November 2002

At the moment I recovering from a nasty cold. I am over everything but this horrid barking cough. It sounds like seals have moved into the house! And I came down with it the day before our guests arrived. Leanne and Rod (I went to the Hervey Bay College with Leanne when I went back to do my senior) were over here doing one of those European Masterpiece bus tours and they left the tour in Amsterdam and came to stay with us for nearly a week. It was sooooo good to see them and have visitors from home. It was sad to have to drop them off at Schiphol and say goodbye. But on the good side, it is less than three weeks now until Alison arrives.

We did so much the past week. Saturday morning we picked up Leanne and Rod at their hotel. On Saturday we took them to Madurodam (all the famous sites of Holland in miniature) and Kinderdijk for all the windmills. They absolutely loved it. Sunday we went up to Burgers Zoo because they are big animal lovers too and they were really impressed with the interactiveness of the zoo. Burgers Zoo is just outside the town of Arnhem where “The Bridge Too Far” is. As in the movie of the same name. So Hans took a drive through the town on our way to the zoo so that we could see the actual bridge. Monday was a quiet day as Hans had to do night shift on Sunday and Monday nights. So a couple of friends (Tera and Paula) and myself took Leanne and Rod up to Utrecht for some shopping and a look around for the day. Apart from my coughing and wheezing and all the rain, we had a great time. They got pictures of cheese shops, coffee shops (complete with huge bongs in the windows), and so many other typical Dutch stuff.

However, we saved the best two days till last J Tuesday we all got a bit of a sleep in and after lunch we headed off to 3 point land where the Dutch, Belgian, and German borders meet. From there, we headed down to one of my favourite places, the little German village of Monschau. Here we just wandered the beautiful little streets and stopped for a hot chocolate. I just adore this village and cant wait to see it in Winter with the snow. From Monschau we headed over to Valkenburg to see the castle ruins all lit up and have a lovely dinner in one of the old cafes there.
Wednesday was our day to visit Belgium. We got an early start and headed down to the Ardennes. It started a bit disappointing with the guide book being wrong and the Grotte de Han (grotte as in staligtites and staligmites) being closed but they did tell us of another Grotte which was open and on our way home. Then we headed over to Bastogne which is such a fascinating place. Beautiful Ardennes countryside and so historical. In this area, the second world war is definitely alive still. We were heading to the Historical Centre which is a museum of the battles that took place in the Ardennes and particularly where the great American victory took place in Bastogne. Here they have all the original weapons, tanks, uniforms, etc on display and it is so fascinating!!! They also have an epxo on the Band of Brothers mini series which was about Bastogne. Including many of the original belongings of the real main characters (not the actors but also some of the actors stuff). It was amazing to see the things worn and owned by the real Winters, etc. There are a few of these sorts of museums in the Ardennes and I definitely recommend them for a visit. Just north of Bastogne is where the Battle of the Bulge was and they also have a good museum but we didnt get to see that one yet. What was amazing was that we had to ask for directions in the town centre so Hans went into this other little museum to ask for directions. In there they were selling all the original weapons etc from the war. They had absolutely everything on sale except for vehicles. Even a 500kg bomb! Of course, they had rendered it all unoperational by doing things like filling the machine gun barrels with molten lead etc. But talk about absolutely incredible!

From Bastogne, it is only a 10 minute drive to Luxembourg so that is where we went next. Just for a short drive over the border and back again so that Leanne and Rod could make it country number 16 on their trip. And now I can also say I have been to Luxembourg. Then we went up to this small town called Remouchamps to visit the Grotte. Once again the guide material had been wrong and they were closing earlier but the guy waiting at the ticket office for the last tour to return took pity on us and gave Hans, Leanne and Rod a private and personal tour of their own. I stayed out with my coughing and everything. But with their personal tour they got to go into rooms of the Grotte that the normal tours dont get to see and they had a fabulous time J Well worth the visit! And it was also free but we gave him 5 euro each (cheaper than the regular price) anyway because it was definitely worth it! And he gave us a heap of postcards for free too. Unfortunately it was then time to head home but we did manage to get in another quick stop to see the waterfall at a place called Cascade and we also payed the Grand Prix race circuit at Francorchamps a visit. Finally we got back and went for a wonderful last dinner together at the local Greek restaurant.

It was a fabulous week!!!

Dont know if you heard or not in Australia but we had an earthquake! My first ever experience of an earthquake and I found it really exciting. It wasnt very big, just 4.9 on the richter scale. I was in bed at the time, 7.45am, but awake. It was a strange experience. Sort of like when upstairs shakes a bit when a big truck goes past but a lot harder with the cupboard doors and that banging away too. It only lasted about 30 seconds but I thought it was quite cool! The epicentre was about an hour to hour and half away. Near Aachen in Germany, south east of us. But it was felt as far away as Rotterdam and Amsterdam. Not many people realise that there is a fault line along the Rhine so this area does get quakes now and again. Never really big ones but it is possible. Usually the big ones are around 5 on the scale like the one I felt and they are only every 50 years or so apart. However, there was a 5.2 quake here in 1992 and that is only 10 years. So that is my really exciting piece of news I had to share with everyone. Some of you probably think I am insane for enjoying it so much but then I have always had a love of weather systems and natural phenomena. Like my fascination with Versuvius while in Italy. Hmmm next I think I will have to wintness a twister!

Just after the Commonwealth Games, we had the Maarheeze Mile. That is a cycling race in Maarheeze which is a pretty big deal. A lot of professional riders there and the race is 100km around laps of the town. Last year we were moving at the time and didnt get to go and I was disappointed because Stuart O'Grady was racing. He is one of the Aussies that do really well in the Tour de France. I had wanted to go and shout out Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi. Well when I heard that Robbie McEwan (the Aussie who won the overall sprint section of the Tour de France this year) was racing in it this year, I was determined to go and see the finish and embarass Hans. But they had started the race early because of bad weather and it had just finished when we got there. So I missed out again, but the good news is, McEwan won. Next year, there will be no stopping me! Hmmmm I also have an Oz flag now too!!!

The weather here is lovely. The Autumn colours have been out and it is sooooooo beautiful with all the reds, golds, and browns. Nothing like Australia. I never get tired of the beauty of Autumn over here. It is really cooling down too but not fast enough for me. I want snow and I want it now! But it will come, I am sure. Right now the maximum temperatures are around 10 degrees although we have had a couple of days as low as 7. And minimum temperatures range between 3 and 6 mostly. Bring on the snow I say!!!