Euro Trip 2011 - The Netherlands - Dynamite Soccer and More!

I (this is Danielle writing…) finally arrived to Amsterdam on Sunday morning to greet Jason, John, and Joe. I changed and we headed out into the town. The first thing we did was try to get some herring, Joe‘s favorite Nederland treat, but they were closed. We walked around for a little while and then headed off to the soccer match. Ajax vs. some team in green…sorry I cannot remember their name. (I might have been sleeping though some of it). Ajax dominated most of the time and I woke up startled after someone threw a stick of dynamite on the field. That will teach me to sleep during a game. Sorry, but I had only slept about 3 or 4 hours in 48 hours and was beyond exhausted!!! Anyway, there was a section across the stadium that was extremely rowdy. Imagine that at a soccer match…? They were lighting smoke bombs, chanting, and of course, fighting. Security pretty much had them surrounded. At least it was entertaining to watch. Ajax ended up winning 2-0.

After the game we headed back towards the hotel, grabbed a beer, and then hit the pavement again. Being there for such a short time really makes you want to run a hundred miles and hour through the city so you can see everything, but my body finally gave in and I was asleep by 10pm. Monday morning we went to Anne Frank’s house, did some souvenir shopping, and headed to Purmerend via the bus to spend the next two nights with cousins Evert and Bea. We can’t thank them enough for putting the four of us up at their place. They even let us use the car the next day to drive around and do more sightseeing. They guys took me to a few places they had already been, but thought I might like - Zaanse Schans which is an open-air museum with windmills and a wooden shoe factory and also Westzaan, the town that Joe and his parents lived in before moving to the States. I really enjoyed seeing it.

It is spring in the Nederlands and the flowers are blooming! We went to Keukenhof, a huge flower garden. It was amazing to see all of the colors and different types of flowers. The smells were incredible. Our last stop was Volendam, an old fishing village. Joe wanted us to take a photo in old traditional Dutch clothing. It was pretty hilarious to dress up! Wednesday Jason and I said goodbye and jumped on a train to the airport to head to Berlin. The Nederlands was so enjoyable. I hope we can go back there sometime. We are also looking forward to the next time family can come out and visit us in the States. On to our next adventure…

Euro Trip 2011 - Burges, Belgium

I'm running out of time, so I can't say much about Burges. But it is a really cool city with a ton of sites all within walking distance. And between the Chocolate, Waffles and beer why not come.

Were heading back to Holland tomorrow. Looking forward to exploring the city and seeing Danielle.

Euro Trip 2011 - Paris

This was my second trip to Paris but Dad’s and John’s first. We spent a day and a half and never stopped going. We bought a subway pass and were exploring all corners of the city. We spent most of our time in the main tourist sites. Which are breath taking and keeps you energized with every new site. The first night we walked from the Champs Elysees to the Eiffel Tower. The line to go up wasn’t long so we went all the way top the top. My dad doesn’t like heights so he was a little freaked out. But he was really glad he did it. It was an amazing view of the city. We worked our way back to our hotel but didn’t get back tell after midnight.

Thursday we started at the Arc De Triomphe then strolled the Champs Elysees. I’d already been to the Louver so I split for a few hours while Dad and John check it out. I was told if you spend one minute at each piece of art. It would take you four months to see the whole museum it is huge. I just strolled the streets and had lunch. Once they were done we went to Notre Dame. The line was long so we took a break and had a drink. John and dad ordered a large beer which ended up costing 20 Euro a piece and was the size of a pitcher. We hadn’t ate so by the time they were done they were a little drunk, especially dad. We then went into the Church it was an interesting stop with dad buzzing. To wind down Paris we relaxed on the lawn adjacent to the Eiffel tower. It was entertaining to see the cops chase of the people selling trinkets. It was a game of cat and mouse. The cops would show up and they’d run. Once they were gone they would slowly come back and it would happen every fifteen minutes. There is great people watching. Our final trip of Paris was a boat ride down the Seine river. It was a new perspective of the city I’d never seen. It was a good trip besides the fifty middle school kids on the boat.

Overall we had an amazing time in Paris. I’m sure I’ll be back again sometime soon.

Euro Trip 2011 - Normandy

On Tuesday we spent the day up and down the coast of Normandy, France. This wasn’t in any of our plans. But on my flight I meet a lady that had visited Normandy on her last trip to France and recommended it if we had time. I mentioned this to John knowing he has interest in old war books and movies. He was really excited about it so we changed our plans. We spent the day in a few museums and old war bases. We also went to Utah and Omaha beach were the US troops stormed onto Europe in WWII. It was very interesting and sad especially the cemetery. There were 9000 buried their and a wall of the missing 8000 long. We all had a great experience there and am glad John wanted to go. He planed the day and it turned out great.

Euro Trip - Castles

I don't have much time so I'll keep it short. We hit up a few castles the main one being Burg Eltz. It is set in an amazing area. Unfortunately it was under construction so the pics suck. We did take a tour inside. It was really cool. When we left Eltz. We headed out of Germany and headed to Luxembourg for a quick city tour and to visit the American war cemetery. Luxembourg is an amazing stop. The city is beautiful with lots of history to see. John wanted to visit the American cemetery. He is a war buff and General Patton is buried there. We showed up about 15 minutes after it closed and John was bummed. He saw a worker exiting and sweet talked her into letting us in for a few minutes. She ended up letting us in and gave us a 30 minute private tour. I was truly a amazing experience and continued to make this trip first class. This morning we decided to head to Caen France to visit some war sites of Normandy. We spent most the day driving. But we toured the city of Caen. It is mainly a day tour for visitors of Paris, so it really seemed like there weren't many tourist's in town tonight. Tomorrow were visiting some of the war sites than off to Paris. I'll try to do another post in a few days. Check back.

Euro Trip 2011 - A First Class Trip

Thursday morning I set out for another travel adventure. This time I was going to Europe. The best part is, I was going to spend part of it with my dad Joe and brother John, and the later half with Danielle. I’ve been wanting to go to the Netherlands and see were my dad grew up and meet family. The time has finally come. The trip started off great. I took a 6am flight from Reno to Salt Lake city. I had a short layover then on to Newark. When I boarded the flight to my surprise I was bumped to first class, thanks Delta Medallion. I was happy that at least part of this long day of flying would be in comfort. I had a nice big seat and we were served lunch, snacks and drinks. I also had a great passenger Sandra that has spent a lot of time in Europe and gave me a lot of good tips. After having a great flight I landed in Newark with about a 1:15 layover. I ran to the sky club to get a few snacks, then back to the gate for my next flight to Amsterdam. I was booked in Coach and Silver Medallion members aren’t eligible to be upgraded on international flights. But today It must have been my lucky day, the flight was oversold so they need to bump a few Medallion members up to first class. When they called me to the front desk I couldn’t have been happier. I wanted to jump for joy, but I played it cool. We boarded the flight a minute later. I had a huge lazy boy type seat, there must have been 6ft of room in between each seat. Once we seat down we had slippers, Bose noise canceling headphones, down blankets, pillows, champagne and a lot of other nice goodies. I had the biggest grin on my face. I couldn’t believe I was sitting in first class for the price of coach. Thanks to my friends James and Janet for giving me a few tips on being loyal to an airline. And it has sure paid off. The flight was purely 1st class. The food and service was amazing. I was actually able to get a little sleep. Once I arrived in Amsterdam I had about 1.5hrs until John and Dad got in. With me flying 1st class I was able to get in the KLM club. I had just ate a great breakfast on the plane, so I wasn’t hungry. They had showers, so I decided to freshen up before they arrived. It felt great to wash the filth from sitting on a plane all day. After the shower I was able to use Apple Face Time and video chat with Danielle. It’s an amazing app and it’s free to talk to each other. I love technology. I saw dad and John’s flight land so I went to the gate to meet them. Once they got off they looked beat. They could see I was looking chipper and when I told them I was in first class they didn’t want to talk to me. I felt bad, but great at the same time. Getting through customs was a cinch. Once there bags arrived we exited the airport and our family was waiting for us. My dad’s cousins Evert and Ton were gracious enough top pick us up. When we got out of the airport my dad kissed to ground. We all laughed at him since it was a parking lot. We loaded into Ton’s van then off to Evert’s house in Purmerend. We arrived at Evert and Bea’s, they live in a nice neighborhood with a canal a 100 yards away. They have a cozy house with three floors. They set us up on the top floor. We dropped our bags and relaxed in the living room catching up. They also noticed I was looking chipper and we told them I was in first class. From that time on it’s been a running joke. Through out they day when dad and John looked sleepy and I was wide awake. They would say look at Jason he’s first class. Grandma Irena also informed them that I don’t eat beef. So they said they got 1st class chicken / kip just for me. It’s been a running joke for the last 3 days, I love it. We spent most of the day trying to adjust to the time change and we relaxed at the house. Ton came back over with his wife “Tiny” in Dutch it’s sound like Tien. The day was a lot of eating, drinking and great story telling. A perfect way to get the feel of things. We did manage to take a few walks around the neighborhood to get some fresh air and snap a few pics. In the evening Evert and Bea’s daughter Karin came by She is the same age as me and we really hit it off. She speaks great English and help translate for John and I. She really wants to come to America and we would love to have here. We managed to stay up until 9pm and John and I sleep through the night. Dad was up at 2am and manage to get another hour of sleep. But his body was still a little off. The next morning Bea made a great breakfast and I had some of my favorite treats from when I was a kid. We were picking up our rental car today and Ton and Evert drove us to Hertz back in Amsterdam. I got a great deal through my American Express discount and we rented a Renault Scenic. It is a nice little car, we were lucky it had a built in Tom Tom GPS but the maps only had Netherlands , Belgium and Luxemburg, We would have to go with the map for Germany and France. After we picked up the car we headed out on our own. The first stop was Westzann this is the town were my dad lived and were my Grandparents got married. We stopped at both the houses my dad lived in. One was completely remodeled but the other remained the same. We also went to the futball/soccer club that my grand father played for V.V.V. Westzann. It was great to see the fields it has been redone with artificial turf. The club house even has a bar in it. Next we went to the City Hall where my grandparents were married. It was really cool to see all the places I’ve seen in pictures since I was young. Dad then brought us to a preserved tourist town named Zanzaase Schans. It was really cool. They have a wooden shoe factory that was cool to check out. We even saw a demonstration on making wooden shoes. There is four working windmills on the river. We walked through one that had huge stone rollers to crush flour, salt and other things. It was pretty cool to see all the moving parts. It was a very picturesque stop. We then went to an area of Purmerend were my dad spent a summer with his aunt when he was a teenager. We had a snack at the Snack Shop where he always went to as a kid. It wasn’t the same, the shop was now run by a Vietnam’s family. We still had some fries there. We then went back to Evert and Bea’s house. They were having a BBQ for us and some other family was coming over. You wouldn’t believe the spread. They had a ton of great food and of course the 1st class chicken for me. Oh was in tasty. All the same people were there form yesterday. Bea and Tiny were getting everything ready and Tom manned the grill. It was a nice day, so we enjoyed our dinner outside. We again had a great time talking and drinking into the night. Thanks again to Karin for keeping john and I in the loop. Another cousin of my dad’s came over after dinner. Peter and his wife Monique. It had been about 18 years since my dad had seen Peter and it was the first time we meet. We stayed up late into the night. Bea finally had to kick out her daughter so we would all go to bed. It was a great day. The next day was Sunday, we were heading out on our road trip. Bea again had a great breakfast ready for us and even had us make sandwiches for the road. After we ate we hit the road. We were heading to the Rhineland area or Germany. Getting out of the Netherlands was easy. We had the GPS to guide us to the border. Once we got into Germany it was a different story. We got turned around in the first mile, then ended up at a dead end road. We wasted about 10 minutes driving in circles then we were back on track and heading in the right direction. After a few hours on the Autobahn we got to our destination in St. Goar on the Rhine river. It is a cute little medieval town on the river. We hit up the castle as we came into town. Rheinfels Castle is now only a shell and not functional anymore, But you can imagine it in it’s prime. The castle was built in 1245. It was amazing how old the castle is. It was built over 500 before America became a country. We spent about an hour walking down dark hall ways and steep spiral staircases trying not to fall in a hole. I wish I had my flash light it was pitch black in a lot of the castle. It was amazing to see all the rooms and tunnels. We then went into the town of St. Goar to find a room. We are here during the slow season so a lot of the places were closed. We ended up finding a great place called Hotel an der Fahre. They gave us a huge room overlooking the Rhine for 70 euros with breakfast. We checked into the room and took a short rest before heading out for dinner. We walked the main street and check out all the options. We ended up finding a great place the Siberian Rose. We all ordered traditional German food. Dad and John order some type of schnitzel and I forgot the name of mine but it was a minced pork wrapped in Cabbage with potato’s. It had such a great flavor. We had a tasty waffle with fruit for dessert. Defiantly a meal we will remember. So far the trip has been amazing. I can’t wait to see what else is to come. Check back in a few for more on our Euro Trip 2011.