| Update Page #7 |
| Thursday March 28th (cont) extra equiptment that out nuclear powered boats have. Emma learned a new word while we were on the boat. (No! Not that kind of word!) She learned how to say Boome Kammer (again, I may not have spelled that right!), which means torpedo room ( I think she just likes saying BOOM!) For the rest of the tour she shouted it with all the enthusiasm of a three year old, often and loudly! They showed us where Doug will be sleeping when he deploys soon. It's a long tube-like thing in the Boome Kammer that looks like a torpedo, but when you open it it becomes a bed. If you're having trouble picturing it think of a round cylndrical shaped coffin. Fun! Friday March 29th Doug's Parents arrived today from the States, and we took off on a whirlwind three country tour. First we drove down to the south of the Netherlands. We drove to a small sea side (zee side) town called Kloosterzande. We stayed in a hotel owed by our friend Alex's family. We got to stay in the same rooms as Prince Willhem Alexander of the Netherlands! After a wonderful dinner the kids (age 3- sixty something) got to play in the game room. We had it all to ourselves (since it was after hours). I think it was the kids favorite part of the whole trip! Thanks Alex! Saturday March 30th Saturday Morning we traveled to the town of Hulst. It's a small Dutch town that has been in existence since medieval times (aprox 1200's). Our first stop was at the home of our friend Heidi's parents. Heidi's father ran his own chocolate shop and he took us to his workshop and showed us how he makes his chocolates. He was busy making chocolate bunnies and Easter egs when we stopped by and we got to sample some delicious bon-bons! After leaving the chocolate shop (reluctantly!) we left on a walking tour of the city. We got to walk through the shops and see a beautiful centuries old church as well as more of the famous canals and windmills. That afternoon we left for Brussels Belgium. When we arrived we checked into our hotel, which was called the "Art" hotel. Instead of the usual hotel decor, each room had been given to a local artist to decorate however he/she desired. The room Doug's parents stayed in had waves on the wall. The kids room had dogs all over the walls. At first glance the room that Doug and I stayed in looked like four plain white walls, but when you looked down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling you could see there was a huge amoeba shaped object painted in hot pink, turqouise, purple and yellow, with different geometric shapes and patterns all over it! After finding a place to eat lunch we walked to the city central (called the "Grande Place" or "Gross Markt"). It was a huge cobble stone square filled with people surrounded by shops selling Belgian lace and chocolates among other things. The buildings surrounding the square were all intricatly carved guilded and/or decorated. Back in 1695, The city of Brussels was destroyed by the French troops of Louis XIV. As a act of defiance the citizens rebuilt the city more lavishly than before and you can still see most of those buildings today. Sunday March 31st Easter Sunday& Dougs Birthday! We went to Easter services at the Cathedral St. Michel et Ste Gudule. The building of the church began in the early 13th century and took over 300 years to complete. The service was in French, but whenever there was a part we didn't understand there was plenty of artwork from the carvings to the beautiful stained glass windows to keep our attention. After Church we left Brussels and headed out for Koln (Cologne) Germany. After arriving in Koln and having a late lunch we strolled (usually we "walk" but on vacation we "stroll") down to the river Rhine, and browsed through the daily antique market. We learned the valuable lessen that if you see something you want at an antique market, buy it then and don't count on the item being there when you finally make up your mind and go back to buy it. |
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