central rail terminal in the heart of downtown Amsterdam. We walked up one of the main streets for a ways, but our impression of the city was damaged by the fact they are facing a sanitation workers' strike, so trash was every where. The photo is of Jan in front of the train station.

The first evening on the ship included a great dinner following the obligatory safety lectures. We met some great folks from Australia, Maine, Michigan and, of course, Minnesota. The Minnesotan is a cardiologist working at the Mayo Clinic.

Today, Monday, we head for an World Heritage Site featuring Dutch windmills. More later...

Diocese of Newark Convention - 2010

By my count, this is the 41st Annual Convention of the Diocese of Newark I've attended.

As might be expected, a lot has changed. The first ones I attended were held in May, on one day, in the cathedral. May is a nice time in Newark. But now the conventions are held in January, which is not a nice time in Newark, where this one -- the first in a long time -- is being held. The opening worship will be held in the cathedral and the outdoor procession is going to be cold.

Back in 1969, technology consisted of a microphone on a long cord carried down the aisle to pick up the words of convention debates. In 2010, there will be 7 video presentations along with about a dozen PowerPoints illustrating various convention reports. Wireless mikes dot the convention floor to pick up convention debates. Two large rear-projection screens flank the dais.

For the last ten years, I've been a part of making these technological advances work. I am glad to see how far we've come.

Minnesota State Fair - de gustibus non disputandum

There is no argument about tastes when it comes to the Minnesota State Fair -- you will find just about every expression of tastes known in every corner of the world.

Jan and I attended the Minnesota State Fair on September 4 and 5, 2009 and decided to try some favorite Fair foods and some new ones. Pictured above you will find us munching on deep fried pickle slices, one of the new tastes. We also enjoyed battered cheese curds (both white and yellow Cheddar), hot dogs on a stick (Pronto Pups with flour batter, beef and wild rice corn dogs with corn flour batter), gelato, apples and honey taffy. The foregoing are on-the-go foods; in addition we enjoyed hamburgers and chicken wraps with fries and chips at dinner with my sister, Barbara and her husband, Jim, and on Saturday, bratwurst and kraut.

We passed over a whole lexicon of other available tastes, from hot dish on a stick to deep-fried candy bars, from elk burgers to spaghetti to meat balls on a stick, from Spam curds to deep-fried banana splits. There is no way to sample all of these delights in just two days.

Beyond the fun we had with the culinary excursions, we visited almost every corner of the fairgrounds under beautiful blue skies with moderate temperatures. The highlight of Friday evening was the grandstand show featuring the taping of this week's edition of "The Prairie Home Companion" with Garrison Keillor and ensemble. The show was great (including an audience sing-along during intermission) and ended with always-appreciated fireworks display.

On Sunday, September 6 we will begin the trek back to New Jersey, celebrating Labor Day on the road. And who knows what new tastes await on the journey back?