a vacation (part 5)

A few last trip highlights before I cease subjecting you all to the travleogue.

*paying over $100 to fill a tiny VW Golf with gas
*eating a meal consisting entirely of chocolate bars
*eating French Fries every single day for almost 2 weeks
*nearly freezing to death and getting snowed on at the end of May (seriously, what is up with the weather lately?!)
*attending church and seeing a movie in a different country
*dealing with a (thankfully mild) case of food poisoning while in a hotel
*traveling countless miles by boat, plane, bike, car, bus, and train
*trying to find room for at least ten pounds of cheese and chocolate in the suitcase
*being reminded of all the reasons why I love to travel, and all the reasons I love home!
*the cold that inevitably hits every time I get back from a trip involving a time change/jet lag (9 days and counting...grrr!)

I'll be off soon on the next great adventure, something a little different this time but all the more exciting. I can't wait to tell you all about it! (Soon, I promise!)

a vacation (part 4)

There were a few other places we visited briefly including Cologne, long enough to tour the famed cathedral. The rain combined with traffic made it so we pretty much had to turn around without doing much of anything else.

We also spent a few hours in Luxembourg viewing the old casemates and battlements, watching the gurard in front of the Grand Palace, and eating a delicious lunch. We also stopped at the nearby US military cemetery where General Patton is buried along with over 5000 soldiers (most killed during WWII; the Battle of Ardennes and liberation of Luxembourg.)

We took advantage of a few hours of afternoon sun to take a hike to Devil's Gorge near the German village of Irrel and were rewarded with some pretty spectacular scenery.

a vacation (part 3)

Road trip #2 took us a bit farther north to Amsterdam. Maybe it was the weather (which was finally beautiful--sunny and warm for longer than 15 mintues at a stretch) but I fell in love!

Gone were the rolling hills and fairy tale forests replaced by patchwork quilt squares of green and gold fields stitched together with silvery threads of waterways and canals. Boats and tractors were parked within feet of each other in front of thatched roof farmhouses where cows and geese grazed peacefully beneath the shadow of nearby windmills. And everywhere were people young and old cruising around on bicycles! And yes, the whole place really was that idyllic.

We stayed in a hotel in Volendam, about 25 minutes outside the city that was on a partially blocked street (traffic was only allowed to go certain directions at certain times of day and was closed to all but pedestrians the rest of the time) lined with shops out front and facing the water in the back. The shoreline consisted of billions of seashells making a white but not barefoot-friendly beach while the nearby dikes were grass covered hills that hid the sea behind them.

The city itself was definitely a big city yet somehow was able to retain the charm of the nearby towns. The countless bridges, waterways, boats, and bicycles probably helped. The highlight of the day was a bike tour through town with a quick detour through the Red Light District, past the Anne Frank house (we didn't get there early enough for tickets), and weaving in and out of crazy traffic. We were told that in a city of about 800,000 there are approximately 1.2 million bikes! They are everywhere! And the bike traffic there is comparable to auto traffic in Italy--there are written rules but no one seems to follow them exactly. Mostly it's a free for all with everyone assuming the right of way and lots of near misses. It was a tad intimidating for this non-biker but I survived...and even enjoyed it!

And a close second was the canal tour. It's not called the Venice of the North for nothing! There's something uber soothing about floating around on a boat in the sun. All vacations should include boats. And cheese.

Have I mentioned the cheese yet? There were cheese shops everywhere, just as there were chocolate shops everywhere in Belgium and Germany.  We taste tested a ton of different flavors, watched it being made and then spent hundreds of dollars buying little wheels of it to bring home. (I've had several occassions to relive vacation moments by indulging in a deluxe grilled cheese sandwhich followed by a big of fine chocolate...mmmm!)

We also spent a bit of time in the Rijksmuseum which ended up not being my favorite. It was rather small and was heavy in Dutch influence (of course!) I guess I'm a bit spoiled by having so many opportunities to visit the British Museum, the Met, the Louvre and the Smithsonians but I just wasn't all that impressed.  However, I was struck by the intense color and emotion displayed in this piece by Vermeer and this windmill by Paul Gabriel (though of course, neither of the digital images come close to the beauty of the actual works.)

Bottom line? What a fun place!  If you've never been...go!

a vacation! part 2

Part of our trip was spent hanging out with our amazing family, seeing the sights around their house, chilling with the kids, talking late into the night, sharing memories and making new ones. But thanks to their tremendous generosity we had access to a car and took the chance to venture a little farther from home for several mini-road trips. First stop was Belgium with a day and a half in Bruges and a day in Brussels.

Bruges was charming. Step-gabled roofs, canals, cobblestone streets. Visiting, like so many places in Europe, is like stepping back in time a bit. It rained most of the time we were there but umbrellas often make the best souvenirs and a bit of drizzle definitely cuts down on the tourist traffic you have to fight! 

And on day two the sun broke through the clouds and graced us with a bit of blue sky and an opportunity to take off a few of the scarves, jackets and other non-May appropriate apparel.   We also made must-needed stops at the official Frites (French Fry) Museum, and Chocolate Museum. (I did mention that we ate fries and chocolate every single day, right?  Cuz I was serious about that.  These people take their chocolate and fries very seriously.)

Here I am masquerading as a French Fry.  Bet you can't tell which one is me!

Brussels was a bit of a let-down after Bruges. It had some charms of its own, of course, but overall was just a big city. We stopped by the old 1958 World's Fair grounds to take in the Atomium statue and wander through some of the incredible parks nearby. We made a trek to the Manikin Pis fountain (the famous little peeing boy who was much smaller than I'd anticipated, only about 2 feet high...you can almost see him in the photo!)  We also added waffles to our list of foods we ate way too much of. Sometimes they masqueraded as breakfast, other times as dessert, but they were always topped with a variety of goodness in the shape of fruits, chocolate sauce, nutella, and whipped cream (mmm, how they get those crunchy chunks of sugar inside is a delicious mystery I'm determined to master here on this side of the Atlantic, anyone know the secret?)

We also wandered through Cinquantenaire Park, past the Grand Place and the Royal Palace and headquarters of the EU. There were lots of great sites to see but they all seemed a bit flashy and busy compared to the old world feel of Bruges. If you're planning a trip, I'd recommend visiting them in opposite order!

 

 

my sis in front of the EU building

 

 

We also made an unplanned detour to the Waterloo Battlefield. Not knowing too much about the battle or Napoleon even (other than what little I remember from high school history and what I've culled from reading Jane Austen, Alexandre Dumas and from listening to the Abba song) it was quite the education. I'd love to say I can tell you all about it but my brain fails to hold onto dates and things the way it should. Suffice it to say, it was a crushing defeat for Napoleon that changed the fate of the entire European continent. Go here  if you want to know more.

 

It's also interesting to learn about history from a different point of view. While I always thought of Napoleon as a sort of dictator, slowly taking over the world, a tyrant who must be stopped (a kinder Hitler, perhaps?) in Belgium and France (and probably other places) he is colored more as a revolutionary standing up to the traditional monarchs of the day and putting more power in the people's hands. Regardless, the view from the top of the Lion's Mound (a huge hill erected where it is believed the Duke of Orange was wounded) is spectacular and the displays relating the various accounts of the battles and the lives lost is sobering.

 

That's the end of your history lesson for today.  More tomorrow!

a vacation!

Apologies for the long silence and new apologies for now inundating you all with vacation photos. Feel free to click off now!

For those of you still with me I'll try to keep it brief. Ish.

My trusty travel partner and I (shout out to the sis) boarded a plane a couple of weeks ago and set off to visit cousins who are stationed at the Spangdahlem Air Force Base in Germany. We spent two weeks alternating between hanging out with the fam and road tripping out to fabulous locales eating our weight in chocolate and french fries along the way.

First up was a stop in Trier, the oldest city in Germany, founded by the Romans way back around 16 BC. Situated along the Moselle River, there are baths, city gates, churches, an amphitheater, and an old throne room among the leftover remains. Oh, and random miniature statues of Karl Marx, "famed" former resident.

And then there was a visit to nearby Cochem, another town situated on the Moselle. We started with a trek up the hill to tour the castle. First built in the 1100s it was ruined and rebuilt several times and has been owned by the town since 1978. It's sort of a mishmosh of styles--Gothic architecture and 19th century French furnishings. The weather (which was mostly cold, drizzly, gray and altogether yech!) made a dramatic backdrop for the views from the top of the peak; the river winding through vineyards dotting the hillsides, timbered buildings and church steeples lining cobble stoned streets. It was very quaint and picturesque.

 And then there was the countryside itself. Rolling hills, farmlands and tiny towns, glowing rapeseed fields and the continually winding rivers. It was the slow-paced, soul healing scenery this girl needed.

More tomorrow!