Mainz, Germany - 29 November 2019

Tower from Old City Wall

Mainz is located at the confluence of the Rhine and Main Rivers, across the river from Weisbaden and itself is part of the Frankfort Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region.  First founded by the Romans in the 1^st century BC, it served as a military fortress of the Roman Empire before becoming, in the 8^th century AD, an important city of the Holy Roman Empire as the seat of the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz.  Although grapes may have been growing here before the arrival of the Romans, it was the Romans that significantly advanced the wine making in this region.  Most of the Roman fortifications were located across the river, and during the Christian era, a bridge was built to connect both sides of the river.  Over the ensuing years, political and religious wars saw Mainz change hands between the French and the Germans several times.   During WWII, it was heavily damaged with about 80% of the city’s center destroyed. 

It is also the birthplace of Johannes Gutenberg (sometime around 1394), who invented the moveable-type print press (patterned after a wine press) and in the early 1450s printed his first books, including the Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible, the Mazarin Bible, or just the B42).  To do this, it was necessary to create uniformly sized metal molds for letters.  Somewhere between 158 and 180 copies of the Bible were printed, but only 49 remain today. 

Today started with a walking tour of the old center of Mainz.  We began with a tour of the Gutenberg Museum where our guide described the procedures that Gutenberg used when developing his printing press.  She showed how the individual keys were created.  She then demonstrated how the printing press operated, and with the help of Bill, printed off a page of the Bible using the same print keys and machine that Gutenberg used to print his copies of the Bible.  As a thank you to Bill for helping her, we now have a souvenir of our visit – the printed page that our guide had made.  We then toured the room where three copies of the Gutenberg Bible were stored.

Gutenberg Press

Helper Bill

Color-coded Street Signs

As we were walking, our local guide told us an easy way to get back to the Rhine River and our boat if we became lost.  The street signs that appear on the buildings at each street’s intersection with another street are colored coded.  The Red streets run perpendicular to the River while the Blue ones run parallel.  To reach the river, just follow a street with a red sign.  She told us that this was down to help sailors keep from falling into the river in a drunken stupor.  Perhaps after a few glasses of gluewien ,we may need this information!

Following the museum, we visited St. Martin’s Cathedral with its six towers.  It is the second most important cathedral in Germany after the Cathedral of Cologne.  First built in 975 AD, it has been rebuilt and restored over the ensuing years, with its present form a combination of Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque styles of the 13^th and 14^th centuries – the Romanesque section of the church (the nave in the back of the church) is the oldest part of the church and dates back to the late 900s. 

Construction of the first cathedral on this site was begun in 975.  In 1009 it was due to be consecrated.  In a celebration of this consecration, the church was adorned with torches around its roof so the people in the nearby countryside could see it.  Unfortunately, the torches caught the roof on fire, and the cathedral was destroyed on the day it was to be consecrated.

St. Martin's Cathedral

Tombstone on one of Cathedral's Pillars

Inside the Cathedral

The pillars inside the church are adorned with the tombstones of the many archbishops and bishops that were buried in the church.  However, after 1928, bishops have been buried in the crypt below the floor of the church.  Above the pillars that separate the sanctuary into three sections are painted murals.

After visiting the church, we were turned loose to enjoy the Christmas Market in the square by the church.  Most Christmas Markets open at 11 AM so there was enough time to walk around, shop, and enjoy a mug of gluewien or sample their pastries or brats before returning to the ship for lunch.

Christmas Market

St. Martin's Cathedral and Christmas Market

Christmas Market

Christmas Market

This evening we left the ship for a fun evening of food and dancing in Rudesheim, a wine city located about an hour’s drive up the Rhine.  We had about an hour before dinner so we walked around their Christmas Markets, gaily decorated and brightly lit.  The city has a cable car that takes you from the marketplace where we were up to the top of a hill where there is the Niederwalddenkmal monument built to commemorate the founding of the German Empire in 1871 and the unification of Germany.  Construction was stated in 1871 when Kaiser Wilhelm I laid the first stone and was completed in 1883.  It is a statue of a 34’ tall Germania figure, holding the recovered crown of the emperor in her right hand and the Imperial Sword in her left.  On the right side of the statue is the peace statue and on the left is the war statue.  As it was dark and the cable car was closing about 10 minutes after we reached the top, we were unable to visit the statue, but we were able to see it from our boat as we cruised the scenic, castle-laden section of the Rhine the next morning.

Rudesheim Christmas Market

Christmas Wine Tree

Rudesheim from the Cable Car

Church on the other side of the Rhine River

Our Restaurant in Rudesheim

Chicken Dance -- the universal dance!

We had an enjoyable (and filling) dinner of wiener schnitzel followed by singing and dancing with the duo of performers in the restaurant.  Then it was back to the ship for some much needed rest before beginning to cruise the scenic portion of the Rhine with its many castles and the famous Lorelei rock.

Colmar - Rhine Christmas Market Cruise

Colmar, France – The Start of our Christmas Markets Tour

Church in Breisach

We left Basel at 6 AM on Monday, 25 November, and sailed to Breisach, Germany where we docked about noon.  Breisach, known as the “Gateway to the Black Forest,” is known for St. Stephen Cathedral, which sits on top of a hill, overlooking the city and the Rhine River.  It is the first thing you see as you near the dock.  The city also has a lot of swans that live around this area and many came out to greet our boat.  Unfortunately, Breisach had no Christmas Market, so it was only a place for the ship to dock, not a city to be toured.

After lunch on board, we started our Christmas Market tour with a visit to Colmar, France – a beautiful medieval city located in the Alsace region of France.  We were supposed to visit Kaysersberg and Riquewihr, also both in the Alsace, but most of their shops were closed on Monday and they did not have a Christmas Market, so our team of Program Directors made the decision to visit Colmar instead –we all agreed it was a great decision!

Colmar is said to be the most Alsatian city in the Alsace.  Nestled in the middle of the Alsace wine region, it is a blend of both German and French architecture and famous for its half-timbered homes.  It considers itself the capital of Alsatian.  Many of the homes were built during the 1500’s.  There was an earlier town here with homes built in the 1300s.  But many of these homes were destroyed by a fire, and what were not destroyed, were demolished to make way for the “new” city built in the 16^th century.  There are several beautiful churches, including the Church of St. Martin, once the largest church in this region, but now second to the Cathedral of Strasbourg.  Although many refer to it as a cathedral, it is not as it is a protestant church.  The other church building was once a convent, but has now been turned into a museum.  The roofs of these buildings, plus the custom house roof, are remnants of the Hapsburg Empire.  They all have green tiles in the design of a diamond that symbolized the Hapsburg rulers.

House of Many Faces - German Architecture

House of Many Faces contains over 100 face
sculptures

Have-timbered Homes

Custom House with the Hapsburg Diamond

St. Martin's Church

Like most towns in this region, it has see-sawed back and forth between France and Germany.  It was first mentioned by Charlemagne in his diary about the Saxon Wars.  In 1226 it was granted status as a “free imperial city” by Emperor Frederick II.  During the Thirty Years’ War (circa 1632-1679) it was captured by the Swedish army but finally conquered By King Louis XIV of France in 1673.  In 1679, it was officially ceded to France by the Treaties of Nijmegen.  However, in 1871, the newly formed German Empire annexed Colmar and the rest of Alsace as a result of the Franco-Prussian War.  Following WWI the Treaty of Versailles gave the region back to France, but it was annexed again by Nazi Germany in 1940.  After the battle of the Colmar Pocket in 1945, it returned again to French control.

Pfister House

Frederic Bartholdi's Home

One of the most famous homes in Colmar is the Pfister House which dates back to the 16^th century.  It has an ornate oriel (a large bay window that runs the entire height of the house), beautifully painted murals on the outside walls, and a long wooden galley.

The town is the birthplace of Frederic Bartholdi, the sculptor that designed our Statue of Liberty.  Throughout the town and in the courtyard of his home are other sculptures done by him.

Today the town is all decked out for Christmas with many merchants trying to outdo their competitors with their decorations.  All throughout the town, and especially in the square surrounding the Church of Martin Luther, are the many little buildings that make up the Christmas Market.  You can find all things Christmas, to include outerwear, hats and gloves, ornaments, gingerbread, chocolate and other candies, and of course Gluewein, a spiced wine drink of either red or white wine that is served in unique plastic or ceramic mugs that are designed by each town.

Store Decorated for Christmas

Christmas Market

Christmas Market

Shop Decorated for Christmas

 

Although the day was cloudy, the rain cooperated by holding off until we were back on the buses.  We had a wonderful town of the old part of town and then were free to wander through the six little islands of Christmas Markets that have been built throughout the center of town.  It was a wonderful start to our Christmas Market cruise and it really put us all in the spirit of Christmas.

Back on the ship we had the Captain’s Welcome briefing and champagne, followed by a delicious 7-course dinner highlighted by roast veal and crème brulee.

Blog 29 - Rotorua

Blog 29 - Rotorua

It was hard to say goodbye to Queenstown this morning, but a new adventure awaited us in the North Island.  After 2 short flights via Christchurch, we landed in Rotorua about noon.

New Zealand lies at the junction of the massive Pacific and Australia tectonic plates.  Nowhere is this more evident than Rotorua.  Located among 16 crater lakes and known as the geothermal capital of New Zealand, it is famous for its sulfur-rich spas.  There are more than 1200 geothermal features in this area, including the wildest geysers in the southern hemisphere (like the Lady Know Geyser that goes erupts every day at 10:15 am), boiling mud pools, lime-green caldrons, smoking caves, steaming vents, and the pungent odor of sulfur.  It is in this area that the Pacific “Ring of Fire” begins.

When we stopped in town for lunch the first thing that hit you was the smell of sulfur – that rotten egg smell from your high school chemistry lab.  However the smell here was not quite as pungent. 

After lunch, we proceeded to the Rainbow Springs, a Kiwi recovery center.  The kiwi, New Zealand’s national bird, is an endangered species.  They are a nocturnal, flightless bird that can easily fall prey to feral cats, possums, and stoats.  They also are not very good parents and many of their eggs and chicks do not survive.  The center’s purpose is to increase the number of Kiwi in the wild by incubating their eggs and had raising the chicks until they reach a weight that is sufficient to improve their chances of survival.  They are then relocated to areas within New Zealand that have been deemed pest-free.  It is not easy to spot a kiwi in the wild as they only come out at night.  But the Kiwi Center has a nocturnal room where we were able to spot them and watch their movements.  There were two in the room and they will soon be released into the wild.  We were not allowed to take pictures as the flash from the camera can damage their sensitive eyes.

Kiwi Display

Following our visit, Lindsay had a special surprise for us.  He had made arrangements with a Maori leader of a Maori village in Rotorua to let us visit their Ohinemuru Village, have him speak to us, and answer any questions we might have.  The village was small, consisting of about 10 homes, a beautifully carved meeting house (built in 1853), an Anglican Church, and several thermal hot pools.  The leader was named Shiloh Mitchel.  Although he is Maori, he also has Scottish and German blood through the intermarriages of some of his ancestors.  He is proud of his Maori heritage and said the next important event for him (outside his upcoming marriage to a Canadian) is to have his body tattooed (but not his face).  He said he has carefully designed the tattoos that will be a record of his ancestors.  In the past, Maori men wore the Moko (tattoo) on their face.  It was a three step process that involved chiseling out the skin with an abalone shell or bird bone and then applying ink or dye to the hollowed out crevices.  These facial tattoos – each tribe has their own different design – are like a genealogy tree – you can trace the lineage of each Maori by the design on his face.  Today, the modern tattoo process is used in lieu of chiseling, and many of the Maori men still proudly wear the Moko.  In fact, many women (especially those who have given birth) have their chin and lips tattooed.

Shiloh greeting our group

Inside the village

Tama Te Kapua-Meeting House

St. Faith's Anglican Church

View of Lake Rotorua from Shiloh's house

He spoke of some of the Maori beliefs.  The essence of Maori is energy.  When they traveled to new lands, they brought a stone from their homelands and when they found a place for their village they would bury the stone and it would bring life’s energy to the new home.

Stone from their homeland

He showed us his bath house that is completely heated by the hot springs in the area and is a separate building from his home.  The hot springs also heat the homes and provide heat for cooking.  He had us feel the ground and it was quite warm.  He also showed us a wooden sculpture of Queen Victoria, the oldest bust of her and one of only a few that portrayed her as a younger woman.

Shiloh's bath house

Wooden bust of Queen Victoria

One of several thermal hot spots in the village

It was a very interesting look into the everyday lives of the Maori.  They have a deep and profound respect for the land and their ancestors.  Our visit ended with each of us doing the hongi (pressing of foreheads and noses together) with Shiloh.

Bill and Shiloh doing the hongi

We then drove to our hotel, the Wai Ora (means “healing waters”) Spa and Resort, located just outside the town on the shores of Lake Rotorua.  This is a fairly new hotel for OAT as the one they previously used had too many complaints about the sulfur smell.  While you could still smell the sulfur at our resort, it was not overpowering.  But what do you expect when you come to a geo-thermal area!

Sunset over Lake Rotorua

The next morning we headed out for walk through the Waimangu Volcanic Valley – the youngest geo-thermal area in the world.  Just 15 miles from Rotorua is Mount Tarawera whose surprise eruption on 10 June 1886 created the Waimangu Volcanic Valley.  Mount Tarawera was formed by volcanic eruptions back in the 14^th century, but it had lain dormant for so long that the earlier settlers and Maori did not think it was active.  At that time the region was known for its Pink and White Terraces (pastel-colored cliffs on Lake Rotomahana) that drew many travelers from Europe.  But on 10 June all that changed when a seam on the mountain ripped open and 13 craters blew at once.  Craters became lakes, peaks became pools, and forest glades became geyser beds.  Included in this area is the Inferno Crater, filled with brilliant turquoise water and Frying Pan Lake, the world’s largest hot spring (with water too hot for swimming).  Today it remains a hotbed of geothermal activity – early in the 20^th century a single geyser shot black water 1700 feet in the air for 4 straight days.  And today, Lake Rotomahana, once only a pond, is 20 times larger and has a depth of more than 370 feet.  And those Pink and White Terraces are still there today, only 200 feet below the surface – they had simply sunk and the lake rose above them.

Waimangu Volcanic Valley

Waimangu Volcanic Valley

Our walk, with a guide, included Echo Crater, Frying Pan Lake and the Inferno Crater.  Although referred to as a lake, Inferno Crater is actually the world’s largest crypto geyser (or hidden geyser that does not spray water into the air).  The water in the Crater can reach 175 degrees F.  He also pointed out the silver fern,one of New Zealand's most famous emblem (and one on the uniforms of all New Zealand's athletic teams and its airline New Zealand Air) and the oldest plant species on earth that still grows in the temperate rain forest of the Waimangu Volcanic Valley.

Echo Crater

Frying Pan Lake

Frying Pan Lake

Infernal Crater

Silver Fern

Oldest living plant on earth

Warbrick Terrace

Warbrick Terrace

After our walk, we took a cruise on Lake Rotomahana, today designated as a wildlife preserve.  Along the banks you can see steam coming out of the many vents in the sandstone cliffs.  The lake itself has no natural outlet, with the water level varying about 3 feet in response to rainfall and evaporation.  We also saw one of the lake’s most frequent erupting geysers, the Angel Wings Geyser, up close and personal.  It received its name from rocks that appear to be angel wings.  We also stopped to see a pond  of bubbling mud pots.

Steam vents on cliffs

Steam Vents

Erupting geyser

Angel Wings Geyser

Waiotapu Mud Pots

Bubbling Mud Pot

In the afternoon, six of us accompanied Lindsay to the Polynesian Spa, a place that has six mineral pools of varying temperatures.  The coolest pool was 92 degrees while the hottest was 105.  It was so relaxing!  We spent a wonderful 1½ hours lounging in the pools, working our way up to the pool that was 105 degrees.  My knees really loved it!

Relaxing in the Polynesian Spa

That evening we went to the Mitai Cultural Center to learn more about their culture and heritage.  Rotorua is known as the center of the Maori culture – approximately 1/3^rd of the Maori population live in this area.  It is assumed that the Maori came to New Zealand about 1,000 years ago, and today nearly 250,000 still maintain their unique lifestyle and culture.  The thermal hot springs that abound in this area are an integral part of Maori life.  Many of their villages were built over fields of active geothermal activity.  One English explorer wrote of these villages “Bathing here seems to be second nature, and the women and girls arrange afternoon bath-parties just as we might assemble our friends at afternoon tea”.  Villagers heated their homes with the geothermal steam and warm patches of the earth served as ovens for cooking.

Our visit began with the arrival of a waka taua (war canoe).  Then there was the welcoming ceremony.  Bill had volunteered to be our tribe’s Chief so he and I led our group into the meeting house.  I have already explained the welcoming ceremony in the Bay of Islands blog, so I will just briefly explain what happened.  A Maori warrior performed a type of dance and then through down a silver fern sprig as a challenge.  If the visiting tribe ignores it, it means they came to do battle.  Chief Bill then walked up, picked up the fern, and slowly walked backwards, signifying that we had come in peace.  The Maori Chief then welcomed us into his meeting room and Bill thanked him for showing us the Maori culture.  A performance, similar to the one at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, followed – the women’s poi dance, the warriors Haka or war dance, stick games, and songs by the Maori.

War Canoe

Maori Warrior

Maori Chief and Chief Bill greeting one another

Maori War Dance

Then it was time to enjoy the hangi dinner – a luau-like feast that is cooked in giant boxes over natural steam vents or earthen ovens.  However, instead of pig we had lamb. 

Hangi dinner being prepared in earthan
oven

Following dinner, a guide took our little OAT group on a night walk to see the glowworms.  Known to the Maori as “titiwai” (water stars), they are not stars but maggots (but that name does not attract tourists as well as glowworms) whose larvae glow a bluish color to attract prey that become trapped in hanging threads of mucus-covered silk.  The hungriest glowworms are the ones that shine the brightest.