The River Rhine 2009

Day 11 - Aug 12 - Gouda

Farm near Gouda.

They raise cows to make cheese. They use non-pasteurized milk, which they say makes the cheese taste better.

The cheese was very reasonably priced and very tasty. Selling directly to the tourists gives them a better price and allows them to survive with only 30 cows.

The farmer and his daughter.

Also notice the thatched roof which can last 100 years if made well and combed yearly.

The countryside on the way to Gouda. It is hard to see, but the white things on the right of the canal are swans.

Amsterdam has one of the highest population densities in the world, yet it has all of this farm land. Why? Because this land is set aside as farm land. Unlike in the US it cannot be bought to put a house on it. It must stay farmland.

The guardrail at an intersection. He told us that it was for skateboarders, but I am skeptical.

Canal thru old town Gouda.

The town hall of Gouda. On the side is their glockenspiel, which plays every hour while little figurines walk out.

French fries here are known as frites. They are served with mayonaisse, which is different than ours and much better.

We bought a large and shared it with our group.

The solitary engineer. Yes, he is the only one on board. He is in charge of the engine room (which has two large caterpillar diesel engines) and the large air conditioning compressor. He is also in charge of the generators (1 for the front pod and 1 for the rest of the ship's electrical needs). He is also in charge of the internet server and even replacing light bulbs. He works 2 months and then has 1 month off, paid. He is very tired, as you can see.

The circular platform allows the boat's propeller (the screw) to be turned 360 degrees. This is called a pod. There are 2 pods aft (behind) and 1 fore (in front). These, in addition to bow thruster (water jets), mean the boat can be turned very easily.

Lucia, our cruise director.

Windmills as we were entering Rotterdam harbor.

Jackie Chan slid down the windows of the building on the left. I don't remember the movie.

A display of cranes near the harbor museum.

The couple in the picture are Shirley and Alan, both retired teachers. Alan is a competitive marathoner (he started in his 50s) and taught German. The two of them have been to Germany multiple times, including Rotterdam. They invited me, Jenny, and Brennie on a walk. Jenny had to go back early with Brennie.

The building on the left is called the pencil building.

These are apartments. They are actually level inside.
Just the walls are tilted. Our tour guides pointed out these buildings, but we had a much better view on our walk.

We came upon Rotterdam's "Walk of Fame", which seems to be famous people that came to or performed in the city, not natives. We saw Tom Jones, Tina Turner, LaToya Jackson, Barry Manilow (above), and Dizzy Gillespie, amongst others.

The Arasamuth Bridge, now also called the swan bridge. We walked quite a way, actually surprising some of the crew when we told them our route. We thought we would return by the same route after going onto the bridge, but still had the adventure bug. We crossed over and walked back the other side. There was another bridge closer to the ship. We finally wandered backl about 11 p.m. Even apart from getting to enjoy Alan and Shirley, I think Rotterdam is prettier at night.

Click on the picture for a closer view of the bridge.