Anna Buxton

Crossing Europe– from West to East – Spring 2014 (part one)

• by anna
• 1 June, 2014

 

We left England by car through the Tunnel and our first stop was in Belgium.  Just wanted to mention, that all hotels we stayed in were booked through www.booking.com.

Day One: Turnhout, Belgium

The rain poured as we stopped the car in front of the Hotel Corsendonk Viane, but by the time we offloaded the luggage and went out, it stopped.  The sun came out as we were finding our way to the centre of the town.  Unfortunately, we were so much in a hurry, we forgot to take out camera – so no photographs from Tunrhout!

Turnhout is a town with 800 years of history, previously owned by the Dukes of Brabant.  The castle, now owned by a Bank, used to be their hunting lodge.  It is a large building, beautifully restored and surrounded by a moat, full of water with a number of water features.  With the creation of Belgium, the town fell into its boundaries.  Its’ previous fortunes, based on linen production declined and the area fell into poverty.

All this changed in the 18^th century, when two men turned up in the town and started to produce playing cards.  When we learned this, we realized why one of the flags waving in front of the Town Hall, was displaying playing cards symbols.  The company prospered and the cards produced were known by their quality, which meant that the factory received many orders.  The town regained its affluence and at the present moment looked quite prosperous.  There is a University in it.

We walked through the centre and looked at the imposing cathedral at the square – unfortunately closed in the afternoon.  Decided to stop for a meal in a restaurant, named Café Bristol and had excellent fish, the service was superb, too.  Chris drank a dark, local beer, named Tangelo and I had a new Weiss beer, called Turnhout Politica, specially produced in celebration of the 800^th anniversary of the town history.

We returned to Hotel Corsendonk Viane well fed and happy.  The hotel was very peasant.

Thumbs up for Turnhout!

 

Day Two: Düsseldorf, Germany

Here, we are visiting friends – having started in rain, we arrived in rain, too.  After catching up with our friends, we wanted to go to the Düsseldorf’s Modern Art Gallery or to be precise – The Kunst Zammlung Nordrein Westfalen Gallery, which we had never seen on our previous visits.  A rainy day was a perfect excuse to do so.  They had a permanent exhibition and a temporary one – Kandinsky, Malevich and Mondrian – Works on white background.

We decided to view the permanent exhibition first and were delighted by the number of modern and older modernist works presented, as well as an interesting selection of installations.  We saw works by Picasso (a large number), George Grosz, Miro, Kandinsky, George Braque, Matisse, Max Beckman, Otto Dix and many other internationally renowned and unfamiliar to me painters and artists.  The name I went away with was Gunter Uecker – a German sculptor and installation artist, a new discovery for me, who captivated my imagination with his nail installation exhibits!  I would love to have one at home!

The temporary exhibition made me realize that I am not very keen on Mondrian, I like some of Malevitch’s paintings, but I am absolutely mad about the later works of Kandinsky – produced after the 1920-ies.  It was also very interesting to compare the events of their lives, presented in 3 parallel lines by the exhibition organizers and to judge the different ways in which they treated to the Russian Revolution.

We bought a lot of black chocolate from Galleria Department store and returned to our hosts.  In the evening we had a lovely meal and enjoyed the company gathered.

 

Day Three: Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany

We fared better with the weather today – there was rain, but here and there the sun came out and there were very few cars on the road!  Our GPS lady – Emily, took us to the centre of the old town, but was unable to direct us to the actual hotel.  The narrow streets of the old town are quite scary for the driver – you are also in a pedestrianized zone!  Chris had to find the hotel on foot.  We stayed in Reichs Küchenmeister – and old building in the centre of the town.  Unfortunately, the parking they advertised turned out to be quite far away from the building, which made the taking and loading of the luggage quite difficult.

We were impressed by the great number of tourists – local and foreign, around the place.  The rain

stopped to allow us to take a tour round the town.  Its history started from the 970^-ies , when the first castle was built by the Earl of Rothenburg.  In 1116^th Duke Conrad of Schwabia became its owner – he later became King of Germany.  His son Friedrich, who held a “glittering court” in Rothenburg, married Isabella of Aragon, and not as the guide-book wanted us to believe –the daughter of Richard the Lionheart – Richard did not have a daughter.  Isabella was the daughter of James II of Aragon and Blanche of Anjou.  It was her large dowry and her ambition, which added the “sparkle” to Rothenburg.

In 1172 Rothenburg was granted a Town Charter and the building of the town walls started.  But by the time the walls were completed, the town had outgrown them, so new additions were started.  In the 13^th century, the town was mortgaged several times, but every time they managed to buy themselves out, until in 1272 Rothenburg was given the status of a Free Imperial City.  In1352 Rothenburg gained independence from the Empire and its justice.

At the beginning of the 15^th century, Rothenburg became entangled in the feud between the Dukes

and Kings in the area, while at the beginning of the 16^th century the Jews were chased out of the city.  In 1632, the city was taken by Gustav-Adolf of Sweden and in 1645, by French troupes.  In 1802 Rothenburg finally lost its independence and was annexed by Bavaria.

In 1945 Rothenburg was badly damaged by American bomb raids, but escapes total obliteration, due to the vigorous intervention by an American General.  The city was later re-built in the original style with the help of donations.

It became a tourist destination from the 19^th century.  Now, it is included on an itinerary of Romantic German Castles, which brings many international tourists – some Korean and Chinese tourists were there at the same time as us.

The castle is only partially there, but the city wall and the ramparts, which surround the old town, are well preserved and imposing.  The old town consists of many traditional German houses, well preserved and decorated, with many shops, coffee-shops, and a few restaurants.  The Town Hall is very imposing, situated on the market square.   Several old and impressive fountains attracted our attention.

We stumbled at the Church of St Jacobs (St James), built in the middle ages for about 150 years and went in to have a look.  It has an impressive altar with many 15^th century paintings.  The stained–glass windows were also magnificent.  A particular treasure was the Holy Blood Alter, which in the Middle Ages was so

famous, it became a pilgrim destination – The scene of the Last Supper is indeed very impressiveand demonstrates the skills of the cabinet-maker Erhard Harschner and the sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider, who produced it.  It is also said to contain 3 drops of Christ’s blood in a rock crystal, set in the distant 1270 in the gold-plated cross above the relic.

We saw several other churches and were very taken by the Castle

Gates.  The Eastern tourists were greatly attracted by the town’s Christmas Museum/shop, which they were all clamoring to visit.  Rothenburg apparently also has a Medieval Crime Museum, which we ran out of time to visit.

We tried the local pastry specialty – the snowballs and were just about to buy some cigars as a  present to a friend, when we realized that the said cigars were local sausages, presented like cigars!  Unfortunately he is a vegetarian!

So, having climbed the ramparts and the walls, visited the churches, walked the streets, taken lots of pictures, bought books and souvenirs, with the cool of the evening, we returned back to the hotel.

The attic room we had was on the 3^rd floor and the shower was in a situation, which did not allow for the shower curtain to prevent the absolute soaking of the floor.  They had the thinnest towels I have ever been offered in a hotel, too.  On top of everything, in the following morning, Chris announced that the hairdryer did not work and had to walk out to collect the car from the parking with wet hair in the rain.  I was guarding the luggage, waiting for him in the foyer and thought it would be good to mention to the receptionist that the hairdryer did not work.  The following conversation took place:

Me: “My husband could not get the hairdryer to work in the morning – it may be faulty?”

Receptionist: “It works – you need to press

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the button on the side, the light will come.  It works!”

Me: “If that is the case, why isn’t there an instruction instructing the customer how it works?”

Receptionist: “Ah, everybody knows!”

Two minutes later she popped her head through the door and said

“My colleague has checked the hairdryer – it works!’

“If we did not know how to operate it, what could we do?” I asked.

“You could have rang us in the morning and we would have told you!” – she answered shirtily.

When we departed, I shared my frustrating conversation with the receptionist with Chris.  “Have you noticed – he said – that everywhere we have been, to a place extremely popular with tourists, the attitude is the same –if one tourist is unhappy, another one will come anyway!  I knew from the matter-of-fact manner they met us that the situation will be like this!  How many hoteliers have you known, who do not use the word Welcome and smile on your arrival?”