Adventures in Haarlem - The Netherlands

Saturday, May 6th found us in Haarlem!  What a fantastic city and exciting adventures.  We started the day with wandering around the city and seeing the sites.  Our first stop was at the Corrie tenBoom home where her family owned a watch shop and there they hid many Jews during World War II.  What an interesting and marvelous story.  From there we walked around the city until our ride on the canal. We had lunch on the boat and a most interesting ride through the canals of Haarlem.  We then walked through the gardens of one of the women's homes in Haarlem and ended up at the Grote of St-Bavokerk cathedral where Mozart played the organ at age 10.  Wow what a beautiful church.  We ended our day at an Indonesian restaurant where we had a most delicious dinner.  What a day!!!

In front of the tenBoom Watchmaker's Jewelry  Store

Ten Boom Watches

Living room of the TenBoom home above the watchmaker's store

Behind the wall in Corrie's bedroom where they hide the Jews

Entrance into the wall

Signing the guest book in the gift shop after the tour

Trisha, Ed and Margreet eating a "pickled herring" - a treat to the Dutch!

On our canal trip

Another beautiful church

Another beautiful "Dutch" architecture 

Down the canal

Jan and Trisha in the "Women's Home" gardens

On our walk to the Cathedral

By chance discovered this Jewish Memorial

The Grote of St.-Bavokerk Cathedral

The Organ

Where Mozart play at the age of 10

The Indonesian Resurant

Enjoying our Indonesian meal and ending to a most wonderful day!

Holland's Liberation Day

We were able to celebrate with Holland on May 5, 2017 their Liberation Day.  It was an awesome time walking to many displays of the time when the Allies came into Holland and were able to liberate the country from Germany and Hitler's  rule.   Canada played a very important role in liberating the country along with the United States, France and other allied alliances.  The parade following the views of many static displays of World War II military equipment.  In the evening we then entertained the VanOuwerkerk's Chinese fellowship.

Canada play a major role in Liberating Holland

Canadian Legion jeep with Veterans

Marching Veterans 

Bagpipes 

More Veterans

United States

Love the Bagpipes

Thank you United States

Flyover of B-25 and Spitfire to end the parade

Chinese Fellowship

Chinese enjoyed an evening of Fondue

Dinner in Heidelberg, Germany

When Trish arrived home from work today she suggested that we take a trip to Heidelberg for dinner. Of course we didn't disagree.  A wonderful trip and we got to see some of the interesting sights of Heidelberg plus a wonderful German dinner.

On the road to Heidelberg

The Alt Bridge in Heidelberg with Norm and Trisha

Norm and Jan at the Alt Bridge

The Heidelberg Castle in the background

The Heidelberg Castle

Castle which is now a museum

Where we ate dinner - Great German Food

Twenty Four Hour Trip to Paris

We left Kaiserslauten on the fast train (320 kph = 192 mph) to Paris, albeit 4hrs late because Trish forgot the tickets at home.  When we finally got to Paris, we hopped on the Paris Metro and went to our hotel, The French Officer's Club with a 6th floor room and views of Paris landmarks.  We walked to see the Arc de Triumph and strolled along the Champs d'Elysee.  Then on to the "Liberty Flame", a replica of what Lady Liberty holds on Ellis Island.  This spot is over the entrance to the tunnel in which Princess Diana was in a fatal auto accident.  We then walked to the famous Eiffel Tower and stood in line for over two and half hours to get our ticket to ride the elevator to the summit.  WOW!  what an experience!  We then took Metro'd back to our hotel and believe me, slept well!  Sunday morning after a leisurely breakfast in the "Club" we walked to the Louvre and toured the gardens and stood in awe of the magnificence of this edifice.  From there we took in the site of Notre Dame Cathedral.  It was then time to get back to the train station to catch our train back to Kaiserslauten and Otterberg.  Although a quick trip, it fun to spend time in the City of Lights.

St Augustin Metro Stop

Eiffel Tower at night with the 360* beacon

The three of us at the Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower

We stayed at the French Officer's Club in central Paris

In front of the Notre Dame Cathedral 

The famous Liberty Flame (also the tunnel where Princess Diana died)

The Louvre

Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower