Dear Friends and Family,
Forgive me, but I need to give a bit of background, otherwise the first header below will not make much sense. Some time ago we bought a CD for our kids by a band I have always liked called They Might be Giants. The album was called No! and the songs on the album are quite a bit of fun. One of the songs from that album is “Where Do They Make Balloons?” and a line from that song has been wedged in my head since I arrived in Germany some two years ago. “In Holland they have windmills, lots of bikes, and pretty flowers.”
In Holland they have windmills, lots of bikes, and pretty flowers
OK, I suppose I have for some time been somewhat intrigued by the tulips of Holland (I know they want to be called the Netherlands, but Holland is just so much easier to type) because we talked about the Tulip bubble in some of my economics courses in college and because I had seen the movie “The Best Two Years.” Some of the scenes showing fields full of blooming tulips were breath-taking. I had also heard several colleagues or friends at church talk about visiting Holland in the springtime in order to see the beautiful flowers. The combination of that darn song running through my head, my memories from that movie, and the comments of friends and colleagues had made a visit to Holland a “must do” trip.
There were several things fell into place this spring that made a trip to Holland a real possibility. First of all was a discussion with our friends the Bargamentos where they indicated that they very much wanted to see the flowers in Holland before moving to Utah this summer. Second was the discovery of an Air Force Lodging facility in Spangdahlem, which is a little less than half way from here to Amsterdam. Third was the warm weather and early spring. This caused the peak of the spring bloom to coincide nicely with Spring Break from school. It was a remarkable confluence of events and let me just say that the results were spectacular!
Ken and Cari Bagamento
Our friends the Bargamentos are originally from Hawaii. They have been in Germany for some time now and so they have always been a good source of information and advice. We became close to Cari while Ken was deployed to Iraq. Cari took care of us because we were new and we took care of her because she was feeling rather single. It was a very good match. Cari was our Primary President at church for a long time and so she has always known and loved our kids. She even looked after them last summer when Mindy and I took our trip to Paris.
This past winter they made the decision to return to the states this year. They have a son who lives in Spanish Fork, so Utah looked like a good destination for them. For Christmas Ken bought Cari a house in the same neighborhood as their son so that Cari can be close to the grandbabies. We are sad that the Bargamentos are leaving us, but at least they are moving to someplace where we can drop by and say hi whenever we are in that part of the world. Oh, and now that we have a friend who got a house for Christmas, I’m pretty sure that no gift I ever give my dear wife will ever feel adequate.
The Best Hotel Ever
It was actually my boss that told me about Air Force Lodging at Spangdahlem. It had never really occurred to me before that one of my benefits over here is that I can stay in the “on-base hotels.” There is really only one advantage to an “on-base hotel,” and that is the price. As I have said before, the great challenge of traveling as a family of 5 is that we usually have to rent 2 rooms in order for all of us to fit. That makes the cost of a one night stay at a normal hotel at least 200 euros, which at today’s exchange rate is about $300. The Air Force Lodging at Spangdahlem, though, was able to offer us a 3
bedroom APARTMENT with 2 baths, a full kitchen, a washer and dryer, and a TV in every bedroom for only $48 per night! There was even a PlayStation in one bedroom that we could have used if only we had brought some games along with us.It should come as no surprise, then, that the assessment of the entire family was that Spangdahlem lodging was the “best hotel ever!” It was so inexpensive that we actually stayed there for 2 nights: one the night before seeing the flowers, and then again the next night. This made for a much more relaxed and inexpensive trip than it would have been otherwise. Now all we need is a good reason to go back. Hmmm…maybe Trier?
A Stau by Any Other Name
If I understand correctly, and there is always at least a little doubt about that, then the German word for traffic jam is stau. Over time I have come to prefer stau over traffic jam since it can be spat with much more disdain and derision. I was very interested the other day to hear my son Mose speak about being stuck in a stau back when we lived in Virginia. It occurred to me that Virginia doesn’t really have staus, since there is a distinct lack of German speakers there. Interesting, though, to hear that my children seem to prefer the German version over the English version too.
I tell the predeeding stau story because a stau is exactly what we got caught in on our way to the Keukenhof (the famous flower park near Amsterdam). I think we were less than 10 kilometers away when traffic seemed to just stop. Worse yet was the fact that we were still on the autobahn (or whatever they’re called in Holland) and in 2nd lane from the right. I remember saying “I sure hope we don’t need to get into that lane over there,” but that lane is exactly where we needed to be. As I recall, that ugly stau cost us about 2 hours of travel time.
Tulips, Tulips, Tulips, and Hyacinth
The fact is that we didn’t really see any tulips until we were almost to the Keukenhof. Once we got close, though, we saw more tulips than you can imagine. The entire park is surrounded by fields and fields of tulips! The colors were spectacular and the panoramas were breathtaking.
Once at the Keukenhof, we parked the car and headed for the main gate. The flowers begin as soon as you’ve cleared the gate. We saw tulips of various sizes and colors. There were daffodils, hyacinth, and flowers of almost every color and description. The flower beds were all planted such that the flowers came up in very pretty patterns. The day was bright and beautiful, the grass was green, and the flowers were incredible. It was truly a better than once in a lifetime experience.
The Worst 20 Euro Lunch Ever
…except, of course, for the lousy lunch! You will recall that the stau put us quite a bit behind schedule. We didn’t get
around to eating lunch, then, until about 2:00p. We found a likely eatery and did our best to figure out how to go about getting, carrying, and paying for our food. The place we found worked rather cafeteria style, but the meals were very expensive and rather difficult to choke down. I had cold, greasy fish and chips with stale French fries and greasy green beans. No one else fared much better. I rather hate a meal that leaves you feeling worse when it’s done than before you began.More than only Flowers
We discovered as we were walking around after lunch that the Keukenhof has much more than just flowers.
We saw some very interesting sculptures, plus there was a petting zoo, a working windmill, and a play place for the kids to run, climb, and slide. There was even a bit of commercial installation art provided by our friends at Ikea. Amazing! The play place was a big hit for the kids. I rather think it made their whole day. Looking at stuff is pretty fun for grown-ups, but kids want to “do” something. What they "did" was ride the zipline, climb the rope course, slide down the slide, play in the dirt, and run and run and run.Zig-Zagging Thoughts
Good friends, interesting things to see, and fun things to do make for a very, very good day. It’s amazing to me how many days actually turn out that way. Not too long ago I took the kids by bicycle and scooter to an Eis Café (an ice cream shop) about 3 kilometers from out house. It was a simple thing to do and it really didn’t take too much time, but it was another fine memory made.
The daffodils are all gone now, but the poppies are up. That means that the world still looks very cheerful and bright. We had a very dry April, but May has more than made up for it so far. The story that is told among the Americans here is that in Germany there is so much sunshine that sometimes (OK, frequently…) it simply condenses and falls as rain. I just love that liquid German sunshine!
Love from all!
Russ, Mindy, Mose, Sara, and Cory
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