ENGLISH ODDS AND ENDS

                                    A Little Trivia

 A word about James Herriot country. I loved the Herriot books as much as my children did and always wanted to meet the friendly vet---who actually was a fictional character. The village of Thirsk is where the real Alf Wight practiced as a veterinarian  for many years and is the setting of his fictional town of Darrowby. In reality Dr. Wight also had an outreach office in Leyburn. The Herriot movie was actually filmed in the village of Askrigg, as Thirst has no village center---that was a figment of Wight’s imagination.  His office is now The World of James Herriot Visitor Center. Riding through the countryside of Dr Herriot was almost like I’ve been here before.

     The population of the North York Moors  National Park is 18,000. The National Trust only owns 1.5% of this park. The medieval cross is the North York Moors symbol. These crosses are named and were used as guide posts across the moors. One dates to 600AD. The tradition was to leave coins on top of the cross if one was able; if one was in need he could take what he needed.

     The North York Moors National Park is the most easterly of all the parks in England and has only 12 million visitors a year. The Peak District National Park has 26 million visitors a year and is second only to Mt. Fuji for annual visitors.  The park, established in 1952, is England’s fifth National Park and its 553 square miles makes it the country’s 4^th largest. It is also the only upland park in the east of England and is in a relatively remote area. 

      Farms are located part way up the dales to hook into water supplies from streams and springs.  20% of the park is forested.

      Our Scarborough hotel, originally built as a 19^th century four bedroom home, was converted to a hotel late in the century. During WW II the hotel was used for billeting the military. Located on the ocean cliffs, we had a spectacular view of the city, beach, and North Sea. It was peaceful and quiet.

     Scarborough is a typical coastal tourist town and part of the city has all the entertainment that plagues the peace and quiet.  Located just outside the National Park, it is not on American tourist agendas, but the British do holiday here. The park has the most extensive track of heather in all of England and Wales. A sea of purple covers 160 square miles when in season. The red grouse, indigenous to the area, has a big relationship with the heather; 20% of the park is in coniferous plantation, about 45% is enclosed farming, leaving 33% open moorland.

     A large spa was built below the cliffs in 1640 and for years people flocked to the baths. Sometime ago pollution shut down the spa and now it is used as a convention center.

RIEVAULX ABBEY

                           Gorgeous Ruins in a Lovely Valley 

            Set in a remote valley in the North York Moors National Park, the abbey lies in a wooded dale by the River Rye, sheltered by hills. Rievaulx is one of the most complete, and atmospheric, of England’s abbey ruins.

To have enough flat land to build on, a small part of the river was diverted several meters west of its former channel. The monks altered the course of the river three times during the 12th century---one example of the technical ingenuity of the monks.

            Built in 1135 by twelve  monks from Clairvaux Abbey, it was the first Cistercian abbey in northern England. Over time the monks built up a very profitable business mining lead and iron, raising sheep and selling wool to buyers from all over Europe. It became one of the wealthiest abbeys in England.

       The abbey was very large housing 150 choir monks and 500 lay brothers. The chapter house, where the monks went to read, was on the south side.

Towards the end of the 13th century the abbey had incurred a great deal of debt with its building projects and lost revenue due to an epidemic of sheep scab, which was  compounded by Scottish raids in the early 14th century. Then came the Black Death in the mid 14th century making it difficult to recruit new lay brothers for manual labor. As a result the abbey was forced to lease much of its land. By 1381 there were only fourteen choir monks, three lay brothers and the abbot left at Rievaulx

After 400 years it was one of the last monasteries to close under King Henry VIII, in 1538.

It must have been exquisite in its day because the ruins are now, over 800  years later.  Many of its graceful Gothic arches remain standing. Excavation of the abbey started in 1920.

The setting and scenery was lovely, restful and peaceful. We wandered around the ruins for sometime trying to imagine what it must have been like in its heyday. I’ve visited many such ruins and these were some of the largest and loveliest. 

WHITBY, ENGLAND

                                         An Interesting City

          A large whale bone archway, near the harbor, greets visitors to Whitby, known as the gem of the northeast coast.  From 1750-1850 it was the sixth most important seaport in the UK primarily transporting coal to London. The Esk River runs through the city. A swing bridge provides passage from the populated side of the city to the abbey side.

            At one time there were three ship building yards in Whitby. In fact, Captain Cook’s Endeavor was built in Whitby. Rope making, fishing, whaling, and alum mining were once important industries.

            Whaling provided oil for lubricating machinery, softening leather, and making soap and candles. Whitby was one of the first European cities to have gas lamps—with whale oil.

            William Scoresby, a farm boy, attended school until age 9, then he worked on the farm until 16 when he broke family tradition of following in his dad’s footsteps and went to sea. He sailed on the Speedwell and was captain of many ships. In 1753 he started whaling. He is credited with inventing the crow’s nest.

            At age 10, William Scoresby Jr. stowed away on his father’s ship. At age 13 he apprenticed, at 18 was a mate, and a captain at 21. He invented the marine diver to measure salt and temperature of water at different depths. He did over 300 experiments of the effect of magnetism on a compass and on a ship.

            He left the sea at age 33 pursuing the ministry. Leaving the sea meant a huge pay cut for the young Scoresby. However, he continued experiments and scientific studies publishing many scientific papers. In 1825 he studied the effect of pollution on the air and environment, but his studies were short lived, no doubt because of industry pressure and influence.

              St. Hilde, a 7^th century abbey, dominated Whitby.  After wandering around the town we tackled the 199 steps up to the abbey and the nearby St. Mary’s church. We had a nice view of the harbor once at the top. The abbey is much smaller than Rievaulx but a gorgeous gothic structure.

            England is full of old churches, abbeys, and castles. One can visit only so many and, although each has its own history and background, that is usually enough.

NIJMEGEN, HOLLAND

NIJMEGEN (ny men gen)

Romans had a military camp in what is now the city of Nijmegen, the oldest city in the Netherlands. Close to the German border, the city is situated on a range of hills near the River Waal. The surrounding area of hills, woods and polders, creates a varied countryside. The waterfront set against the backdrop of the city center is a splendid sight. Past and present gracefully mingle where historic buildings are interspersed with fine examples of modern architecture.

We were docked in the Waal River. Modern apartments lined the river front. We walked through flood gates that were installed after a 1982 flood.

Before starting up the hill our guide told us, “During Operation Market Garden in WW II, 20,000 paratroopers were dropped into the city to secure the bridges. It was a very foggy night, and with the troopers everywhere it was pretty much a fiasco, but they did secure one bridge. Later Allied bombers mistaking the city lights for Cologne bombed the city killing 3000 people and leveling one-third of the city.”

Everywhere we went we found a clock on each side of the towers in the cities /villages. The double eagle goes back to Roman times.

The hill was not a steep climb. We stopped at a wartime Jewish memorial at the equivalent of a small traffic circle on the narrow cobbled streets.

With a university and a higher educational vocational school much of its 160,000 residents are young.

Stopping at St Steven’s Church, it was explained, “Notice there is no statuary on the church façade. When all the churches were being destroyed the priest removed all the statues and buried them. Years later they were recovered and put on the school/ monastery across the street. See the twelve apostles standing proud there.”

Construction on St Steven’s Church began around 1254. The building started in Romanesque style but was completed in Gothic style. The Renaissance-style tower was built in the mid fourteenth century and has dominated the city skyline for centuries.

Along the way the guide stopped in front of a coffee shop with sign of a marijuana leaf over the door. I immediately recalled on my first trip to Amsterdam that we were told, in Holland pot and soft drugs are legal. But beware--you buy coffee in a café and pot in a coffee shop, where there is no coffee.

In the pedestrian square we stopped by a statue across from the weigh house. The statue is of a young orphaned girl who lived with a stepmom and sister in the woods. Each market day she was sent to market to sell goods they had scrounged in the forest. One day she was told not to return until everything was sold.

Going through the woods a highwayman robbed her of the goods. She sat down and cried. Then suddenly the devil appeared and gave her money. She ran off and lived with him for seven years. She returned to the village one day to see a play that turned out to be a religious one, and she realized what a sin she had committed. She went to the priest to confess and was sentenced to wear a chain around each leg until they fell off. Seven years later the chains fell off, and she spent the rest of her life as a nun.

The Dutch seem to have stories or legends for many of their statues.

Behind the statue is the ornate Gothic 15^th century town hall. I understand the inside is not remarkable.

After the walking tour we spent some time wandering the huge Saturday market that extended for blocks. Showers were intermittent, so we scooted into a store or two along the way to wait them out. The main street ran parallel to the harbor, so at any perpendicular up street we had a nice view of the harbor below.

One vendor gave us a stroopwafel sample. They were yummy, and we each bought a package to bring home. I actually managed to get them home unbroken to share with friends.

Nijmegen is an interesting and sweet little town where we found very friendly people.

MUNICH TRIVIA

                                                  Fun to Know

In 1810 Ludwig I married and threw a big party, and Octoberfest has been held here in late September- early October ever since.

Each year 110 million gallons of beer are brewed in Munich and 70-80% of it is consumed in the city. The drinking age is 16 for beer and wine, 18 for anything harder. Interestingly beer is considered liquid bread and is taxed as bread not as alcohol

The Lowenbrau brewery cellars are under the street.

Benedictine monks were here in 970.

Bavaria is spelled Bayern in German

Bavaria is the largest state in the Federated Republic of Germany, and is about the size of Montana. Located in the southeast part of the country it occupies about one-fifth of Germany’s acreage.

Munich became the capitol of Bavaria in 13^th century. Prior to that Regensburg was the capitol.

Nymphenburg, the summer palace was the King’s gift to his wife in 1664 for delivering a son. The Wittelsbach dynasty ruled Bavaria for 738 years, until 1918. The Palace is a half-mile long and basically circular. It is symmetrical with equal buildings mirrored on each side and took 150 years to finish. There are 500 acres of park in the back. When the family came here they hardly came alone considering they brought 500 horses and 1000 servants.

Ludwig I sent his son, Otto, to Greece where he ruled for 30 years, thus the Greek influence on the local architecture. Museums are housed in many of the buildings

All the high rises are in the suburbs because a city ordinance prohibits any building being taller than Our Lady Church. There are 210 churches in the city.

Don’t miss the opera house or the famous glockenspiel at city hall.

KOBLENZ, GERMANY

                                                    A Charming City

      Koblenz is one of the most beautiful and oldest towns in Germany with over 2000 years of history. Surrounded by four low mountain ranges, the picturesque old city has an abundance of cultural monuments and historic buildings, as well as many cosy lanes and narrow alleyways. Cobbled river promenades and lovely squares are a real treat. In the historic center narrow lanes and sidewalk cafes are abundant. (English spelling replaces the K with a C.)

     Originally the city was in the shape of a triangle as it is at the confluence of the Rhine and Mosel Rivers, while the third side provided fortification for the medieval city. The Mosel is spanned by a 1344 Gothic freestone bridge with 14 arches, and two modern road bridges as well as two railway bridges. The arched bridge is built over Roman supports. It was damaged during WW II but repaired and rebuilt. We were docked within sight of this bridge and walked down to check it out.

    Our walking guide told us, “Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC; the city celebrated its 2000th anniversary in 1992. This Roman town became very important in the 13^th century as an important link for European trade. During WW II the city was heavily bombed and 87% of the city destroyed because munitions were manufactured here in addition to it being an important transportation center. A plaque in the pedestrian walkway says 3772 flights dropped 10,000 tons of bombs in a short time destroying 15,000 of the 25,000 homes. Over 1000 people died and many more were injured. The old city was rebuilt using many of the old facades.”

    Parts of the old city wall, which contained 21 towers, are still visible. As we walked I thought how the colorful and cheerful window flower boxes were reminiscent of Switzerland. Many towers were visible in the skyline, many with onion domes. Except for a wee bit of wood trim, the houses are brick or stucco with slate roofs. Typical in this part of the world, most of the buildings were joined with no right of way between.

Policeman greeting a local vendor

     We detoured into the small area in front of the Mittelrhein Museum, a late Gothic building erected between 1419-1430. Poised above the entry door and below the clock is the augenroller (eye roller). I was intrigued with how his eyes seem to move around as you viewed him from different angles.

    Jesuits arrived in 1580 to ensure the survival of Catholicism. The entrance way and door to the Jesuit college is the only original part of the building.

     Manhole covers are seldom of interest, but leave it to me to find an unusual one The French occupied this area for twenty years. It was home to French refugees during the French revolution. Of course only males were here and eventually some of them married German girls. Their offspring were called schangel. The brass covers in the city depict a mischievous little boy.  Koblenz also has many comical and descriptive statues around town.

    The Church of Our Lady demonstrated three architectural styles. The twin towers were Romanesque, the chapel Gothic and the onion-shaped domes Baroque. The stained glass windows on the side of the church were an unusual scallop shape.

    The Basillica of St. Castor, founded in 836, has four towers. The present Romanesque building was completed in 1208 and the vaulted Gothic roof dates to 1498. The French erected a fountain in 1812 in front of the church including an inscription to commemorate Napoleon’s invasion of Russia.

Koblenz is a charming and interesting city and certainly is worthy of a visit.

RIVER MEMORIES

Charming Small Towns

A Word About Cheese

The Dutch have been producing cheese since 400 AD. In the Middle Ages official dairy markets and weigh houses were introduced that controlled both the quality and weight of cheese.

Today most cheese production has been taken over by factories, but there are still 600 plus cheese producing farms. Dutch cheeses include Gouda, Edam and Leiden. Gouda cheese accounts for 50 percent of all cheese production. Edam is the only cheese in the world that is perfectly round and is the second cheese product. Leiden cheese is distinguished by the addition of cumin seeds.

Soft cheese (jonge kaas) is ripened for three weeks, sharp cheese (belegen kaas) ripens two to seven months, and very sharp varieties (oude kaas) ripen at least twelve months.

Years ago the farmer would take his cheese to market once a week. A buyer would make a bid the farmer refused, and the bidder walked away. The bidder returned, the farmer would raise the price, and the buyer would walk away again. The third time a price was agreed upon and the cheese officially weighed. Meanwhile the bidder would bang the palm of his hand on the cheese to see if the holes in it were the right size. That was called ‘cheese bashing’. With each slap either the farmer had reduced his price or the bidder had increased his offer. When this ended the buyer sampled the cheese.

Then cheese porters, dressed in white uniforms and lacquered straw hats, carried the cheese to the weigh house on barrows painted the color of their section. The weigh master called out the weight marking it on a blackboard. There were 80 cheeses to a barrow weighing about 353 pounds. Finally the cheese was loaded onto a lorry or taken to a warehouse.

Wooden shoes are traditional and have been found to be warmer and dryer than rubber boots. Clogs are mostly worn in the countryside and in fishing villages. Three million pairs of clogs are manufactured every year. At one time leather shoes were a luxury only the wealthy could afford.

LOST--Almost

It was only a few minutes stroll on the cobbled promenade along the river to the point of land where the Rhine and Mosel Rivers meet. The bronze statue of Wilhelm on his horse is huge. The original statue was destroyed, but replaced in 1990. Many concrete steps lead up to the monument. After checking it out and taking my pictures, I strolled along the Rhine River for a short way.

It seemed as if I should be able to cut over to the Mosel by taking any street as the two rivers form a triangle of land. I walked through a residential area for some time, but the Mosel was elusive. I was just short of turning around to retrace my steps when I saw a couple of young men speaking to a girl getting into a car. It sounded like English.

“Do you fellows speak English?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“I’m trying to get to the Mosel. Can’t I cut across here somewhere?”

They started to give me directions and then said, “We’re headed that way. We’ll show you, if you like.”

As we walked I learned they were Mormons doing their missionary work in Koblenz. It’s hard to miss them dressed in their black pants and white shirt and tie.

When we reached the alley/road, which I would never have given a second glance to, I was glad they had walked along with me. I made a right turn and suddenly I was on the Mosel only a few feet away from the boat.

Some Very Hot Days

Acres of vineyard covered hillsides all along the river especially as we approached Boppard. Church steeples, ancient castles and towers emerged out of the forested river banks. Europe experienced an unusual heat wave that year and we experienced extremely warm temperatures. So much for leaving the Texas heat at home? Thank goodness for the A/C on the boat in the 104 heat!

Kelheim is a picturesque little German Village. We happened to be there on my buddy’s birthday and she wanted to celebrate, so at the end of the street just beyond the Ludwig statue we entered a 1607 Brewery. It was mid morning so the temperature in the lovely old courtyard was fairly comfortable. She enjoyed her beer, which this non beer drinker admitted was pretty good.

BMW stands for Bavarian Motor Works. In 1916 they produced aircraft engines, in 1928 they added automobiles. A car rolls off the production line every 90 seconds---and only after it is ordered! Their home office in Munich is a three cylindrical building that is full of windows. The BMW tower at 950 feet tall is visible from afar. A revolving restaurant is at 650 feet.

The Munich Opera House, 200 years ago, was the largest at that time. Unfortunately it burned only five years later and there was no money to replace it. So the people paid an extra penny for each beer and soon there was enough money to finance the rebuilding. The Opera House that seats 2000 people and employs 1000 people is literally the house pennies built. Like Vienna no opera is performed any two successive days.

You might also want to check blogs: Heidelberg 1-22-14, Gl blower-Wertheim 6-2-13

Wurzburg palace 10-2-10, Grein 12-28-11 Melk monastery 6-20-12, Rudshime, Werthein 6-30-13

Kelheim 1-19-14, Bamberg 6-16-13, Nuremberg 12-19-12 , Room 600 4-3-10, Passau 1-26-11