Discombobulated Day

Late yesterday afternoon (Monday) our Cruise Director got the news that we wouldn’t be able to dock at our planned port, Nijmegan. Our captain got permission to dock there for a short time – long enough to disembark the people who were planning on doing the excursions there. We then sailed away downriver to Emmerich, Germany. We were given many choices as to what we could do about excursions. Our group decided to forgo the excursions in Nijmegan and stay and enjoy the ship as we sailed to Emmerich.

We relaxed onboard and when we docked, we had a nice lunch onboard and then decided to stroll around town. Adjacent to our port just a few steps away was St. Martini church and these two interesting statues – a gondolier and an old man watching the river flow by.

 

It would have been nice in Emmerich except all the stores and restaurants were closed and we were never able to find out why. We enjoyed the walk and beautiful architecture of St. Aldegundis Kirche, who was a Catholic Saint, and then came back to the ship in time for our newly added excursion to Kleve, Germany.

Emmerich lies on the north bank of the Rhine, just within the German border, and is the last German town on the Rhine before the river flows into the Netherlands. Kleve was a short 20-minute bus ride from Emmerich. While riding in our bus to Kleve, the tour guide gave us a little history and legends about Kleve.  

The legend goes like this – The Duke of Kleve died leaving his wife and daughter to manage things. They were not doing well and were distressed when a boat with a swan came down the river. On the boat was a man who was asleep and when they came to Kleve he woke up and saw the two ladies in distress and decided to help them. His help was so appreciated that the daughter asked him to marry her, and he said ‘yes’, with one condition – neither she nor her mother were to ask him where he came from. They agreed and were married. They had a family and were happy for many years until one day the daughter decided to ask him where he was from. He told her that he was from an earth paradise and that day a swan came and took him away. Sometime during the following year, the daughter died of sadness. 

Kleve’s claim to fame was that Anne of Kleve was Henry VIII’s 4^th wife. Henry saw a portrait of Anne and thought she was beautiful and agreed to marry her. When he saw her in person, he thought she was ugly but married her anyway but never consummated the marriage. They were divorced and he did not behead her but kept her as his sister. She was the only German to be a Queen of England and officially reigned for 6 months.

Upon arriving at Kleve, we enjoyed a very cold windy shower (wind chill = 37 degrees) to start off and since Karen’s jacket did not have a hood, Bev loaned her a knit hat which was helpful. As the rain stopped, we walked into the town and enjoyed the beauty of the town and an interesting statue in the town.

 

This statue in the center of town was to show the swan taking the husband away and the wife trying to hold onto him. 

Karen stopped at a hat shop and bought a white knit hat for further use on windy rainy days. We were told we could find Schwaneburg, known as Swan Castle, where the Duke resided and it was closed but it was a beautiful building. 

We did find the town swan and got a picture of us there as well. Of course, Karen had to show off her new cashmere hat.

Ric and Vicki decided to skip this excursion and enjoy a relaxing day on the ship, and they probably were glad to miss the shower.

After dinner it was time for a group picture.