65th anniversary RT30 Kampen / NL

At the end of February, a strong team of 7 of us traveled to the Netherlands for the 65th anniversary celebrations of RT30 Kampen. On Friday, we were picked up at the airport in Amsterdam by a welcoming committee from Kampen and then drove to the City Center, where we had refreshments and then took a boat trip on the famous canals through Amsterdam. After the tour, we explored the streets of Amsterdam on foot. After the transfer to Kampen and a short breather with the “home hosting people”, all the arriving tables (Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Scotland) were ceremoniously welcomed by RT 30 Kampen in the historic walls – one of only three city towers left. We were treated to excellent food! After the introductory speeches by the President of Kampen and the RT 30 World President Hans de Boer, the celebrations continued.

On Saturday, everything revolved around shipping and the well-known ancient merchant ships – the cogs. In the middle of the Eisel riverbed, a merchant ship dating back to the Middle Ages was recently found, or rather its remains – the skeleton. This ship is now being salvaged in a complex process (costing around €5 million). After the lectures, we took a very elegant ship on the Eisel to a shipyard where a special ship for pipeline construction etc. was built. This unusual tour was nicely accompanied by a “moving snack bar including live music” – http://soundtrek.nl/

After the impressive tour of the shipyard, we returned to Kampen, from where we drove to the Hotel Mooiriver in the late afternoon, where the actual RT 30 – 65 year celebration took place. The gala dinner with black tie (we Austrians came in traditional costume, the Scots in kilts) was followed by the speeches of the individual table presidents, including that of our president Matthias. With brilliant ease, he conjured up a speech in English and impressed the audience with our self-painted gift of the honorary disc from RT 30 Kampen and RT 30 Salzburg as well as the specially made friendship pins and a Mozart liqueur.

Many thanks to those responsible for Round Table 30 Kampen. It was a wonderful weekend.

Tot ziens! het was erg leuk, het was een genoegen