The REAL Hop Museum
Posted by Sierra
Does anyone reading this remember the post I wrote way back at the beginning of the trip entitled, “The Hop Museum”? (If not, you can read it.) I wrote about a museum in Toppenish, Washington, “City of Murals.” This museum called itself a “Hop Museum.” Ha! Compare it to the one in Poperinge, [...]
Beer, Chocolate and Cheese (Oh, My!)
By Reporter Sierra
Ah, Brussels. What other city has a statue of a peeing boy? What other city has so many examples of Victor Horta’s work? What other city has a structure that is a magnified atom? The answer is: none.
However, Brussels (also known as Bruxelles in French and Brussel in Flemish) isn’t all smelly, old [...]
Beware of Big Gray Men
Posted by Daria
So we’re walking around Brussels, on our way to see the Manneken Pis, a tiny statue of a peeing boy that is the city’s most famous tourist attraction. Two large gray statues loom up ahead on our right.
“Look,” says Sierra, “there’s van Gogh.” (Yes, she knows who van Gogh is.) “I think it’s [...]
Where We’re Staying
Posted by Daria
During this trip we’re staying in a variety of accommodations—apartments, bed & breakfasts, small and large hotels, and hostels. They have one thing in common: They’re either cheap or as cheap as we could find in a particular area. Cheap in the heart of Brussels isn’t the same as cheap in the forests [...]
Ha-Ha, Holland
Posted by Sierra
Comments Courtesy of Sierra
“Come to Holland, and have an Amsterdam good time!” Mom says commercials for Holland (aka the Netherlands) used to say this way back when she was a kid. Well, commercials may not say that anymore, but you can still say “Ha-ha!” to Holland and have an Amster-dam good time.
According to [...]
What’s the windmill saying?
“Ik ben op het werk.”
At least that’s how we think you’d say “I’m at work” in Dutch.
Today we visited Kinderdijk, which has the largest concentration of windmills remaining in The Netherlands (there used to be 10,000 in the country; now there are 950).
We learned that how the blades are set sends a signal. “Korte rust” [...]
Fried Dough by Another Name …
Posted by Daria
Throughout the world, wherever you travel, chances are you’ll come across a local specialty that’s a variation of fried dough. Call them doughnuts, beignets, sopaipillas, buñuelos, won tons, churros, elephant ears, zeppoles, whatever, someone takes a hunk of dough, drops it in fat, and fries it up. And it usually tastes really good.
Rothenburg [...]
Legoland: German Ingenuity Meets Imagination
Posted by Sierra
Raise your hand if you were ever taken to Legoland by your daughter. AH! I see Stan (AKA Dad) and Daria (AKA Mom) have raised their hands! That’s right, folks! I took my parents to Legoland Deutschland (Pronounced DOYCH-land). I paid for the tickets and parking. It was $110! But it was [...]
The City Inside the Walls
Posted by Sierra
Red gabled roofs, walls guarding the town, and schneeballen. Where can these things be found? The first two are found, well … lots of places. But the latter is a Rothenburgian specialty; I’ll let Mom reveal the “nature” of them later. Rothenburg is a small town in Bavaria, Germany. It is picturesque and [...]
Another Unsatisfied Customer
Dear US Airways,
I regret to inform you that we have had an unsatisfactory flight on one of your airplanes. This flight was from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Frankfurt, Germany. It was Flight 704, and the plane was A330.
The first unsatisfactory thing to happen happened when we were still on the ground. There was a 45-minute [...]