Bob and Jane's Excellent Adventure

~ Retirement on the Road

Bob and Jane's Excellent Adventure

Monthly Archives: August 2015

The Netherlands and Belgium…

30 Sunday Aug 2015

Posted by Jane R Hendrickson in Travel

≈ 3 Comments

It’s hard to believe we’ve been in Europe nearly a month. We loved our place in Utrecht. The apartment was perfect for us. Because space is at a premium here, the Europeans are very efficient in the way they organize their apartments. Both the Dutch and the Belgians are tall but the Dutch are incredibly so. I was amazed by the height of our kitchen cabinets and refrigerator in Utrecht.

I’m 5 foot 7 and there’s no way I could come close to reaching anything beyond the bottom shelf! IMG_0004 In our current apartment, the microwave is only accessible if I stand on my tiptoes and there’s a small cupboard above that which was open when we arrived. And it will be open when we leave because neither Bob nor I can reach it. Another way we’ve noticed the height is the fact that all the bicycle seats appear to be on the highest setting possible.

Narrow streets in older cities make it far easier for the visitor to maneuver on foot than by car. Both our place in Utrecht and now our apartment in Gent are conveniently located allowing us walk to most places. (And the exercise is definitely a good thing because we’re tempted by yummy treats everywhere we look!)IMG_0252IMG_0223

I’m not sure if it’s because of the large number of pedestrians, but the drivers stop immediately to allow you to cross in front of them. This takes a little getting used to as drivers appear to be flying down the street and then immediately brake, allowing you to cross. I still find myself, waiting, hesitating, not quite sure this particular driver is going to stop. (I understand I shouldn’t get used to this because it’s not the case in Italy.)

Because Belgium and the Netherlands are relatively small countries, I thought two weeks in each country would be an adequate stay. Instead we’re finding that probably a month would be better. After two weeks, we’re just learning the “lay of the land.” We’ve found our way to favorite areas of the city, visited the must see tourist sites, learned where a nearby grocery is located and learned a few words of the language. We need longer to absorb it all.

One major hassle that we didn’t have six years ago when we visited Europe was our credit card. We have one card that we use to withdraw cash for small items (and this card has no foreign transaction charges) and a credit card for larger purchases including meals, groceries, etc. European credit cards all have chips in them in addition to a pin, making the American cards with a magnetic strip pretty antiquated in many locations. (In addition the European card is much more secure.) American cards are moving to the chip by October 2015 but even then they’ll be chip and signature not chip and pin cards. This can be a real headache!

Both Bob and I love history! So of course, we had to visit Anne Frank’s House in Amsterdam (and yes, it was well worth the three hours we stood in line.) Then we spent a day last week traveling to the eastern part of Belgium where the Battle of the Bulge was fought. I have a hard time comprehending statistics. I know the Battle of the Bulge was the last major offensive on the part of the Germans in WWII. But when I read that there were 80,000 American casualties and 100,000 German casualties, the numbers seem huge beyond understanding. But when I stood at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery IMG_0169and looked out at the row after row of crosses and stars marking the graves of individual soldiers, when we wandered through the cemetery reading their names and places they called home, the abstract became real.

Later in the week we drove to Ypres, Belgium, the city the Romans raided in the first century! (As an American who thinks anything before 1900 is old, this seems surreal!)

But we were there to learn more about World War I. There were 3 battles at Ypres during World War I. The first in 1914, the second in 1915, and the third, the most costly, in 1917 when the total casualties from all sides were more than half a million. The Old Cloth Museum (once one of the largest commercial buildings in the 1200s) is now the  In Flanders Field Museum. IMG_0236

The Menin Gate Memorial  to the Missing IMG_0202 is the major landmark in Ypres. Every evening since  1928 the Last Post is sounded at the gate at precisely 8 pm remembering the 54,896 British soldiers whose graves are unknown. The ceremony was prohibited by the German forces occupying the city during World War II but began again on September 6, 1944, the day that Ypres was liberated (in spite of the fact that heavy fighting was still going on in paIMG_0213rts of the city.) The rainy night we were there a small crowd gathered to witness the moving event.

A long time ago I remember learning the poem, “In Flanders Field.” The Essex Farm Cemetery was the cemetery that many think inspired John McCrae’s poem. There are many British, (read that as British Empire including Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, and others I’ve forgotten) German, French and a few American cemeteries in the area, but it was The Essex Farm Cemetery I wanted to see.IMG_0238 It’s hard to imagine as we walked through the pastoral cemetery the horror the soldiers must have known a hundred years ago. But perhaps the greatest horror of all, is for those who survived. It would be a mere two decades before they would again, with their own children, be experiencing the same awful horrors. Whether soldier or civilian, there was no escaping the war for them.

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It’s like walking through history!

A New Life Abroad

14 Friday Aug 2015

Posted by Jane R Hendrickson in Retirement, Travel

≈ 3 Comments

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Leaving Florida at the end of July, we realized we still had way too much stuff! And I decided a 24 inch suitcase was too heavy for me to lug…especially on trains and buses and up stairways. So we trimmed our belongings once again. Our total belongings at this point include Bob’s 24 inch suitcase, my 21 inch REI lightweight bag, Bob’s carry-on Rick Steve’s bag and a tote for all our electronics (computer, reader, tablet, electronic cords and adapters). I have opted for a day pack instead of purse.

On Tuesday, April 4 we boarded Icelandair for Paris. As we were finding our seats, the third person in our row, asked Bob if we were from Michigan after noticing his Ferris State hockey sweatshirt. Turns out he was originally from Michigan and also a Michigan State grad though several years ahead of our daughter. We had a pleasant visit on the flight talking about Michigan and travels.

After a short layover in Iceland, we boarded the second leg of our journey landing in Paris three and a half hours later. It was very odd that we never went through customs. While they checked our passports as we changed flights in Iceland and because both Keflavik and Paris are part of the Schengen agreement, that was the extent of our customs check. We gathered our baggage at Charles De Gaulle airport and were thrilled when our daughter, Cary, appeared as we walked through the outside door.

Bob had found a small hole in the wall hotel not far from Notre Dame and we were amazed when we arrived at 7:30 in the morning and were told we could check in. We immediately went to breakfast at a sidewalk cafe and then headed back to our room for a two hour nap. It was just enough to give us our second wind and by evening we were able to fall asleep on Paris time.

 

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Cary on our boat tour

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Bob and me in front of Notre Dame

While we only had a day in Paris (we’ll return in October) it is everything I imagined it would be and more. The food was amazing. We walked to Notre Dame, thinking we wanted to sightsee but didn’t want anything that would take much concentration. We did a Seine boat tour and then found a sidewalk cafe for dinner. What an amazing few short hours! From the open windows of the hotel room we could hear people laughing and singing on the street below as we went to sleep. What an introduction to the City of Lights!  The next morning I awoke to the sound of crashing garbage cans. I laughed thinking that if I were back in Michigan I’d be muttering and angIMG_0101ry about the sound waking me up. Now this morning I was smiling thinking, “Oh, that must be the garbage pick up in Paris!” Amazing how perspective changes!

On Thursday we picked up our rental car. Because it was a lease not a rental, we picked it up in a different location and although our driver (who spoke only French) chatted with the woman at Peugeot, finding the car agency was like something out of a Chevy Chase movie. After numerous unsuccessful tries, he pulled up to a gate that clearly marked a closed road, got out and pointed to the agency. We unloaded our stuff and walked the rest of the way. Thankfully, it wasn’t far!

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Bike lanes, car lanes, bus lanes, more bus lanes, car lanes and bike lanes! Whew!

After leaving Paris we arrived about five hours later at our new home for the next two weeks in Utrecht Netherlands. It’s just as it appeared on Airbnb. The owner is in the US for a few weeks so a friend led us through the place. I particularly love the French doors leading from the dining room to an enclosed garden with flowers, berries, and fig tree. (Who knew figs grew this far north.) It takes some time to get used to the roads here. There are as many, or perhaps more bikes here than cars. So when you go to cross the street, you first have to carefully cross the bike (and scooter) lanes, then you cross the road with traffic coming from the left, then you cross the bus lane.  Then another bus lane, another traffic lane and another bike lane. It’s a lot to remember! As Bob said, thank heavens the use of red, yellow and green traffic lights are internationally consistent!

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Vermeer’s, Girl with the Pearl Earring

We haven’t seen much of Amsterdam yet, but loved The Hague. We found a small art museum, Mauritshuis. The collection which includes paintings of Peter Paul Rubens Johannes Vanmeer, and Rembrandt Van Rijn, belonged to William V of the House of Orange. And the building dates back to the seventeenth century. There are only sixteen rooms which makes it very “doable” in an afternoon. It is truly a gem.

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Gouda Cheese Market

Another really pleasant excursion was to Gouda (about 18 miles from Utrecht). On Thursdays the cheese market is open. It’s a festive air complete with music, young girls in their Dutch costumes offering cheese to folks and also stands of fruits and vegetables and fresh baked goods. And of course, we had to buy a round of the cheese!

Gouda also has an interesting Resistance Museum. The admission fee is 8 euros but because there was no audio available in English, the woman at the entrance didn’t charge us. Shortly after entering, a second woman came up to us and asked if we’d like her to take us on a tour and she proceeded to explain, in English, all that we were looking at. Very interesting and far superior to a recorded audio tour. She explained that at the beginning of the occupation, Hitler had thought the Dutch were a lot like the Germans and so provided food and other supplies for them. “Of course,” she said, “We are not like the Germans.” And then it all changed. What a horrifying time it must have been for the Dutch.

St Bavo Church in Haarlem dates to the fourteenth century. It was originally a Catholic Church and became a protestant church after the Reformation. Cary thought it was the most beautiful church she had ever seen. That’s pretty high praise coming from someone who lives in Rome! The most impressive part for me was the ornate organ that both Handel and Mozart played!

We drove to some towns like the Hague and Gouda but relied on trains to take us into the larger cities. We found the cheapest way use public transportation is to buy a chipkaart which can be used for trains and buses throughout the Netherlands and add money to it as needed.

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Houseboats near our apartment

We also enjoy learning the neighborhood in which we live. Most people speak some English; many are fluent. Most people have been very helpful. The Netherlands is a very pretty country. Before coming here I thought the canals were primarily in Amsterdam but we find them everywhere! And the canals combined with the Dutch love of flowers makes this a very pretty country. We pinch ourselves often, not quite believing that we are indeed here!

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