Tag: travel
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A Visit to Closeburn Castle (video slide show)
A Visit to Closeburn, the Kirkpatrick Family Castle -
Once upon a zee
Before the construction of Flevoland, Genemuiden was a port on the Zuiderzee. It was granted city rights all the way back in 1275. Nothing remains from before 1866, unfortunately, when fires destroyed the town after haystacks caught fire. To this day there is no smoking permitted on that street, probably the only such designation in the EU.
Judging by the 5 churches in the town there’s a lot of interest in religion in the town, but of course actual attendance is another matter. All the churches are Protestant in this northeast edge of the country’s Bible-belt. In some areas of the Bible belt people adhere to old fashioned clothing. I do not see that here.
We arrived on Ascension day to find closures and reduced hours. The Eet Cafe, for example, was open but only provided beverages. Few people were out on the streets. It’s a national holiday, which no doubt accounts for the lack of activity, rather than Ascension day, as that’s a Catholic celebration. Unfortunately the harbor meister did stop by for our payment.
We came here to have electricity as the overnight temperature was to drop to 3c, about 38f. We use a small electric heater when plugged into shore power, otherwise we have a diesel heater. We do not run the diesel heater at night to avoid CO accumulation. It takes the chill off in the morning when our indoor temperatures drops to around 15-16c, in the low 60’s.
Floor mats made from bull rush reed that grew on the shoreline of the Zuiderzee was a principal product of the town. When Flevoland cut off the sea the bull rush was unable to survive the change. Now they import coconut fiber from India to make the mats and have expanded to a wide range of materials and products. Most of the town’s employment come from the large factories.
We learned this and more at the Tapijtmuseum, https://www.tapijtmuseum.nl/over-het-museum after a good kip (chicken) sate at the friendly Eet Cafe Schippers. In the days of bull rush weaving, men waded into the reeds wearing clogs, a leather shin protector, ordinary clothes and a scythe to harvest the reed. This occurred in July and August but still the water is cold if you are in it all day. They could harvest up 100 bundles a day per person. At 3 p.m. they put the reeds out to dry in the wind and sun, after which the reeds were processed into mats. From the early hand weaving they have progressed to the most modern, computer-run equipment.
Processing the harvest 
Operating the old electric loom 
Poster at the Eet Cafe Two loom operator’s joined our guide, who explained how the historic looms worked. Among their collection is a Jacquard loom, patented by the Frenchman of that name in 1802. It uses punch cards to weave complex designs, now done by computers. Each pass of the loom moves another card into place. It’s introduction revolutionized the industry.
Queen Maxima wearing her maxed out hat inaugurated the reopening of the museum in September 2026 following its renovation. The Queen walked on an orange carpet laid for the occasion.
Queen Maxima After our friendly retired civil engineer tour guide finished up with the Dutch couple that’d joined us, we were invited to have a coffee. The entire staff, being two women and the tour guide after he wrapped up, joined us. They wanted to know where we were from and where we were going. They made us feel right at home. We always find a way to compliment our host country. Certainly the Netherlands has much to offer.
And then we were off to fight the wind at the municipal marina’s water point dock before mooring once again at the small haven just outside town.
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Scooting across northern Germany
From Berlin to the Dutch border via the waterways is about 500 kilometers/300 miles. When we traveled 8 hours per day we went a whopping 100 kilometers, bicycle riders everywhere passing us with ease. It’s a relaxing journey, passing through picturesque forests, farmland, villages and small towns. There are industrial zones too, quite a few, which may not be pretty but interesting as you observe the dock workers loading and unloading the barges you share the canal with.
There are many fuel tankers, recycling loads and some container barges on this route. They usually take the center of the canal when they are loaded in order to have enough depth. We have to thread the needle between the shore and a safe distance from the barge. Canals are cut steep at the sides so you can get quite close without grounding but still you have to monitor the depth gauge. The barge captains are pros and know these canals, so you have confidence that they are not going to take too much room or run you over.
Along the way we passed through four four or five huge locks on the Mittleland Kaanal and another 11 or so on the Dortmund-Eems Kaanal. Except for the last two on the Dortmund-Eems Kaanal we checked in at the designated “sportboots” docks, those two lacking that facility. In a few cases they replied to a phone call or to VHF radio so we did not have to moor. About half of the lock keepers spoke English, with the others we got a reply but did not understand so we just waited for the light to turn green. Our waits for the lock gates to open were generally short, about 15 minutes or so.
There are many recycling operations along the Mittleland Kaanal Having already visited the cities and towns along the way, with a side trip to Oldenburg prevented by a lock closure, we spent two nights at only one location, https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/magdeburg-germany-home-of-the-reformation-and-a-schnitzel/, until we came Heren neat the Dutch border.
Hanover is a city worth visiting. We stopped here on our first trip on Viking to Berlin. For more about Hanover see https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/hannover/
Moonlight Over Hanover, watercolors Minden is smaller than Hanover. There an aqueduct takes you over the Weser River. There’s a neat schnitzel restaurant on the river, Schiffmühlen (meaning mill) Gastronomie. The downtown’s medieval architecture is well preserved as Minden was not bombed in WW2. https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/minden/ Bad Essen is smaller still and also has well preserved half-timber buildings and some good eats. https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/day-1-on-the-mittelland-kanal/
Crossing the Bridge in Bad Essen Passing through the last lock on the Dortmund-Eems canal we came to the small lock in Heren only to find it had been closed in April for works. It would open on May 3, May 1 being a holiday. We were stuck for three days. Fortunately it is a lovely spot. Heren has grocery stores and other shopping, an attractive modern Dutch look with newish brick buildings and a main street pedestrian zone. There’s a ship museum with several restored Dutch barges. The Dutch border is just a few kilometers away along a small tree lined canal.
In Wolfsburg you can visit the Volkswagon factory. Advance ticket purchase is recommended.
The lock in Heren 
Passing through Meppen, Germany 
There’s a ship museum in Heren. -
Silently passing in the blackness
Germany was not yet a nation in 1870 when war broke out between France and the North German Federation. It resulted in the loss of Alsace and Lorraine. The French built the Canal de l’Est afterwards to replace the transport it had lost. The canal begins just a short distance from Nancy. In 2003 the northern and southern branches were officially renamed Canal de la Meuse and Canal des Vosges. We spent the last days of this season on the Canal de la Meuse.
“I reviewed every whodunit I have ever watched, every story of psychotic serial killers.”
Night sets into the blackness As you round the corner to enter the Canal de la Meuse there is a small town called Richardménil. We pulled into Its a lovely mooring. There are picnic tables and electricity. The narrowing Moselle runs alongside the canal. There is no bike path on this side of the canal so we were alone, aside from the nearby house hidden by the trees, with a large German Shepherd who greeted some of the occasional passers by heading for the footbridge leading to the paved path on the opposite side. Only one other boat came by while we were here and for the following four days.
The adjacent small town is up a steep hill. I biked there to get a baguette- a ‘tradition’ actually. This is a baguette made as they were made before modern methods turned the baguette into a less desirable product so I always ask for a ‘tradition.’
With very warm temperatures on the way we headed up the canal, climbing towards the source of the Moselle. This means we are entering emptied locks. These locks in particular are very difficult to use. The bollards are three meters or so above our heads. There are no holds for the bow other than the activating mechanism’s flimsy pipes, whereas in many locks there are holds built into the walls. To secure the stern I had to climb on the roof, using the hook to place the line over the bollard. We held on tight as the water gushed in turbulently. You rise quickly, hoping not to lose control.
We spent the next three days in the shade as temperatures climbed to 32c/90f outside the little town of Bayon. We grilled on our tiny charcoal barby and prepped some surfaces for later painting. People biked along the narrow, paved bike path, the small bridge crossing the lock just a few meters away. Up the road is a a roadside burger stand. We stopped there one day as the chef was just arriving. The friendly owner gave us a menu, and invited us back. We returned the next day. The burgers are good but not great despite the 5 stars awarded on Google maps, while costing us $40 for two with fries and a bottle of beer. This isn’t exactly cheap. A hundred meters closer to the canal a fete was forming. On Saturday night there was live music, a typical over the hill rock band, referring to their age. They weren’t half bad, especially considering how deep in the countryside we are.
A few people came walking alone late at night, well after midnight, wearing a headlamp, the light on their forehead bobbing in the pitch black mist. As they passed in silence with just a small door separating us, I reviewed the whodunits I have watched, stories of psychotic serial killers. But these were just people walking in the dark.
Penn Bagdley as the charming, loving, affirming yet psychopathic murderer Joe Goldberg in ‘You.” The heat wave passed after several days. The important town of Epinal lay some thirty locks ahead. The French water authorities had issued a notice stating that the canal south of Epinal was closed effective several days previously. We called the harbor in Epinal to see if it was closed, which they answered in the affirmative. We could have stopped short of Epinal and taken the bus into town. Since we would then have to turn around to got to our winter harbor, repeating the same 30 locks, we decided to forgo the journey. We headed back north for the winter, ending our boating season by gathering with some of the friendly and interesting people we’d met along the way. This year it’s Australians , with one Brit couple, one Belgium and one French.
Harbor at dusk. The cold weather cometh. -
The Cathedral at Tournai
The Catherdral at Tournai , watercolor and ink, 21 x 30 cm, 8.3 x 11.7″ on 300 gram Canson watercolor paper -
Castle on the Sambre
Aboard our boat Viking we cruised the canals and rivers of Northern France and Belgium. Chateau, forests, hills, water scenes at every turn. I depicted scenes such as this in a style mixing realism, impressionism and expressionism.
Castle on the Sambre 24 x 32 cm 9.5 x 12.5″ approx -
Back on the boat in Netherlands
May 18, 2020
From a masked airplane ride from Madrid we proceeded to the masked train ride but not before a perfunctory interview upon debarking the KLM flight from Madrid. They did not keep the virus questionnaire at the end of the 30 second interview. That saved time helped us make a perfect connection to the train. Train schedules are much reduced here probably due to reduced ridership. We appreciated the fortuity, not just of the timing for the train but for how well the journey had gone given the uncertainty we faced. Our good forture continued even to the gate at the marina. We’d been give the wrong gate code although I’d asked a few days before. The resident harbor master saw us from his boat and opened it for us with his remote control. We could not know if anyone would be there to greet us aside from the 90+ year old who is, or was until now, the only one allowed to live aboard.
Once off the train we removed our masks. There were few people about and none masked and none close so we posed no mutual risk the entire 1.8 kilometer walk from the train station. During the next few days we had no need to get close to anyone other than chance encounters in the supermarket aisles. The public facilities at the marina are closed. No showers, toilets or laundry facilities. Their little restaurant remains shuttered.
For a few days we went about cleaning the boat deck and other exterior elements. It was a wet winter so the deck was green with algae. Then it was getting the heater to work. Nighttime temperatures were close to freezing so having a bit of heat in the morning is helpful. We do not run it at night as the heater runs off of diesel fuel so if fumes enter the living area you can suffer CO poisoning. One of the bikes would not shift gears so I had to mess with it. Then there was trying to remember where things were stored and how we did things last year. It took a few days before we left on Saturday.
By 0930 on Saturday the skies were sunny with a slight breeze. We turned the boat around to make departure easier from the narrow space and headed down the canal from Dronten towards Almere, about 40 km. Everything checked out ok as we went but then about 20 minutes later I noticed that the engine was running hot. I checked below and things were steamy so we floated in the canal while I figured out what had gone wrong.The hoses were all intact, the water pump belt was still entact, and the pump that circulates canal water through the engine’s heat exchanger was working- that’s the first thing you check before you depart. I decided to restart the engine and add coolant. The temperature came down and remained at the proper level for the rest of our journey. I concluded that the thermostat must have been stuck in the closed position. We ordered a new one and a spare belt.
Otherwise we had no issues along the way and after two days of sunshine our solar panels have kept our batteries almost fully charged the entire time. After a few days more these stopped working. I exhausted my diagnostic skills trying to find out what happened.
In Almere we had our first visitors. Our long time friends Kees and Ada, whom we met on the Eem in the village of Eemdijk in 2000, have two daughters. Marcella and Bart in turn have two daughters. They came by for drinks and snacks at 1700. It was just our second visit with anyone since March 9. On the deck we can keep a good distance. Inside it’s another matter so no one was allowed in. We joked and recounted stories for a few hours and even then, the sun showed no sign of tiring out.
Bart, Jessica and Charlotte on the deck of Viking. I gather Bart does not like photos! He’s so easy going though. After a week in Almere and a complete change of plans, we headed back to Dronten before a stop in Hasselt and then Zwartesluis (Black Lock) to try to find help with the solar panels. After that we hope to cross into Germany to start the 600 km voyage to Berlin via canal. It’s a beautiful route that takes a few weeks if you push hard. The borders with the Netherlands are still closed in both directions.
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Valencia: City on the Med
Here is another illustrated small book, this one on our favorite place to live, Valencia, Spain. You can swipe through the pages with your finger on a touch screen. Enjoy!
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Our Years in Paris (illustrated)
This small book encapsulates my years in Paris.
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It turns out that traveling makes us far happier than any material wealth ever does!
A friend posted this.
It turns out that traveling makes us far happier than any material wealth ever does
Metro Entrance in Paris (pen and ink)
