Part 14: Battle of the Bulge

After I returned to Europe, I had a few weekends to burn before Amanda and Jacob came back. Originally, I leapt at the idea of cheap trips I could take better as one than as three; my thoughts first took me to Norway, then to Normandy, maybe to Prague, Zurich, or Copenhagen.

Several colleagues at work told me about the overnight trains from Duisdorf, Germany to just about everywhere. It seemed like a good idea because I could leave Friday night, come back Monday morning, spend Friday and Sunday nights on the train (i.e. eliminate two hotel expenses), and basically give myself two full days in the city. Great idea right? The only problem with these trips is they get really pricey unless you plan them well in advance. Part of the intrigue of this trip was not planning in advance --- so, I bagged that idea and looked elsewhere.

I kept looking for the “perfect” trip, but my aversion to spending money and my desire to see something far away eroded all real opportunities. With all options basically exhausted, I decided to make a driving trip to Luxembourg.
The trip started on Saturday morning because work ended too late on Friday and I didn’t want to drive while exhausted. So early in the morning, armed only with an I-Pod, our GPS, and a few clothes, I jumped in the car and blindly followed the GPS directions toward Luxembourg.

Luxembourg is the heart and soul of the Ardennes Forest and most recently well-known for hosting the “Battle of the Bulge”. It is a really interesting little country, because it is so little. Approximately 70% the size of Rhode Island, Luxembourg has been nestled between Europe’s superpowers for ~1000 years.

It is an independent monarchy with a parliamentary democracy; basically, a democracy like the US or UK, but with a Duke (i.e. King) that acts as an advisor to the government. The Duke follows a royal bloodline just like Queen Elizabeth, William, and Harry…

Before I left, I did a little web-surfing and found that the best WWII museum in Luxembourg is in Diekirch. Diekirch is a sleepy little town on the northern half of Luxembourg just passed Bastogne, Belgium (site of key Bulge battle on Band of Brothers).

The museum was a little hard to find; I expected otherwise. From the outside it looks like an abandoned warehouse, but on the inside it was packed full of WWII artifacts and full-size dioramas.



I spent around 3 hours in the museum walking around and listening to the audio tour. All of the artifacts were impressive and the dioramas were really good. The scenarios pulled together all different aspects of the life: not just the battles, but also the supply chain, campfire scenes, and other aspects of daily life during the war.

After Diekirch, I decided to make my way to Luxembourg City. Friends of ours told us that this city is really unique. They were right. Luxembourg City is different because of the geographical layout. It is completely surrounded by deep / steep gorges - like an island without water.
Only accessible via bridges, the city provides immediate insight into why Luxembourg is still an independently sovereign country. Over the years, invading armies could not penetrate past the ravines into the city center. When they tried the people would retract to the city center, defend the bridges, and hide in the casemates below.
Casemates are caves dug beneath the city in the 1700’s to help defend the city. Today, they are nothing more than a glimpse to the past and a lucrative tourist attraction.
My last stop was to the US and German cemeteries dedicated to the fallen soldiers at the bulge. The American cemetery very closely resembled Arlington. Thousands of bright white crosses perfectly aligned across a green field of grass. I am proud of the way the cemetery looks, what it stands for, and what it means to people that visit. Many of my co-workers have visited the US Cemeteries (both Normandy and Ardennes), and they are all impressed.

General Patton is also buried in this cemetery. For those that have studied the history (or seen Band of Brothers), Patton commanded the 3rd armored division that broke the German lines and rescued the 101st Airborne division. Unfortunately, immediately following the war and one day before he was scheduled to come back to the US, Patton was in a car accident, paralyzed from the waist down, and died of a brain embolism the next day. He was buried beside his soldiers in this cemetery.

The German cemetery was very different. It was empty, dark, shaded and dreary. It didn’t look like many people actually visited the site. Sad really...

After the cemeteries and a slight detour to France for lunch, I started my 4 hour trip back to Voorburg. In total is was 4 countries in 36 hrs --- too much really, but a good story in the end. It was nice to see Luxembourg, but not so cool to travel by myself… I will have to go again with Amanda and Jacob.

Part 13: Home Sweet Home

When we moved to Holland, we planned on coming home twice a year; once in June for the Hood family reunion and again in December for Christmas. The funny thing about the trip back home is you don't have enough time to see everyone you want to. This trip was the epitome of "too much to do in too little time".

I believe Amanda will agree that my schedule was a bit more hectic than her schedule. For me, I worked in Houston for 4 days, travelled to St. Louis for 4 days, back to Houston for 4 days, and then to Dallas for --- you guessed it --- 4 days. Everyday at work started at 4:30-5:00am and every night ended around 11pm (most nights). Quite honestly, at the end of the trip, I was exhausted.

Amanda and Jacob did it a bit differently. They left for St.Louis on Tuesday so she could spend a bit more time with my family (or, so my family could spend a bit more time with Jacob). One of the most surprising bits of the trip was my Dad and Kay's trip overlapped with Amanda and Jacob's trip by one day. It wasn't a lot of time, but it was still really good. Grandma and Grandpa got to see Jacob and we got a lot of great pictures.

My little niece Emma was a pro with the pool and took time to show Jacob the ropes. She did, however, draw a very clear line between her side and his side.

I think Jacob and Emma had a lot of fun together.

Jarrod has spent a lot of time with Emma, but very little with Jacob. It was good to see the two spending time together. The tricycle that Emma is riding is an early birthday gift from Uncle Dustin, Aunt Amanda and Cousin Jacob.

After I got to town on Thursday, we left to for the family reunion at TanTara Resorts in the Ozarks. We had pretty good weather on Saturday and everyone got to spend time in the pool. It was very tiring for Jacob.

Back in the 80's, our families used to get together for the reunion at the Holiday Inn in Springfield, Illinois. As the families got bigger and more spread out, it got much more difficult to get together. This year, however, Ericka "righted" this ship and pulled everyone together for a Summer-Weekend-Vacation-Reunion. It was great!

We all remembered our parents forcing us to the couch for the annual christmas picture. So, to balance the karma in the world and pass the tradition on, we all decided to force our children to the couch for their picture.

Bottom-Left Picture: Dan (top-left), Jeff (top-right), Dustin (middle-back, blue bow tie), Matt (right-side, red-bow tie), Leslie (front-left, clearly bored), Becky (second from left, comotose baby), Andrea (front and center, red hair).

Bottom-Right Picture: From left to right - Andrea, Leslie, Becky, Ericka.

After St. Louis, we headed back to Houston for a few more days. We got to get around and see a lot of our close friends.

It also provided some much needed time for "baby training" on Big Spring Trail.

It was hard to leave Houston - especially for Jacob.

Luckily, though, we got lots of time with Amanda's family. It is always a lot of fun with our nieces.

The plan all along was for Amanda and Jacob to stick around Texas long enough to see a new addition to our extended family. Our good friends Brandon and Kristi brought Griffin into the world on 7/11/07. Amanda made a quick trip back to Houston on 7/12 and got to spend some quality time with all three of them. I only wish I could have been there.

The trip home was great, but it was definitely hard to leave and a very clear reminder of the things we left behind when we decided to move to Holland...

Part 12: London - Part deux

We were lucky enough to squeeze in a second trip to London before our friend Phil moved back to the States. This time we decided to rent a car and see some sights outside of the city. On Friday, we headed to Windsor. Windsor, England is the home of Windsor Castle, one of the homes of the Queen of England. She was there the day we visited; but unfortunately, we weren’t able to catch a glimpse. I think Amanda was hoping that the princes were visiting Grandma, but no such luck there, either.

Saturday, we headed to the British Museum. Last time we made it to the National Gallery but didn’t have a chance to check out this one. We both really enjoyed it.


Many of the exhibits are Egyptian and Roman artifacts: mummies, walls of hieroglyphics, statues, columns, etc. It’s like taking a walk through history.

The most famous artifact is the Rosetta stone. As you may know, the stone has three identical passages in three languages inscribed on it: Greek and two Egyptian languages including hieroglyphics. The stone allowed historians to decipher hieroglyphics and learn more about ancient cultures. The stone was discovered in Egypt by the French during the Napoleonic War. The stone is quite impressive and draws a large crowd. Luckily we were on a tour with a guide who wasn’t shy about pushing others out of the way so we could get a good look.
Jacob was getting a little warm in the museum, so we decided to put him into a short sleeved shirt. I thought it was funny that his jeans went all the way up to his armpits, so I had to get a picture. We got a few grins from those around us.

Before heading back to Holland on Sunday, we went to Leeds Castle in Kent. I think this is the first castle that we have seen that truly looks like a castle. It was set in the middle of green rolling hills with a mote around it and lush gardens everywhere (unlike Windsor which is right in the middle of town). The castle dates back to the 12th century. It was once the home of King Edward I as well as Henry VIII. The castle has so much history, yet many of the interior rooms have been redecorated as recent as the ‘60s and ‘70s.


Driving into Kent, we could see this huge balloon flying. As it turned out, you can take balloon rides to get a different view of the grounds and the castle. We opted not to take the ride.
The walk up to the castle is fantastic.

If you remember the Harry Potter scene or if you have studied a bit of mythology, then you have seen a daedalus' maze. However, until you have walked through one, you haven't experienced it. I didn't really think it would be that hard becuase I had a air tight plan; keep my hand on the side of the wall and then follow it, no matter what. Eventually --- or theoretically --- you will find your way to the center.

It didn't work. We actually ran around that place for 30 minutes until one of the maze custodians showed us the way out.

Part 11: Cologne

Since I had to attend a meeting in Leverkusen, Germany on Monday, May 14th for work, all three of us decided to make it a long weekend and enjoy the sights of Cologne. This time, however, we recognized our limits and booked our reservations for Saturday morning. In the past we would have jumped onto the first train leaving the station after work; I guess wisdom or maturity or “knowing your limits” finally prevailed --- then again, maybe it was just Amanda.

It is interesting though… Since everything is new to us, we can turn an otherwise innocuous / boring meeting into a relatively cheap and thoroughly interesting weekend. I think it is how you have to approach life – making the most out of every day you have.

We booked our tickets on the ICE – the best train in Europe (so far anyway). There is no question it beats the Thalys (train between Holland and Paris) and thrashes any comparison to the daily trains I take to work. The ICE is a really nice ride; it is like riding on an airplane with shorter layovers, more leg room, and less turbulence.

We ended up missing the first train out of Voorburg at 7:45, but fortunately were able to catch the 8:00 with no problem (another great aspect of using the train). When we arrived, the first thing you see when you step out of the train station is the cathedral, The Dom.

No words can describe the way it makes the air leave your lungs, your mind reel through the impossibility of its scale, and how after 15 minutes your neck hurts from staring at the top spires. It’s magnificent! I guess you can say it’s a typical gothic cathedral, with all of the intricate carvings, spires and gargoyles (like Notre Dame). But, there is just something different about this one. It is huge and beautiful and dirty and awe-inspiring. In our opinion, it is the most impressive structure we have seen in Europe.

The inside is just as good. The massive stained glass windows let in a lot of light and the vast openness is big enough for a football game (at least arena football). The floor is tiled with massive 5ft by 5ft stones that have been worn down over the 600 years since they were placed there. This church is no different than football stadiums today; when the money flows, the buildings go up. When the money dries up, the buildings stop. In this case, because of the persistent war and minimized peace between 1250 and 1880 (i.e. Vikings, Crusades, Napoleon, etc.), it took 600 years to pull together enough cash to finish.

Also inside is the shrine to the three magi (i.e. the Three Wise Men). Most Catholic churches (in fact, all Catholic churches – I think) require remains of a saint to be buried in the churches’ alter. Just like in Amalfi, it is really neat to stand 6 feet from such important biblical figures (FYI – for a good historically-based action novel, like the DaVinci Code, centered on this church, pick up Map of Bones by James Rollins).

As an interesting side note, none of the scaffolding shown in the picture is physically attached to the building. Every platform is tied to the church with ropes.

So that is Cologne… Typically, when you visit a European city, an over-abundance of “historically significant” people, places, events, etc. bombard you into submission. Cologne was different.

There were other tourist attractions and we visited them too, but they were comparable to the “Time Tunnel” ride at Six Flags. The Pretorium was the best of the rest, but still not really worth the time we spent there. In fact, when we arrived at the Pretorium Museum, we were the only ones there – literally. For a Saturday morning any other self-respecting museum would have at least had more than us there – it didn’t. You can tell by the pictures that it’s not a popular sight.

We also visited the Romano-Germanic Museum. This place was ok, but it still lacked the “Euro-feel”. So for our weekend, we fairly equally divided our time between gazing at the Dom, eating, and shopping. Bottom line: if you ever go to Cologne, schedule a three hour layover in city and visit the cathedral.

Jacob even made a new friend. A lady that worked at the hotel we stayed in had just had a baby girl 2 weeks prior to our stay. We were on the top floor of the hotel and had a wonderful view of the sunset.

It happened to be Mother’s Day that weekend, so here is Amanda and Jacob together. This one will go into the baby book for sure.