netherlands + belgium | a little weekend away

Hello everyone, and welcome back to our blog!  I haven't posted anything in a really, reallyyyyyyy long time (do me a solid and don't go looking at how long), but Rich and I just got back from a fun little weekend away and I wanted to share some photos with you!

Rich organized a trip for his squadron to go back to the Netherlands American Cemetery to do some volunteer work on Friday, so I took a day off from work to go and help.  We decided to make a weekend of it and just get away for a couple of days.  

I had missed their initial clean-up visit back in 2015, but Rich had taken me back a few months later to see the cemetery.  You can read about that trip and the history of the cemetery here.  I was really excited for the opportunity to give back to this community who is still so reverent of their liberation that took place over 70 years ago.  And I'll tell you, it was an experience that I will always hold dear in my heart.  The work wasn't difficult or taxing.  We were simply asked to take some buckets, a little water, and some special sponges and spot clean the crosses.  Cleaning bird droppings off headstones isn't a glamorous job by any means, but as I walked by each of those beautiful white marble crosses my soul was stirred.  I read each name, I looked to see where he was from, and I said a silent thank you for their sacrifice.  I know I wasn't alone in this, because later each of the others in our group mentioned the ranks and names they read too.  I didn't get my camera out while we were there, but I did take a couple of photos with my phone.

As of now, 2nd Lt Willis A. Utecht was the last American to be buried in the cemetery in September 1994.  Once the grounds were designed and dedicated, policy held that no others were to be buried here.  2nd Lt Utecht was listed as one of the 1,722 American names on the Tablets of the Missing as his platoon was last seen in October 1944.  Fifty years later, his remains were found in a Dutch field and his family requested burial at the cemetery.  Since policy wouldn't allow this, the family petitioned Congress and were granted the right to have 2nd Lt Utecht laid to rest among his comrades.  Because the plots were already in a set formation, he was given his very own row.  At least, for now.  Our tour guide felt that it's very likely that there will be more remains found in the future, and thus there will be more.  You can read more about 2nd Lt Utecht and see his photos here.

Once we finished at the cemetery, we drove the 15 minutes to our hotel in Valkenburg.  We quickly checked in and walked downtown to check out the area.  The entrance to the castle ruins were closed by the time we arrived, boooooo!  

Castle ruins

We found a souvenir shop for our touristy needs, then had dinner at a place called Chickens.  We shared a bucket of chicken and some fries, and we enjoyed some locally brewed beer.  One of our favorite things about Europe is relaxing outside at a cool restaurant and just enjoying a nice meal together!  We will really miss this part of living here.

View of the street from our table.

We finished up and tried to find an eis creme shop, but they were all closed already.  What?!  Crazy.  We were bummed, but Rich posted our first Facebook Live video.  If you missed that one, you should go and find it!  There really wasn't anything else to do by this time, so we headed back to our hotel.  On the way, I noticed something sadly familiar in the sidewalk.

If you haven't heard of stolpersteine, or stumbling stones, then let me tell you that they're humbling.  As you're walking down a sidewalk, if you pay attention, you'll see these small engraved brass plates.  On each plate is the name of a Holocaust victim, the year that they were born, and the date and place where they were murdered.  The stumbling stones have been placed in front of the victims' last known residence.  I have found many around Wiesbaden, and I knew they have been placed in other cities around Germany, but I didn't know until Friday night that they were in other countries as well.  This was also the first time I've seen Auschwitz on one of them.  NPR has a really great article about this project and the artist who is responsible for this movement.

The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel before heading to Dinant, Belgium.  I was really enthusiastic about the scrambled eggs in particular.  Rich warned me not to eat them because they looked watery, but they tasted fine to me!  Yeahhhhh...the hour and a half ride in the car was pure misery for me.  I was so nauseous, and every bump in the road was a threat to my stomach.  Once we parked in Dinant and started walking, we immediately wondered what was with all the saxophone statues!  Turns out that Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone, was born here in 1814.  ("Saxomophoooone, saxomophooooone...")  There was a lot of construction going on, so amazing photo ops were kinda ruined.  I still wasn't feeling good, so I left the camera in the car.  Thank goodness Rich took some pics with his phone.

Dinant is first known to have been mentioned in the 7th century.  Over the years the city has seen many wars and much destruction as a result.  The Collegiate Church of Notre Dame was built in the 13th century.  The pear-shaped bell tower was added in the 16th century.

  

The Citadel of Dinant overlooks the town.  It was first built in the 11th century, then rebuilt and enlarged in the 16th century.  In 1703 the French completed destroyed it, and what we see today was rebuilt in 1821.  There were cable cars to take visitors up to have a look around, but boy oh boy my nausea said nope.  Anyone who knows me knows that I don't just turn down rides on cable cars, sky buckets, roller coasters, or anything else of the sort.  

Hey, speaking of my tummy.....see the beautiful Collegiate Church of Notre Dame in the photos below?  Those scrambled eggs and I publicly defaced the outside of that church.  Four times, Rich says.  Please forgive me, Father, for I didn't mean to.  I was especially grateful to sit in that church that day and let my knees rest while Rich looked around!  And the next time that my husband tells me not to eat something, it is now publicly written that I WILL LISTEN.

Statue of Charles de Gaulle, erected in 2014.  The future President of France was shot in the leg during a battle in Dinant in World War I.

Dinant, along the River Meuse

We had some lunch then Rich said he had a surprise for me.  I didn't know where we were going, but I was feeling much better by this time so I was good just enjoying the ride and the beautiful Belgian countryside.  

We arrived at Villers Abbey and, once again, I was blown away at how Rich gets me and knows how to surprise me in ways that I truly appreciate.  

Construction of the abbey began in the 12th century.  The Gothic settlement took over 100 years to complete.  Over the years and due to many invasions, the monks had to leave the abbey and flee to safety nine times.  During the 18th century, the buildings were reconstructed in Neoclassical style.  The French Revolution brought the abbey to its final days, and in 1794 it was pillaged, sold, and dismantled.  Visitors were first attracted to the ruins during the 19th century, including one Victor Hugo.  

I can't even tell you how excited I was to wander these majestic ruins with my camera in hand.  I took my first shot only to realize that I hadn't checked which lens was in the bag before we left home.  Dang it, I brought the wrong one, so I was very limited to close-up shots instead of larger scale landscape ones.  It turns out that this wasn't all bad, as it gave me some much-needed time to be creative and enjoy a hobby that I haven't touched in way too long.  Rich did some live video feeds while I wandered around looking for interesting bits of architecture and nature.  Here are some of my photos...

We explored the abbey for a couple of hours, then it was time to head to Maastricht for dinner.  We've visited this town before, but Rich had found a Mexican restaurant on TripAdvisor he wanted to try.  Unfortunately we couldn't find it, so we went with the Famous American Bistro.  We both picked the tequila lime chicken, but the mixed regular and sweet potato fries were so good.  Oh man.  After dinner, we drove the short distance back to our hotel to get some rest.

The next morning we had one last thing to do before driving home.  If you guessed the Tongeren flohmarkt, you're right!  Oh wow, how I've waited patiently for the chance to get to go to this one.  I've heard it's huge, with tons of vendors and tons of good stuff.  I skipped the eggs at breakfast and took the high road with bread and yogurt--but come vomit or high water, I was PUMPED to go to Tongeren!

What a letdown, yall.  Seriously.  Yes, there were TONS of vendors, it's true.  I think my expectations were just way too high, and much of it was severely overpriced.  I spotted a beautiful enamel pitcher at literally the second booth we came to after we parked.  I asked the vendor in German how much he wanted for it.  He angrily answered me back in German, "One hundred euros."  Um, okay.  I set the beauty back down and we walked away.  My hopes were deflated.  Trampled on.  Set on fire.  Ripped to shreds.  The majority of people in this area of Belgium are French speakers, and though my French is at least enough to get by, I just asked in German out of habit I guess.  Maybe he doesn't like Germans, or maybe he knew we were American.  Either way, he wasn't getting a hundred euros out of me for that lovely piece of vintage gorgeousness.  

We ended up buying a lace table scarf, three old books, and a little wooden wagon.  Rich has been wanting a wooden wagon for a long time, and we found one at a flohmarkt a few months ago for a STEAL.  Unfortunately, it never would have fit in our car so we had to pass.  The little guy we found at Tongeren is much smaller than what we really want, but he'll do just fine.  

After a couple hours of being disappointed overall, despite the few things we did find, we were just ready to go.  We had a snack at a little cafe and hit the road, Jack.  Home, sweet home!

We really hope you've enjoyed reading about the latest Koch adventures.  I really do plan to get better about blogging regularly.  Goodness, I have so many trips and photos to share with you all!  

Oh, and happy first day of Spring!

cologne + margraten + maastricht

A few weeks ago, we drove up to Cologne (or Koln, as the locals know it) for the day.  I was super excited about this one!

So get this...Koln was founded by the Romans in the first century A.D.  That's less than one hundred years after the birth of Christ.  If that doesn't make you shake your head in wonder, I really don't know what will!  During the Middle Ages, the city flourished as a major transport hub, given its location on the Rhine River.  Cologne suffered almost complete destruction during World War II as one of the most heavily bombed cities in Germany.

I found the photo below online of bomb-ruined Cologne in 1945.  Both bridges were destroyed, including the railroad bridge (the one on the left directly behind the cathedral).  

From left to right:  Groß St. Martin, Cologne Cathedral (or Kölner Dom), and the railroad bridge.  I took this photo as we crossed the Rhine on another bridge to reach the city.

These colorful buildings face the river.  So pretty!

First order of business was lunch!  After that, we went to check out Groß St. Martin.  I know I've mentioned this in a previous post, but the "ß" that you see in a lot of German words is just short for "ss".  So in this case, you'd say this church's name Gross St. Martin, and gross in German means "great" or "large".  Anyway, this place was pretty cool and full of history.

The church's foundation, which dates back to 960 A.D., sits atop remnants of an old Roman chapel.  It later became a Benedictine monastery.  The current structure (or what existed before WWII) was built between 1150-1250 A.D.  In May of 1942, after an air raid, the tower and nave burned completely to the ground.  Then in 1943, the church was bombed again and suffered even more damage.  In 1945, whatever wasn't previously hit was destroyed, leaving very little of the structure behind.  I found this photo online showing what the church looked like in 1946:

After the War, the subject of whether or not to rebuild Groß St. Martin was a debate among the people of Cologne, as some felt that the ruins should be left as they were as a memorial.  Restoration, however, began in 1948 and wasn't finished until 1984.  It was during excavation in the 1960's that the multiple foundations (that I mentioned above) were discovered and the extent of the building's history was pieced together.

Standing inside the sanctuary, it was obvious where the older stonework met the newer part.  

We also went into the basement area where the original site was excavated as mentioned above.  I didn't take any pictures down there as it was pretty dark, but Rich got this one of a blurry me checkin' it all out:

Next, we strolled through town taking in all the interesting things along the way.  

We made our way to the famous Cologne Cathedral, or Kölner Dom.  It, too, was severely damaged during World War II, but it remained standing.  The beginning stages of construction took place from 1248 to 1473 A.D., and even then it wasn't finished.  Work began again during the 19th century and was completed in 1880.  The cathedral has the largest façade of any other church in the world.  And another bit of interesting history?  The Three Wise Men, as in the ones who visited Jesus at his birth, are believed to be enshrined here.

And now, I will unapologetically overwhelm you with photos.

Do you see all the intricate carvings?

Here's a closer look.  Absolutely amazing.

And the obligatory photo of a pigeon on a statue's head.

View from the altar looking back toward the entrance.

Shrine of the Three Kings

Shrine of the Three Kings

 

Hard to tell, but the floor is a huge mosaic made from tiny tiles.

We exited the cathedral and decided to cross the railroad bridge to get back across the river where we parked.  As we rounded the backside of the cathedral, I noticed that there are TONS of spires to be seen from this view!

And also, a statue of a woman playing a guitar.  What?!

Railroad bridge.

The railroad bridge also serves as one of the many love lock bridges we've seen in Europe so far!  We want to add our own lock at some point, but we're never prepared at the right time!

These statues of  men on horses flank each of Cologne's bridges.

One last look before leaving.

Our opinion of Cologne?  A definite must-see with tons of history.

At this point, we drove west into the Netherlands to Margraten to visit the Netherlands American Cemetery.  Rich had already been here back in January when I was in Georgia.  His Air Force group had driven over to do a clean-up, and I was disappointed that I'd missed it.

Nazi Germany had invaded the Netherlands in 1940 and occupied the country until 1945 when it was liberated by Allied forces.  When Rich had visited the cemetery before, his group had been given a tour of the grounds by a local Dutch volunteer.  He explained how appreciative the people still are for those brave troops who freed them.  There is a nearby Dutch military base, and they march all of their basic training troops to the cemetery to pay their respects to the Americans who gave their lives for their liberation.  Local people have adopted graves to keep clean and maintain, and the waiting list for doing this consists of a couple thousand people.

When I was six years old, my parents took us to Washington, DC.  Even though I was very young, I still have extremely vivid memories of this trip.  I remember looking at my reflection in the Vietnam Memorial, and I was very concerned about why my Mom cried there for so long--her cousin, Tommy, lost his life in Vietnam in 1967 at the age of 19.  I also remember asking Daddy why there were so many American flags around the Washington Monument.  That was my first experience of what patriotism felt like.

With that being said, there is something that stirs deep inside my heart to stand in another country, on another continent, so very far away from home, and see our flag flying high in the wind.  I can't even type this without tearing up.  It's an incredible sight.  And this cemetery is a beautiful place of honor and remembrance that I wish every American could see.

Court of Honor

The statue is meant to represent a mother grieving for her lost son.

The graves of 8,301 souls cover almost 66 acres.

When we signed the guest book, I noticed that the name just above ours was a former U.S. military member from Thomasville, Georgia.  I tried to spot the guy on the grounds, but unfortunately never did.

After leaving the cemetery, we ventured just a little further west into the town of Maastricht, Netherlands.  It isn't clear when Maastricht was settled, or whether or not it was the Romans who did so, but the Romans did build a bridge here over the Meuse River during the first century A.D.  The city's first medieval walls were built surrounding the city in the 13th century.  In 1944, Maastricht was the first Dutch city liberated by the Allies.

These streets look like they're straight out of a painting.

Town hall.

Another obligatory photo of a pigeon on a statue's head.

We didn't stay in Maastricht very long, but we did enjoy some delicious eis creme.  I had lemon...very tart but fantastic!  We'll likely visit again in the future.

Hope you enjoyed this adventure!