Category: Europe

My last post described our first couple of days in Belgium (Tuesday – Wednesday). This post covers most of our day on Thursday. We squeezed a lot of very cool stuff into four short days. I had help with the planning though.

Once Hubby and I had decided the Europe trip was a go, it was left up to Annelies and I to plan our time in Belgium. She asked Hubby if there was any place in particular he’d like to go. After a bit of thought, he said “castles and a World War II cemetery.” She and I each did a bit of research. I left the castle bit up to Annelies. It was my job to select a cemetery. (The cemetery thing was easier said than done since none of my stupid tour guides even mentioned World War II cemeteries.) Although there are plenty of castles near where they live, most of the cemeteries are in the southeastern part of the country near the Ardennes. It was sort of far to just drive down and back in one day, so Annelies and I put our heads together and decided an overnight trip to Luxembourg City would be fun.

I made the plans for the overnight. In other words, I selected the hotel. She had to decide which cemetery would be most convenient AND plan an interesting to and from route.

She did a pretty good job, too. Our first stop was Drielandenpunt, the border tripoint where Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands meet. Before we got to that particular spot, however, we climbed a tower so we could supposedly look out over all three countries at one time.

We paid €1 each and climbed this old, somewhat rickety and definitely unmarked tower to see a pleasant but sort of underwhelming view.

Annelies commented that one would think there’d be signs or something saying “in this direction is Germany, here the Netherlands and over here is Belgium.” To be honest, there probably were signs on the tower. The problem was, we weren’t on the right tower. Once we did find the right tower, we didn’t want to climb the thing. We just wanted to get the obligatory touristy pictures and skeedaddle.

And that’s exactly what we did.

After capturing those lovely photos, we ate a nice little lunch at the nearby Taverne De Grenssteen, which looked oddly American, but served pretty tasty food.

Once lunch was finished, we were back on the road to the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial.

Seeing the National World II Memorial in Washington, DC is one thing. Reading all about the war and its various battles is something else. But actually driving through the countryside where thousands upon thousands of very young men fought and died is different. Seeing the 57-acre immaculately tended cemetery first-hand where 7,992 of our military dead are buried was a very powerful, sober and humbling experience.

There were 405,399 American casualties in World War II. I cannot say I know of any relatives who perished during the war. But that doesn’t mean I found the cemetery and memorial any less moving.

These were not anonymous “troops” in a dusty history book. These were real, honest-to-God men.

Brothers.

Fathers.

Husbands.

Sons.

And they all died fighting on a cold, lonely battlefield miles and miles away from their homes. From their loved ones.

It was a lot to take in.

Seeing the names on the markers, I couldn’t help but imagine their faces. I read the name on one headstone. Then another. And another. Standing before each and reading all of the names would take DAYS.

I am very grateful that the American Battle Monuments Commission does such a fantastic job maintaining this cemetery and memorial. And, as sad as it was to see, I am so very glad that we decided to visit.

Jack M. Rothstein was a Corporal  in the U.S. Army, 112th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division, who entered the service from New York. He died on December 17, 1944, having first won the Silver Star and Purple Heart medals. He is buried at Plot H Row 13 Grave 69.

Charles A. Moore, Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 66th Regiment, 2nd Armored Division. Entered the Service from: California. Died on January 4, 1945. Buried at: Plot H Row 4 Grave 63. Awards: Distinguished Service Cross, Purple Heart.

It really is a powerful place. I hope to return to Europe one day soon. When I do, I’d like to visit some of the other cemeteries. If you are interested in learning more about the cemeteries, be sure to visit the American Battle Monuments Commission Web site.

My next post will cover our last day in Belgium. I hope you’ve enjoyed sharing our memories so far…

Our recent trip to Europe was one of the best vacations we’ve ever experienced for a variety of reasons. First, there was the Edelweiss Bike Tour at the Alps Touring Center, which I guess I’ll have to explain eventually. Then there was our visit with the Swiss Family Mac in Switzerland. But perhaps best of all was our visit with Annelies and Yves in Belgium.

Annelies is a co-worker of mine. She and her boyfriend, Yves, came to stay with Hubby and I when they visited the US last year. We all got along fabulously. Those who really know us know that says a lot as Hubby is a bit more picky than I am about folks he deems worthy of calling a “friend.” Their visit was far too short. At the time, he and I had already been discussing this European Edelweiss Bike Tours trip. He was super excited to realize we’d be able to pop in to see Annelies and Yves if we did actually go.

The bike tour of the Alps was motivation enough to get us to Europe, but the prospect of visiting with these two again sweetened the deal even more. The four of us were together non-stop from Tuesday afternoon when they picked us up at the Brussels airport until Saturday when they dropped us off at the same airport. There was not even one moment of contention during that entire time. That says a lot, too. I mean, how many people can you spend that much time with without one or the other being even a little bit annoying?

Annelies greeted us at the airport baggage claim area holding the sign she is shown holding in the picture on the left. ALCs = Assless Leather Chaps, which some of you might remember my explaining in a previous Blog post. (You can see me modeling them, if you dare, HERE.) This gave us all quite a chuckle. And the laughs didn’t stop until we left.

Anyway… another highlight of the trip, which I still kick myself for not photographing, was our Tuesday evening barbecue at their house, which was also attended by three more of my Belgian co-workers: Leo Huybrechts, Bruni Olbrechts and Mohamed El Malt. Yves, who loves to BBQ, did a fabulous job preparing a very wide variety of foods: calamari, rabbit, ribs and some other meat I cannot remember. He also assembled some typical Belgian appetizers of cold (not raw, but pickled or smoked or something) fish, which were lovely. I have to be honest, though, cold fish are not something I’d eat on a regular basis. I think it’s an acquired taste. Annelies also prepared a huge variety of other dishes. Even though it was a work night for Leo, Bruni and Mohamed, they all stayed until after midnight. It was a very nice evening.

The following day, Yves and Annelies took us into the nearby city of Gent for the day.

I have one word for Gent. WOW. (Eloquent, aren’t I?)

Gent is a lovely, lovely Medieval city. It’s full of very cool, interesting buildings, many of which as Hubby kept pointing out, are older than the United States of America. It was built in the 13th century. I cannot possibly describe all the history in detail here, but I have provided loads of links in case you want to read more very fascinating stuff about this city which may actually date back to the Stone Age.

One of the absolute coolest sights we saw and explored was The Gravensteen, a castle that dates back to the Middle Ages. It is believe the first castle erected on the site was done around 1000 A.D. The present castle is believed to have been built in the year 1180. That’s over 800 years ago!

Another old building we saw was St. Bavo’s Cathedral. This cathedral is famous for, among other things, its Adoration of the Lamb painting (commissioned in 1425). Parts of the cathedral date back to the year 1038. Photography is not allowed inside, but if you’d like to see a few images and read about the cathedral’s history, you can visit this Web page.

Gent is famous for the multitude of guild houses (trade houses) in its central old town area. To learn more about Gent, visit this Wikipedia page.

I have LOTS of snapshots from our day. All of my pictures from our day in Gent can be seen on my Flickr page. There are over 100 images there, but if you have the time, they really ARE worth viewing.

More pics will follow eventually highlighting our visit to Luxembourg City and journey through the Belgian countryside.

If you’d like to see more of Gent, I embedded a nice little tourist video below for your viewing pleasure.

Hubby and I saw and experienced a wide variety of places during our trip to Europe. Austria was definitely my favorite country. As for towns/cities, while I liked Innsbruck and Seefeld in Tirol a lot, I have to say Bern, Switzerland was my favorite city. By far.

There was just so much unique stuff to see in Bern. Like the Munster, which happens to be the tallest cathedral in Switzerland. I had no idea at the time of our visit that it is a Protestant cathedral. I LOVED all of the sculptures, especially the Last Judgment collection that hangs above the main portal to the building. And I have never seen such magnificent stained glass in my life.

There was also LOTS of very intricately carved wood. And check out this very beautiful marble pieta…

There are more shots I captured in and around the Munster on my FLICKR page. You can also check out this very fine collection of photographs taken by others.

Impressive, right? And those pics were just from the Munster! It would have been great to spend some time photographing all of the sculptures in and on the building.

Yes, I took quite a few pictures, but these are SNAPSHOTS. Real, artful photography takes time. Hubby may say I spent a lot of time taking pictures during our trip, but I say I didn’t spent nearly enough. There was just SO MUCH really, really cool stuff to see and capture that quick snapshots is all I had time for.

Here’s a snapshot of my favorite statue…

Bern is an altogether gorgeous and fascinating place. I could easily spend a week there and would likely still cry for more photography time in the end.

Really. There is just so much stuff to photograph. Buildings and bears and dogs and statues and flowers and people…

There are lots more images I captured in and around Bern on my FLICKR page. Please check them out if you have time. It really is a beautiful and amazing place. I am so glad we decided to take that little spur-of-the-moment day trip!

It’s going to take quite a while for me to share trip highlights. I mean, have posted over 400 pictures on FLICKR from the Alps Touring Center segment alone! And there was the whole storm and 16-hour power outage…

Anyway… as soon as we decided to go to Europe, we knew we just HAD to stop in to see Meghan, Brian, Marion and Betti aka the Swiss Family Mac. Meghan used to work with Hubby. She and Brian, two absolutely delightful people, embarked on a little ex-pat adventure just over two years ago. Brian works for a global accounting firm that likes its employees to have real international experience. The company allowed Brian and family (Marion was just 2 at the time) to relocate to Switzerland for a couple of years.

How cool is that?

When they left, they were a family of three. Just about 15 months ago, Betti arrived. And now they are a family of four!

Coincidentally, we arrived on their six year wedding anniversary, so on Saturday evening we all went out for a fabulous Lebanese meal to celebrate. Minus the children.

Sunday was gray and rainy, but we didn’t let that stop us from a pleasant walking tour of Zurich.

While Brian’s office is in the city, they actually have an apartment in the charming suburb of Horgen (pictured at right).

It is technically a suburb, but Zurich has a pretty big metropolitan area, so it sort of seems like just another section of the bigger town. But Horgen does have its own history and identity. It also has a train station (bahnhof), serviced by local trains.

Other than our Saturday dinner, the train was our primary mode of transport between Horgen and Zurich. Although we did ride a tram around Zurich and a boat from Rapperswil, just outside of the city, back to Horgen on Sunday.

It’s a shame that the weather was so dreary, because my pictures would have looked so much nicer. It really is a beautiful area. Each little town along the lake (and all over Europe, I think) has its own little church. As you can see in the picture below, the architecture is a mix of old (house at lower left and church at top) and new (apartment buildings on lower right). I much prefer the old, but somehow it all works together pretty well.

During our walking tour, we stopped at the Restaurant Zeughauskeller Zurich for a magnificent lunch. The building was first erected as an armory in 1487. In 1926/27, it was converted into this great little restaurant known for its fine Swiss cooking and traditional dishes.

Not only is the food good, they serve very large beers.

If you would like to see all of the Zurich shots, visit my FLICKR page. I’ll get the rest of the pictures sorted and processed as soon as I can.

Sadly, our time in Europe is winding down. But we’re still having a fabulous time.

On Monday, Hubby and I took a train from Zurich to Bern. We spent the day strolling around this very beautiful, Medieval city. It’s really interesting to just roam around and look at all of the old buildings in places such as Bern. I’ll have lots of pics to share soon.

But what was really cool was getting to experience a little bit of the World Cup vibe. For all of my American fans not in the know, the FIFA World Cup football (aka soccer) matches are underway. The 2010 World Cup games are being played in South Africa. There’s some sort of traditional South African horn that fans have been blowing incessantly, which means during every game there is a continuous buzzing undertone.

Anyway, while strolling through Bern, we happened upon this small street lined with outdoor cafes.

Many of the cafes had big screen TVs sitting outside so football fans could watch the match. Cafes with TVs were full of customers. Cafes without TVs were EMPTY. All we could hear while walking up the street was that incessant buzzing. There was also a very loud, collective sigh as a shot on goal was missed. It was pretty cool.

Yesterday (Wednesday) would have been a VERY fun day in Switzerland when the Swiss team upset Spain. Folks here in Belgium are still watching the World Cup (we ARE in Europe), but since Belgium isn’t playing, it’s not quite as intense. There was, however, a very big large screen television in one of the town squares in Gent yesterday, which slowly but surely filled up with football fans.

We didn’t stop to watch. We were too busy touring yet another gorgeous and old city with Annelies and Yves. Hubby and I will never get tired of looking at all of the very interesting old buildings in these lovely European cities, especially the cathedrals. And the castles. Yesterday we toured the coolest castle EVER.

More on that when we get home. For now, I need to go get ready. We’re off to Luxembourg City for the day. We’ll be spending the night there, too. Today is the day we’ll be seeing some of the area’s WWII cemeteries. The weather looks quite promising, so I should get some good pictures today, too.

I will share them one day, I promise.