Maastricht and Aachen

On our journey we passed this spot that marks where 3 countries intersect: Belgium, Germany and The Netherlands. 

Maastricht

Today in Maastricht in the Netherlands (the oldest city in the Netherlands …) The first city to be liberated on D Day.

In the Netherlands American Cemetery, 8301 soldiers are buried, mostly Americans and Canadians who liberated Maastricht. 

This is reportedly the oldest bridge in The Netherlands (our guide told us we might hear that about more than one bridge).

Like many other cities, Maastricht is built around the original city walls. This is said to be the oldest city gate in The Netherlands. 

Also like many other European cities, this place is crawling with old churches. 

This one (below) is said to be the oldest. Tower was built in 1000; the chapel in 1500. The words above the chapel door loosely translate to: Do not enter without praising Holy Mary (saying Ave Maria).

There are so many churches that they have repurposed many of them. This one is an incredible bookstore. 

An artist named Gunter Demnig wanted to memorialize the Jewish families who were displaced and/or killed during the Nazi occupation. These plaques translate to “tripping stones” and tell the name of the family that lived there, and in this case, the date they died in Auschwitz. 

On a much lighter note, mailboxes here have green and red markings that say Nee (no) or Ja (yes). If Nee on the left, it tells the postman they don’t want any generic junk mail. Nee on the right tells that they don’t even want any personalized junk mail. Love that!!

Also we saw this! In this town of 122,000, 20,000 are students from over 121 countries. 

Aachen

Then, on to Aachen, Germany (again, the oldest city in the Netherlands…😂) to see the Palace and Church of Charlemagne. Although Charlemagne was not crowned here, this became the Coronation Church from 936 (Otto 1st) to 1532 (Ferdinand 1st). 

This very austere seat at top right is the Coronation throne. Because of some specific markings, it’s believed to be a relic brought from the Holy Land and constructed of some stone floor panels. 

Aachen is now a Pilgrimage city, and one is held every 7 years for 10 days. Covid caused a delay and one will be held here in a few days: June 9-19. For that period the relics housed in this cathedral will be on display for those Pilgrims. The relics are: the first (swaddling clothes) and last (loin cloth from the crucifixion) garments that Christ wore, the dress Mary wore when she gave birth to Jesus and the decapitation cloth from John the Baptist’s head. Pretty impressive list. 

Our guide is a theology student and intimated that he had some thoughts about the authentication process of these relics. However, they are housed here and examined and celebrated every 7 years. 

Apparently Charlemagne had a bit of an ego. He often asked to be called David or Solomon (after those Kings). He also often repurposed both objects as well as stories or legends to serve his purpose. For instance, he chose to be buried in this sarcophagus that was obviously Roman, depicting just about all the Roman Gods. I can’t begin to remember what all the carvings meant but this is 1700 years old and carved from one large block of marble. (My take-away was that Charlemagne was buried in a hand-me-down sarcophagus.)

Our guide explained that it was also customary for royalty and important figures to be depicted not as the were but as they wished to be. (The early version of photoshop or Insta filters??) Our guide explained that this is believed to be the last known likeness of Charlemagne…and that according to all descriptions, this looks nothing like him. 

Another relic is this cross reported to be the only one that doesn’t depict the crucifixion. A very delicate cameo in the center was also carved from one piece of marble and depicts Caesar Augustus. (Don’t worry, they engraved some stuff about Jesus on the back.) The stones represent the 144 homes (144,000 spots) that were believed at that time to be available in heaven. (They had some tests to determine who gets those spots but I don’t remember the qualifications. I know, not helpful!) As you might imagine, there was stiff competition for those spots!

Construction of his Summer Palace began in 794 and continued for many years. Today it serves in part as the Aachen Town Hall. 

Our weather continues to be spectacular. We met a nice couple, Maureen and Jack, at dinner. There was a Trivia contest in the bar after dinner. It was a world travel/geography theme. We did not win but scored a respectable 240 out of 350 points. (270 won; we’re blaming Scroggs for the correct answers he talked us out of…of course without giving him credit for the correct answers he gave us!)

Tomorrow morning is a sailing day with another port tomorrow afternoon.