Viking Tir – The son of Hymir in Norse mythology, Tir is the god of heroic glory.
亞姆斯特丹中央車站 Amsterdam Central Station
中央車站內是大型商場。
Inside the Central Station is a shopping plaza.
中央車站南方立面。
The facade of the Central Station, as seen from the Open Havenfront.
The facade of the Central Station, as seen from the Open Havenfront.
車站牆上精美的浮雕。
Relief on the facade of the Central Station.
車站前水道，叫 Open Havenfront。
Waterfront in front of the station, Open Havenfront.
中央車站是阿姆斯特丹的交通樞紐，有火車、船、電車和巴士服務。
The Central Station is the hub of transportation in Amsterdam. They have train, boat, tram and bus services there.
聖尼古拉斯大教堂，據說設計溶合幾種風格，但以新巴洛式和新文藝復興式為主。
Basilica Saint Nicholás, it is said that the church was designed based on a combination of styles, the most prominent being the Neo-Baroque and Neo-Renaissance.
聖尼古拉斯教堂。
Sint Nicolasskerk, Basilica of Saint Nicholas.
水道Open Havenfront 前的排屋。 Stack houses in front of the Open Havenfront.
沒想到竟然有中文街名。
In’t Aepien 是阿姆斯特丹有名的老酒吧，已在此幢房子經營了數百年。門前所懸的旗幟上的XXX,代表阿姆斯特丹。
In’t Aepien (means “in the monkeys”?), a neighborhood local bar, also one of the oldest wooden houses (dates back to 1475 or 1519) in Amsterdam. On the flag is the Amsterdam Coat of Arms XXX. The XXX symbol is three St. Andrew’s Crosses in white on a black stripe on a red background.
聖尼古拉斯教堂附近，向水壩廣場方向流去的運河。
附近牆上有浮雕。上面刻有拉丁文和荷蘭文。拉丁文 NAVIGARE NECESSE EST 寫著”我們必需要揚帆出海”；下面荷蘭文EERSTE SCHIPVAART NAAR OOSTINDIE 1595 HERDACHT 1945 寫著 “首航東方於1595， 1945年纪念”。原來1595年四月，249名船員駕駛四艘船往東方找尋香料島（應該是印尼群島），開啟荷蘭人漸漸取代葡萄牙人，成為海上強權的時代。1604年，荷蘭人自葡萄牙人手上奪得一船中國瓷器，當時無人識得瓷器，只知它們是來至中國的白色黃金。這批瓷器拍賣得天價，令歐洲人開始「瘋瓷器」。我年輕時，一直不懂為何中國的英文名字叫China？而china 就是瓷器，所以中國就是以瓷器得名，但為何叫China? 西方人原來跟本就不知瓷器為何物，遑論有瓷器一詞。有說是梵文裡叫中國是Cina , 源於秦cin 的讀音云云。但另一說似乎更靠譜，歐洲人發現瓷器後，趨之若鶩，都問那裡來的？答案是「昌南」，昌南乃景徳鎮舊稱，宋真宗愛瓷，才以年號「景德」命其為景徳鎮。荷蘭人做瓷器賺了大錢，直到英國人透過印度東印度公司販瓷至英國，加上德國人在1705（？）年成功做出了硬瓷器，局面才改觀。說遠了，不過如果真的是「昌南」變成「China」，也是蠻有意思的。
A relief of the wall, it says : NAVIGARE NECESSE EST (Latin) = It is necessary to sail ; EERSTE SCHIPVAART NAAR OOSTINDIE 1595 HERDACHT 1945 (Dutch)= First voyage to the east 1595, commemorated 1945.The first Dutch expedition round the Cape to the east looking for spice island (Indonesia) took place in 1595. Two years later, survivors came back with valuable cargo – spices. However, It was not until 1604 when Dutch sailors captured a ship load of porcelain (china) from the Portuguese, they bought them to Amsterdam, the auction turned the porcelain into gold. The kings and noblemen in Europe demanded more “white gold”, that’s why it says “it is necessary to sail”.
Dam Square – The city square of Amsterdam. It is about 0.75 km from the Central Station. Standing 22m high，the cone shaped monument is the National Monument. A national Remembrance of the Dead ceremony is held at the monument every year on 4 May to commemorate the casualties of World War II and subsequent armed conflicts.
Wikipedia – The central element of the monument is a concrete conical pillar 22 metres (72 ft) in height, covered entirely by white travertine stone. On the front of the pillar is a relief entitled De Vrede (“Peace”), consisting of four chained male figures, representing the suffering endured during the war. To either side of these central figures are two male sculptures representing members of the Dutch resistance, the left figure symbolizing the resistance by the intelligentsia and the right figure symbolizing the resistance by the working classes. Weeping dogs are at their feet, representing suffering and loyalty.
中央上方有一帶小孩的女性，上有鴿子飛翔，此像代表勝利、平安和新生。
Wikipedia – The central relief is a sculpture of a woman with a child in her arms and doves flying around her, representing victory, peace, and new life.
碑的背面刻有一系列鴿子，代表解放。
A relief of the back shows doves ascending into the sky, symbolizing the liberation.
阿姆斯特丹皇宮 （以前是市政㕔）。
Koninklijk Paleis or The Royal Palace Amsterdam (used to be known as the Town Hall on Dam Square), The Palace is the largest and most prestigious building from the Golden Age.
皇宮旁的新教堂，現已改為展覧㕔。
Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) is a 15-century Gothic church standing next to the Palace. The New Church is no longer used for church services but serves as an exhibition hall.
新教堂南面是一大購物商場。
Magna Plaza – a big shopping mall near the Palace.
我們往回走，見一漂亮的中國餐廳。
On our way back to the port, there was a handsome Chinese restaurant.
紅燈區，左邊就是著名的嫖娼博物館。
Red light district, Amsterdam. Museum of Prostitution is on the left.
逛完紅燈區，信步走回碼頭，欣賞運河夜色。
雖是紅燈，這裡是一餐㕔。
This is a restaurant near Arm Bridge.
手臂橋夜色。
Armbrug = Arm Bridge
相中北面就是聖尼可拉教堂的穹頂。
Looking north to a narrow canal, Ouderzijds Kolk. At the back is the dome of Basilica of Saint Nicholas, Sint Nicolaaskerk.
新年快樂 ! 老話說：「十年修得同船渡」，這次有幸在維京歐洲遊與各位新知舊雨”同船渡”了十四天，真箇是有緣。 那天還跟鄰桌的 Edward 兄聊了一陣，相談甚歡。好些朋友看到我背著那些重重的老舊相機來玩，以為我是攝影師，其實不然，只是老頭退休後圓梦而已。因為沒受過訓練，只是不停的按快門，作個紀錄吧了。這次十一月遊歐，並不是理想時間，因為十一月日照已短，且陰雨時間多，照片難拍得好，只是2019行程滿滿，也騰不出其他時間，所以權充探路之旅。照片雖然不好，也放上來大家看看。原來的網頁日久失修，千瘡百孔，修復需時，所以乾脆開此新頁。不過Wordpress 的平台不停的更新，用起來沒有太得心應手，先po 了再說，邊po 邊改。
Viking Grand European Tour –
Happy New Year ! To my tour mates of Viking Tir, we arrived home safe and sound, just in time for our first (2nd and 3rd thereafter) snow of the season. Since then, we have been juggling between shoveling, Christmas shopping and photo editing. I have briefly ran through the whole collection. I had not taken a lot of photos as I would normally have because of the overcast weather and short daylight. Anyhow, I am going to put them up to share with you here in this new blog (I have some technical issues with my old one, my Chinese writing pad is no longer compatible with my updated computer software). My plan is to share with you these highlights and then I’ll put up a post for each day, very likely in reverse Chronological order. I am not done with the photo editing just yet, please be patient, and I’ll keep you posted.
第一天，荷蘭阿姆司特丹。我們十月剛去過加勒比海的荷屬三島，Curacao 島上的建築和色彩令我對阿姆司特丹有很大的期望。可惜，這裡沒有鮮艷的色彩，加上正在建造地鐵，很多地方都圍了板，市容有點雜亂無章，令人失望。我們跟著 welcome tour 走了一半，就離隊去逛幾個點，包括著名的紅燈區。
Day 1 Amsterdam, The Netherlands We visited the ABC islands, in the Caribbean Sea, in October. They are part of the Kingdom of Netherlands. I was so impressed of their stunning, colorful architecture, said to be replicates of those in the Netherlands. However, I was a little disappointed of the colors seen here in Amsterdam during our welcome tour except perhaps the red lights.
這次乘搭的船是維京Tir 號，是2019年3月才下水的新船。
Viking Tir – The son of Hymir in Norse mythology, Tir is the god of heroic glory.
阿姆斯特丹中央車站，漂亮的建築、可惜附近修建地鐵，到處都是圍板。
Amsterdam Grand Central Station
In’t Aepien 是阿姆斯特丹有名的老酒吧，已在此幢房子經營了數百年。門前所懸的旗幟上的XXX,代表阿姆斯特丹。
In’t Aepien (means “in the monkeys”?), a neighborhood local bar, also one of the oldest wooden houses (dates back to 1475 or 1519) in Amsterdam. On the flag is the Amsterdam Coat of Arms XXX. The XXX symbol is three St. Andrew’s Crosses in white on a black stripe on a red background.
老市政㕔前廣場，這位busking 討賞的藝人用此法逗樂了廣場上眾多的遊人。 In front of the Old City Hall of Amsterdam, a new way of busking, bringing visitors a lot of the fun.
紅燈區，左邊就是著名的嫖娼博物館。 Red light district, Amsterdam. Museum of Prostitution is on the left.
逛完紅燈區，信步走回碼頭，欣賞運河夜色。相中北面就是聖尼可拉教堂的穹頂。 Looking north to a narrow canal, Ouderzijds Kolk. At the back is the dome of Basilica of Saint Nicholas, Sint Nicolaaskerk.
Wikipedia – The windmills at Kinderdijk are a group of 19 monumental windmills in the Alblasserwaardpolder, in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. Most of the mills are part of the village of Kinderdijk in the municipality of Molenwaard. Built in 1738 and 1740, to keep water out of the polder, it is the largest concentration of old windmills in the Netherlands and one of the best-known Dutch tourist sites.
第三天 德國科隆
Day 3 Cologne, Germany
Standing on the observation deck of Koln Triangle, looking over the Rhine to Cologne Cathedral.
站在萊恩河東岸科隆三角大樓的瞭望台，西望古龍大教堂。
霍恩佐倫橋上行人道旁的鐵絲網上，掛滿世界各地情侶的情人鎖。
It appears to be a tradition here for lovers to hang padlocks from the bridge to immortalize their love.
科隆大教堂內 Inside Cologne Cathedral.
萊恩河西岸河邊步道望向聖馬丁教堂。 Looking west to the Great St. Martin Church from the park before heading back to our ship and called it a day.
The German Corner, Deutsches Ecl – Kaiser-Wilhem-Denkmal is a monument located at the confluence of the Rhine and Mosel rivers. We had only a couple of minutes to visit the site before heading to the bus that took us to Marksburg Castle.
Marksburg Castle, it was a misty morning, the air was so foggy that we couldn’t even see the river below from the castle. This picture was taken when we got down to the parking lot at noon.
The dining hall, note that the door in the middle is the toilet overhanging the outer wall. It is said that the door of the toilet was always open so as to keep the conversation going.
堡內設有禮拜室，頂上裝飾成哥德式肋狀天花.
The beautiful chapel, with ribbed-vault ceiling.
古堡內有展室展出中古武士甲胄。 Medieval armors on display.
第四天下午，萊恩河賞景。
Day 4, PM, Middle Rhine Scenic Cruising.
在萊恩560公里處，有此非常特別的一景。此處有一白色建築物，寫著 Zur Klostschenke, 意即「進教堂處」，原來此屋後有黃色的建築物，是一所教堂，唯教堂外無入口，進出唯有經過酒吧。更妙的是，網上有人說，教堂裡的修士/神父如果不太忙的時候，還會在酒吧內幫忙呢。
At 560 km of the Rhine (counting from the Old Rhine Bridge at Constance, Switzerland), there is a very interesting building. It is called Zur Klostschenke (literally means “to the Monastery/ Church”). The white building is a tavern and has a church, the yellow building, attached to its back. There is no entrance to the church. To enter, parishioners have to go through the tavern. It is mentioned somewhere online that when the priest is not that busy in the church, he works behind the bar counter.
第五天 德國 米爾騰貝格
Day 5 Miltenberg, Germany
米爾騰貝格 秋意正濃
米爾騰貝格 以 Half-timbered house 聞名，鎮上有上百所這些老屋。這種老房子為何叫 half-timber？ 有多種說法，最直接解釋就是建屋時為節省建材，將一條圓木剖成兩半，濶、平的一面向外，半圓的一面向內，樑檁之間以填充建材封之，並上灰著色，而平木面露於外，僅上色。此種架構就稱為半木之屋。
Miltenberg are well known for Half-timbered houses. There are about 100 of them listed.
鎮上 Zum Riesen 是世上最老而仍在營運的旅店之一。600年來，接待過很多歷史人物，包括拿破侖，羅馬皇Frederick 一世…. 和美國歌王皮禮士利。
Zum Riesen – This is one of the oldest hotels, if not the oldest, in the world. It is said that the roster includes Napoleon, Holy Roman Emperors Frederick I and … Elvis Presley.
華燈初上，老城主街上溫馨浪漫。小山上的是小鎮城堡。
The romantic main street of the old town. Mildenburg castle can be seen here posted above of the market place.
第六天，德國 維爾茨堡皇宮
Day 6 Wurzburg, Germany. Wurzburg Residenz
在皇宮前中庭用手機拍的 pano。
A pano of the Residenz taken with an iPhone.
我在皇宮內沒有拍照，朋友在知道不能拍照前，用手機拍了兩張。上面是樓梯間穹頂上的壁畫，出自意大利壁畫家Tiepolo之手，繪畫世界四大洲的風情。下面是二樓南面的白室（White Hall) 。白室連接東面的皇室大㕔Imperial Hall 和南面的居室。白室天花和牆上有 A. Bossi 在1744-45 所作的裝飾浮雕。為了彰顯皇室大廳的金碧輝煌，此室特意用上低調的白色。
These two pictures had been taken by a friend with her cell phone before realizing photography was not allowed. The one above shows the Baroque-style staircase with the famous ceiling fresco by Tiepolo. The photo below shows the white Hall with elaborate stucco work by A Bossi in 1744-45.
第七天 德國 班貝格
Day 7 Bamberg, Germany
小威尼斯，原本是勞動階層的聚居處，現在成了中產階級 趨之若鶩的理想居停。
Little Venice, Ferienwohnung “Klein Venedig”
哥德式的聖馬丁教堂 St. Martin Church, Sankt Martin.
聖馬丁教堂的肋狀天花 The cribbed vault of St. Martin.
座落於 Regnitz 河上的老市政㕔。
The beautiful City Hall stands on a small island on Regnitz River.
Day 7 Main-Danube Canal. Wikipedia: “The Rhine-Main-Danube Canal (also called Main-Danube Canal, or Europa Canal), in Bavaria, Germany, connects the Main and the Danube rivers across the European Watershed, running from Bamber via Nuremberg to Kelheim”. Viking River Cruise : The Main-Danube Canal employs 16 stair-step river locks that allow vessels to travel 2200 miles through 10 countries, from the North Sea coast of Holland to the Black Sea Shores of Romania.
美因河-多惱河 運河，維基百科
Map of the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, by jailbird, Wikipedia
運河水閘圖，維基百科。
Profile of the canal showing the locks, by jailbird, Wikipedia.
下午四點多，經過其中一個頗深的水閘。
Passing one of the deepest locks.
這就是運河分水嶺最高點，亦即是自這點東、西兩方，雨水分別流入北海或黑海。
Passing the summit of the European Main Watershed near Pierheim, Germany at 8:53 pm, local time.
Protestant St. Sebaldus Church (Sebalduskirche), built from 1225-73, east facade. Note the Schreyer-Landauer monument at the exterior of the apse of the church, as shown below.
Schoner Brunnen or Beautiful Fountain stands at the edge of the market place. The fountain soars 19 m upward and features 40 colorful figures that represent the world view of the Holy Roman Empire. Shown in the picture is a replica of the late 14th-century original which was made of sandstone and badly eroded. At the time of our visit, the lower part of the fountain was covered for overwintering and no water was running from the spouts.
This fresco on the outside wall of the Old City Hall of Passau was created in 1922 to replace the old medieval ones. It is said that there were more fresco inside the city hall. We plan to visit the inside of the city hall in the afternoon. Unfortunately, I was preoccupied with St Peter Church and was following the sunlight to the Marienbrucke bridge and totally forgot to visit the city hall again.
The giant nose at Krems, Austria. A 14m high concrete nose was created by the art group Gelitin who built the famous giant pink rabbit.
遊輪在克雷姆斯靠岸，讓團友上岸參觀市集，由於天色實在太昏暗，我就沒去。
Walking the dog along the Danube, Krems, Austria.
第十二天 奧地利 維也納
Day 12 Vienna, Austria
上午有半天市區導遊，由Maria Theresia 紀念碑開始遊維也納。據說奧地利 Habsburg 皇朝的掌權者喜歡為自己樹立紀念碑，有點像現正人拍selfie 一樣，唯獨此碑例外，這是Maria Theresia 的継任人給她立的碑。
Maria Theresia Memorial, Near Natural History Museum. It is said that most of the Habsburg emperors likes to build monuments to themselves, this one was built by one of her successors
Hl. Franz von Assis, St. Francis of Assisi Church is a basilica-style catholic church a stone’s throw from our docking port. After visiting all those Gothic churches, I was curious to find out what this Romanesque church is like.
Elizabeth Chapel. It was behind a locked gate, it was pretty dark inside, however, my church hopping experience told me to wait for my eyes to adapt to the light. A couple of minutes later, I saw this beautiful dome with gold mosaics. The image at the lower part is believed to be an image of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary.
第十四天上午 維也納 Naschmarkt 市場
Day 14 am, Vienna, Austria. Naschmarkt
維也納最大的市集，除餐廳外，周末還有跳蚤市場。
Naschmarkt, The Market.
第十三天下午 市政廳前聖誕市場
Day 13 pm, Vienna. Christmas Market at Rathaus, City Hall.
Christmas Market, City Hall
奧地利國家劇院 （市政廳對面）
Austrian National Theater
還願教堂 Votive Church – 1853奧地利皇在此地遭行刺，被救保命，故建此歌德式教堂感恩。這是我的私人景點，此教堂離市政廰不遠，我獨自走過來看看，相當不錯的教堂。
Votivkirche, A neo-Gothic church built in 1856-1879 to thank God for saving the Emperor of Austria from an assassination.
I thought I’d heard announcement about passing the Parliament building at 6:30 am. I was hoping by 6:30 am, the illumination would still on, so I could take a good picture of the Parliament Building. Unfortunately, I was wrong, we were not even close by 7:00am. However, the spectacular sun rise had made it up to me.
終於，我們在 7:59 經過匈牙利國會大樓。
We finally passed the Parliament Building at 7:59 that morning.
回望西岸，聖馬蒂斯教堂在小山上，岸邊的紅棕色的新教會教堂。
Looking west to the Fisherman’s Bastion and Matthias Church up on the hill. The brown church at water front is Szilágyi Dezső Square Reformed Church.
在自由橋前面，左邊有兩船處就是維京輪的停泊處。
Viking River Cruise Port (the doubled-parked long ships) near Liberty Bridge.
漁夫稜堡 Fisherman’s Bastion
聖馬蒂斯教堂 Matthias Church
The main altar of Matthias Church.
Magnificent murals inside Matthias Church as seen from the 2nd floor balcony.
We walked back to the ship and began to pack, it was a great trip even though the sky was not always bright. Hopefully we would be back soon in a warm day with longer daylight.
John and YY's photoblog 