Viking Cruise Vacation #5: Amsterdam: St. Nicholas Church, Dutch Worshipped Gods and Famous Tunnel Tiles

 This is the fifth blog about our Viking Rhine River Cruise. Today's blog is about some of our experiences in Amsterdam- St. Nicholas Church, Gods the Dutch Used to worship and some famous, historic tunnel tiles.

SAINT NICHOLAS CHURCH - Nicholas is known as the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, and students in various cities and countries around Europe. Apparently, he's the same St. Nicholas that inspired "Santa Claus" and the biggest church in Amsterdam is named for him. St, Nicholas is also the patron saint of the city of Amsterdam.

The Basilica of Saint Nicholas is located in the Old Centre district of Amsterdam, Netherlands, very close to Amsterdam's main railway station. The basilica is the city's primary Roman Catholic church. It's located at Prins Hendrikkade 73, 1012 AD Amsterdam, Netherlands. the church opened in 1887 and was constructed in the Renaissance Revival architecture and Baroque Revival architecture.

We entered the church, and I found it dark with a heavy feeling, so we didn't stay long. 

WHAT GODS DID DUTCH PEOPLE WORSHIP (Before Catholicism and Protestantism)? Gods such as Nehalennia, Hludana and Sandraudiga are of Celtic or Celto-Germanic,origin; the Germanic people had such gods as Wodan, Donar and Frigg/Freya from Scandinavia. Jupiter, Minerva and Venus were introduced by the Romans.

(Photo: Rob walking under a decorated alleyway roof.) 

RELIGION ISN'T BIG IN THE NETHERLANDS - More than half (55 percent) of Dutch people aged 15 years and over are not religious. In 2020, 20 percent of the Dutch population belonged to the Catholic Church, 14 percent were Protestant, 5 percent Muslim and 5 percent belonged to another religious group.

CUYPERSPASSAGE - There's a tunnel near the railway station that goes under the railroad tracks and leads from the city to the docks of the River IJ. In that tunnel or "Cuyperspassage" are about 46,000 painted porcelain white tiles. They are painted with scenes of boats and fishermen. The tiles are an homage to the work of Dutch tile painter Cornelis Boumeester. In addition to the 46,000 tiles on the side and roof of the tunnel, there are said to be another 33,000 tiles on the floor.  As you walk into the center of the tunnel, we noticed that a lof of the images have been worn away, and the tiles appear mostly white with very faint blue outlined images. The tiles feature the traditional blue and white color palette of Delftware ceramics, which have been a major industry in the Netherlands since the 17th century!

CROWDED STREETS - There are some streets in the city that were insanely busy. Once we accidentally found them we turned around and returned to the Viking River Cruise ship! 

NEXT: The Windmills of Kinderdijk

Viking Cruise Vacation #3: Amsterdam: Leaning Buildings, Canals, Anne Frank's House, Royal Waiting Chamber

This is the third blog about our Viking Rhine River Cruise. Today's blog is about some of our experiences in Amsterdam- Why there are leaning Buildings, the famous "Anne Frank" House, and a look at the Royal Waiting Chamber.

LEANING BUILDINGS IN AMSTERDAM - Almost every house in one part of Amsterdam was built on top of long, wooden poles that were driven into the marshy ground beneath the city. Combined with the wet conditions of the soil, the houses are simply sinking over time. Although the foundations are generally very stable, over time some houses have shifted, causing them to lurch over the canals.

CANALS IN AMSTERDAM - It's known as the "Venice of the North," according to our tour guide. Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands, has more than 100 kilometers of grachten or canals, about 90 islands and 1,500 bridges. The three main canals dug in the 17th century during the Dutch Golden Age, form concentric belts around the city, known as the Grachtengordel. Alongside the main canals are 1550 monumental buildings.

(Photo: One of the main canals in Amsterdam. Credit: R.G.) 

THE FAMOUS ANNE FRANK HOUSE  (Museum) - If you read the "Diary of Anne Frank" you'll know the significance of the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam.  The Diary of Anne Frank is a book of the writings from the Dutch-language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. For over two years (1942-1944) Anne Frank and her family hid in the annex of the building at Prinsengracht 263 where Anne’s father, Otto Frank, had his business.  Click for more info. (Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to tour it). 

(Photo: The Amsterdam Centraal train station. Credit: R.G.) 

THE AMSTERDAM CENTRAAL TRAIN STATION - P.J.H. Cuypers and A.L. Van Gendt were the architects commissioned to design and build it in 1875. It was built in Dutch Renaissance Style.   

(Photo: Rob and Tom outside the Royal Waiting Chamber. Credit: R.G.) 

THE ROYAL WAITING CHAMBER WITHIN - Located in the Amsterdam Centraal train station on platform 2B, a special room was constructed for Netherlands Royalty. It is located on the east wing of the railway station., and visitors can peer into it behind walls of glass. The room is decorated with the royal family's coat of arms and other ornaments referring to Queen Emma and King William III (who were in power during the construction of the train station in 1875).   There are mosaic floors, carpets, paneled walls and a fireplace. 

(Photos: Top:  the Royal Waiting Chamber; Bottom: Outside "reliefs" - stone carvings of Roman Gods. Credit: R.G.) 

This castle-like section that houses the waiting chamber was also known as the “Koninklijk Paviljoen” or the Royal Pavilion. Now it is officially called “Koningklijke Wachtkamer." (Quick Video tour: https://fb.watch/l3A6ylMqU6/) 

NEXT: The Secret of "Coffeehouses" & the Monkey Pub

Vacation - Danube Cruise #2 - The Viking Prestige Ship: Amazing

In Blog #2 of our annual vacation on a Viking River Cruise on the Danube River in Europe, we'll tell you about the ship experience on the Viking Prestige. It was AWESOME. We highly recommend it. We saw 5 countries in 8 days and never repacked a suitcase and were super-spoiled by the crew.

handsome Boris in his tight shirt

THE SHIP AND CREW- It was super clean, and every single crew member we met was friendly. From the housekeeping staff to the wait staff, front desk folks, etc. The cruise director, Boris had a great sense of humor, had a strong accent and did and amazing job keeping people informed. Each night he gave a 15 minute overview of the next day's events. He was also handsome and looked great in his tight-fitting red Viking polo shirt, so that made it even nicer. :)

Several of the crew remembered our names pretty quickly, and that surprised me on a ship of 180 guests.  We favored two waiters, who were amazing: Tommy, and Nikoli. They also seemed to favor us, too, and greeted us every time. Tom made sure that we always sat in their section and they totally spoiled us! We got a picture with each of them and acknowledged their service with a bonus when we left. Just incredible service.


COVERED EVERYTHING - The crew prepared everyone for land excursions. They gave out bottled water at each landing point. Made umbrellas available to everyone (it did rain several days), and handed out labeled cards with a number and letter, to correspond with the buses at ports to take people to their excursions of choice. VERY, VERY ORGANIZED.

Rob, Tommy the waiter, Tom

FOOD - The food was fantastic!!! There were two menus for lunch and dinners. One menu was standard fare served every day. The other menu was regional favorites of the countries were were visiting... the food included starters, main course and desserts. ALL of it was delicious.- and the win flowed continuously!  Meals were all included.

CABINS: There were three floors of cabins. The bottom  deck had small portholes just above the water line. We were on the second deck with a sliding glass window, that provided a great view of the river banks and we opened the window to get fresh, cool air inside from time to time (it was always in the 40s or 50s at night and ranged from the upper 50s to the upper 60s during the days). The third deck had the same room configuration.

Rob, Nikoli, Tom

The beds were large, and although some thought they were uncomfortable, we slept well. Even the pillows were comfortable. They did have two twin sized comforters on top of the king-sized bed, so each of us had our own. I was good with that (because Tom steals the covers and then tosses them off later).

BATHROOMS -    There was a closet in each room with blankets and life jackets. The bathroom was small but practical, although with rounded shower doors that opened in 2 pieces it was hard to figure how to get into it (but eventually we did). They ALWAYS had hot water (which I thought was amazing).

TELEVISION and WIFI INTERNET- Yes, they had TV if you needed it. CNN, History Channel BBC news and a couple of others, but we didn't watch it. Internet was decent, although as expected on any moving vehicle it could be spotty, but Tom enjoyed his Netflix shows every night, so it wasn't that bad!
the cabin

the Cabin

TOP DECK - If it were warmer, it would have been a nice place to get sun, but it was cool (or wet) for the entire trip. There is a walking track, so we did use that, and we went up there to enjoy some of the riverbank sites.

EXTRA SPECIAL LENGTHS TO KEEP PEOPLE SAFE - The Danube was experiencing flooding, and some of the river walks in Passau, Germany were even under water (when we got their by bus). The Captain and Crew were Especially cognizant of the flooding , and for safety reasons, we docked 20 miles south of Passau, Germany and they arranged Buses to take us there for the excursion. When we saw the flooding, we were so grateful for VIKING'S Safety procedures. They also had assessed that with the river flooding, we would not have made it under the bridge to get the ship into the Passau port.. 

OVERALL IMPRESSION - Fantastic Vacation. Best crew EVER, great FOOD, Excellent EXCURSIONS, Great Tour guides, Comfortable rooms, 5 countries in 8 days.

NEXT: Exploring the City of Budapest, (actually cities of Buda and Pesht), Hungary

Vacation -Danube Cruise #1- Getting There / Arrival In Budapest, Hungary

Rob and Tom in Heathrow Airport

Near the end of May, we took our annual vacation. This is BLOG #1 for that trip. This time it was Viking River Cruise on the Danube River in Europe! The cruise was fantastic and we got to tour cities in 5 different countries: Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany. This is the first blog in the series, that will take you along on our vacation.

The Viking Prestige Ship we took

   In today's blog you'll learn about getting there, our Viking Cruise Route, and first impressions from the Budapest airport to the ship. We were surprised that  2 U.S. singers (seniors!) were still putting on shows in Budapest of all places. You'll learn WHO they are... Read on! .

VERY SPECIAL THANKS - To our friend Jeff and his dog Myrtle for house sitting all week with our kids and giving them premium care. He also posted daily pictures and updates. 

Our travel Route from Hungary to Germany on the Danube River

GETTING THERE/ARRIVAL - We left on Sat.May 18 and flew 7 hours from BWI to Heathrow on British Airways. We hardly sleep, and the 3 hours we each managed proved it (and hurting tailbones). After a 3 hour layover, we took the 2 1/2 hour connecting flight to Budapest, Hungary where we met a Viking Cruise official who drove us to the ship, docked on the Danube River.
 It was very organized (we also like the Vikiing arranged the FLIGHTS for us, too!)
    Upon arrival, it was overcast and sometimes rainy, a forecast we would encounter for at least half the trip.
OLDER U.S. PERFORMERS IN HUNGARY -    On the drive to the ship we saw concert signs for Tom Jones and Paul Anka! They were both performing in Budapest!  We assume that this is where older singers go, now that it seems almost every Hungarian speaks English.

Tom Jones in Budapest

Truthfully, though, we thought they were both no longer with us! 

BUDAPEST NEWS SAID: "Tom Jones’ 50-year career has remarkably gone from strength to strength. Along with sustaining his popularity as a live performer and recording artist for five decades, he has garnered—at the age of 77—the best reviews of his career. Jones has already performed in Budapest several times, and now he returns.

Paul Anka in Hungary

NEXT: About the Ship