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