Tag: architecture

“THE RETIREES GO AROUND THE WORLD –CHATEAU RHIANFA PLAS RHIANFA, TO DOVER AND DAY 1 ROTTERDAM.”

DOVER

Our plan to travel to Dover was going smoothly until we arrived in Dover and got an understanding of the location of the bus terminus and the Cruise Ship port – they are a long, long, long way apart and there were no taxis due to the backed-up trucks collecting goods from the shipping port. With no other choice and time to spare , we set off on foot dragging our luggage. Fortunately, we met some passengers returning on foot to the same vessel and with their guidance we knew we were pointing in the right direction. Along the way we picked up another couple dragging their suitcases and the six of us were able to help each other to handle this tortuous walk. It seemed such a long trip on foot.

After boarding the SS Nieuw Statendam and accessing our cabin, we were able to look back at the path we had traveled or at least a small part thereof. We were jealous of those arriving by coach and later found out these were returning passengers from cruise excursions. My photos below show the very last part of our walk, the terminal building and the vessel departing from Dover Cruise Terminal.

We spent the rest of our time that afternoon acquainting ourselves with the ship – which was fore and aft, and which was port and starboard and registering that we had found our way to our evacuation station. Where things were located on the ship remained a point of annoyance for the whole trip. Many times, we were confused as to whether we were on the SS Nieuw Statendam or the SS Noordam.

Our voyage was 14 days circumnavigating the United Kingdom – Scotland’s isles, bits of Northern Ireland, the Isle of Mann and Eire returning to Dover. For ease I have broken the cruise into 3 – 4 day blogs. So my next blog will be “THE RETIREES GO AROUND THE WORLD – SS NIEUW STATENDAM – Queensport & Edinburgh then Shetland Isles.”

SS NIEUW STATENDAM

First I will give you a short tour of the ship the SS Nieuw Statendam.

Our cabin was nice and roomy with bathroom and cupboards, bedroom, TV/Lounge room and a deck. We had spent a bit more than usual with our choice of cabin to give ourselves a treat. We were about one third of the way from the fore deck and 9 floors from the water line with floors 10 to 17 above us. Set between two sets of lifts our position was reasonably good. Our cabin steward seemed like a ghost – we would rarely see her and we only knew she was there as things continually moved in the cabin.

The dining was split between 3 decks – decks 11, 7 and 6 with the a la carte restaurants on 6 & 7 and the banquet style on 11 with multiple bars, a disco on deck 17 and one coffee shop. Deck 11 had 2 pools/spas, one for adults only the stern had 3 verandah decks overlooking the adults only pool. More about the ship later.

After a big day we needed to rest but there was no coffee shop with views of the ocean on this ship and we missed Deck 12 of the SS Noordam.

ROTTERDAM

With the morning we found ourselves at sea on our way to Rotterdam; the ship’s home port. We continued to find our way around the ship which rocked a bit too much for some guests. The following morning we arrived in Rotterdam and here are a few snaps I took where the ship tied up. Note there are swans swimming in the river – I have not seen flocks of birds other than gulls this close to the ship.

We did not know much about Rotterdam other than Kerry thought the city had some unusual architecture and I thought of canals and sailing ships from the centuries before. So we were both interested to see the city but not excited about the ship’s excursions. We decided we would explore by canal boat and on foot.

On disembarking from our ship, we made our way on foot to the Holland America building – the design was from centuries past – to the canal ferry station to travel into the CBD of Rotterdam. Our ferry took us past our ship and under the bridge we had observed from our deck and into a different world of architecture and history. One building we passed seemed to have had an extension built on top but they had made it too big. Then we turned into a canal proper (we had been on the river before hand) and passed the canal gate to prevent flooding (the boy with his finger in the dyke inspired this) in the CBD. Boats of all shapes and sizes were tied up in the marina many with murials of the sea adorning their hulls. Our stop and disembarkation point for the ferry was in the midst of the maritime wharf museum. Cranes of many various discription struggled for space amongst all the other parafenalia of sailing the ocean.

Part of our day at sea prior to arriving in Rotterdam had included a talk by the Tour director about seeing Rotterdam on foot and it had proven very useful. We learnt that in this part of the CBD there we some buildings of the more extreme architectural design so we did have some clues about where we were going. One building we were looking for was the market which had been designed as a large hangar with residential units built into the side walls. Now we were there on Sunday and the markets did not open but we found the building and it is as remarkable as its description. Just nearby is the building that could be mistaken for a pencil or a rocket and another building where it appears to have been built by 3 different builder each with the position of the floors being displaced. Finally the buildings we sought – the cube houses.

One of the apartments was opened as a gallery and we chose to look inside to see what space the building provided. My pictures below give you the idea of the space and the unusual aspects seen from the windows. As we left the unit we noticed some commercial space and people playing chess outside of a chess piece museum and a coffee shop. I don’t know which came first the chess players or the museum but I was taken back and excited. I have not played chess for years and it was only this year while visiting Son #2 and his family that I had sometime with 2 of our grandchildren and they were playing chess. So bravely I engaged them in competition and realised the enjoyment I used to get from competition. We ordered some coffee and I went to inspect the museum. Had a long chat with the proprietor who said she had over 1,000 chess sets. Something truly unexpected.

We continued to make our way through the cube apartments until we came upon another branch of the marina. We decided we should make our way back to the ferry uncertain how far we had travelled whilst exploring the architecture. The mixture of the styles of architecture kept us enthralled – we had not expected anything like this. As we made our way along the canal bank Kerry saw a local working on his boat and innocently asked him about his boat and she was met with a rude and hostile responce. Not aware that he was telling her to “piss off” Kerry continued her enquiry. Gradually he softened his tone and engaged with Kerry explaining that this was a particular style of sailing ship developed in Rotterdam and he and his father had started work restoring it. His father had died but he had continued with the restoration using the ship as his accomodation. He also explained that he thought tourists were rude asking questions as though he was part of the tour. At one stage I was certain he was going to climb the ships rail and clock her one but in the end they chatted happily ignoring my presence entirely. He had found that Kerry was genuinely interested in the history of the ship and his determination to save the vessel. Ultimately Kerry acknowledged me and he lost interest in Kerry.

We had seen the unusal architecture but now we were amongst all the house boats, boats making believe they were hotels and boats making believe they are “B&B’s”. Rotterdam has it all. By the time we made our way back to the ferry and then to our ship the sun was going down and I was able to photograph the sunset on a interesting day.

As the sun set in the west we sailed north west to Queensport and Edinburgh. We have been to Edinburgh a few times so we had decided to catch the Hop on Hop off bus rather than take in the main attractions. So be prepared for “THE RETIREES GO AROUND THE WORLD – DAY 2 SS NIEUW STATENDAM – Queensport & Edinburgh then Shetland Isles.”

“THE RETIREES GO AROUND THE WORLD – BARI to TARANTO”

TARANTO

Another town I had not anticipated visiting. Taranto is much further south than we planned traveling. It is a coastal city in Apulia, southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Taranto, serving as an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base. Founded by Spartans in the 8th century BC during the period of Greek colonization – good to see the Spartans had finished fighting long enough to do something positive.

This was a longer journey and moved us out of the coastal areas of the Adriatic Sea to cross some long flat plains into an industrialized centre on the Mediterranean Sea.

The walk from the station to the old town was also longer than other towns. Taranto was clearly a much larger town. To get to the old town we had to cross a substantial bridge. Cactus seemed to be a popular roadside plant and was coming into flower.

Another church. This time atop a large staircase – Chiostro de san Domenico – plainly adorned but with a new twist on the stations of the cross. In the pictures below you can make out the plaque on the walls put forward the picture of the Crucifixion.

As we walked through the old town some of the passageways reduced to single file and some of the doors must have had some big hay wagons storing goods behind them. Here we encountered the practice of adorning the front door with bows celebrating the birth of a child blue for boys and pink for girls. In this case I think a little girl but they have forgotten to take an earlier birth “notice” down. We were to see this regularly in Naples. We also encountered the back street cafes – yes that’s it in the last photo. There is our fearless leader forever conscious of the WHS rules of being seen.

In our walk about we uncovered an Italian national monument Basilica Cattedrale san Calaldo. We were told that the primitive early Christian cathedral, attested since the 7th century, had to be placed outside the walls of the town and its location could probably be in the area where the Church of Carmine is now located, where a piece of the column on which Saint Peter is said to have celebrated the Holy Sacrifice is currently preserved. However, the church we see today was built by the Byzantines in the second half of the 10th century, following the sacking of the city by the Saracens in AD 927, when the Muslims definitively destroyed what remained of the ancient Greco-Roman city. The building contains some very interesting features and remains in use.

After leaving the gift shop (they must spoil it don’t they) we continued our walk about passing a florist with a novel presentation. The space inside was very tiny and this shopkeeper had utilized every inch of space including the back of the doors. It’s not yet Italian lunch time and the street cafes are empty. But judging by the number of tables in all sorts of spaces they expect a crowd. Then we found what the Byzantine Saracens left behind – a bit of the Greco- Roman ruins they missed in their sacking of the city. Across the road was the castle in use today for what appeared to be some para-military purpose and not permitting visitors. It had been constructed by the occupying Aragonese and still in use. I got cranky about that and the fact that I couldn’t take any photos inside. I was still receiving chemotherapy and tiredness brought on my bad temper. Kerry correctly pulled me away and I stomped off.

I moved on over another bridge and spotted this fishing vessel full of fish with trailing gulls. Fishing remains an important part of Taranto. Across another bridge (it dawned on me that we were on an island) and here is the HQ for Marina Militare.

Nearby we found a café for lunch. It fitted into a tiny space with some imaginative interior design and colour schemes – here is a photo of Robert leaving the bathroom bitching like hell about how small it was.

After a rather disappointing lunch (I still had no appetite due to my chemo) we continued our exploration following the main road around the island. The road took us to the sheltered harbour housing the fishing fleet and a rather tired section of the old town. Notably the church looked in good order.

We had circumnavigated the island containing the old town of Taranto and called it a day. I needed a nap so we made our way back to the train station, and I had my nap going back to Bari.

You may note that Robert has taken over the itinerary but we didn’t mind. He had a few more surprises for us so get ready for “THE RETIREES GO AROUND THE WORLD – BARI to MATERA” in my next blog.