45 km’s from the Normandy Coast we toured the most amazing relic of WWII, a massive top secret German V2 rocket bunker facility. This “movie-like” complex was intended to be a main rocket assembly and launching base that would ultimately be capable of launching 36 devastating missiles a day to virtually any part of England. The German V2 rockets were so advanced that years later it was this captured technology that lead to the successful American space program. Thankfully Hitler never got the chance to get this place completely operational. From arial photographs in 1944 Allies knew that something big was under way here so they decided to bomb it and set the program back long enough for the Operation Overlord to render it ineffective. Exploring this massive structure with it’s 13 foot thick steel reinforced ceiling and huge rocket assembly chambers was a surreal experience. We had to keep reminding ourselves that all this was painfully real and not some movie set from Hollywood. The entire coastline is dominated by items related to the biggest military operation ever undertaken and we saw so many Canadian, US and British flags flying as a message of appreciation. I’m sure that much of the flag waving had something to do with the 70th anniversary of D-Day on June 6 and the expected visit of many dignitaries. The shear size and scope of the D-Day operation has truly left us in awe and no pictures, movies or stories can ever come close to providing an accurate perspective of this landing. We’ve spent the last four days moving from the beaches of Sword, Juno (Canadian), Gold, Omaha and Utah and with the help of excellent interpretation centres we have gained a much better appreciation of the logistics and human sacrifice required of the Allied forces to challenge the Nazi defences and get a foothold in Europe. In contrast to all the imposing military structures we were struck by how beautiful Normandy is with its lush green countryside and dramatic coastline. Moving along, we now have the Loire Valley in our sights.

We wanted to visit Ypers, Belgium and pay our respects to the fallen Canadian troops of WWI, visit the location where John McCrae wrote his poem “In Flanders Fields”, and see the town of Passchendaele where Canada suffered 16,000 casualties in 1917. We thought it would be a fairly quick visit and then we’d move on to the Vimy Ridge memorial not far away in France, Days later and we’re leaving this fascinating area with still more to see and do. We were under the false impression that “Flanders Fields” was one large military memorial site but learned that “Flanders” is a large region of Belgium and France and the “Fields” of Flanders are the locations of a thousand plus “Field Hospitals” where only the military graveyards now survive. One could spend weeks here trying to absorb it all but in fact, it doesn’t take that much effort to get an impression of just how incredibly massive and brutal this war was. We’ve also learned about a lesser known component of the war that took place underneath the front line trenches that incorporated about 3000 km’s of tunnels dug by thousands of underground workers. The tunnel mines (on both sides) were very effective and successful in causing extreme damage and high numbers of casualties. This is really a fascinating story that we were fortunate to learn about from a local expert. We stopped in at a pub next to “Polygon Wood” (A major battleground that claimed some 50,000+ men and saw one of the biggest air battles of the war) and met Johan Vandewalle who grew up across the road from this well preserved site. Johan has a background in mining and developed an interest in WW1 tunnel warfare and over time, has become an “amateur expert” on the subject. He has contributed to a number of books (We purchased “Beneath Flanders Fields” – The Tunnellers’ War 1914-18) and has been involved with the production of a number of respectable TV documentaries as well. He regularly explores these dark and very dangerous tunnels and has been responsible for locating missing soldiers, finding many unexploded artifacts, and verifying significant historical information. In 2007 his important efforts helped discover 5 Australian soldiers that were subsequently reunited with family members from Australia and now have proper burial plots in the Polygon Wood Cemetery. Johan is a real character doing very important work and he’s filled with impressive stories that we enjoyed even more than the great Belgium beer. Good thing we had a perfect camping spot out back of his “Cafe De Dreve”. If you’re interested you should Google Johan Vandewalle. We discovered there’s still a significant amount of recognition and admiration in this area for the Canadian contribution to the war effort and we did feel proud wearing our Maple Leaf.  Ypers was beautifully reconstructed and you would never guess now that in 1917 it looked like a moonscape. Since 1928 every evening at 8:00pm “The Last Post” is played under the impressive Menin Gate Memorial commemorating those that have no known grave and daily it draws huge crowds. The town of Passchendaele was much smaller but the area has great significance considering over half a million soldiers died in this area in just 100 days to gain eight kilometres of mud. In fact innocent people are still dying, like the two farmers that were killed a few months ago after ploughing up a live bomb. The “Belgian Bomb Disposal Service” still destroys an average of 150 tonnes of ordnance, including gas shells, per year. No wonder many areas are set aside for grazing sheep only. Walking through the beautiful tranquil forest of Polygon Wood, it all seems so pointless and unimaginable, yet it really did happen, and 100 years later it’s still dominating in every way. Onward to the Normandy Coast and a look at the famous beaches on the 70th anniversary of D-Day

Seeing Verdun in 1972 provided forty years worth of focus for every November 11, seeing it a second time will provide forty more. The powerful and somber impact of this sacred ground has came at the expense of over 200,000 dead soldiers and 400,000 wounded in less then ten months. Walking around this crater-filled park-like setting of battlefields you could easily be fooled into thinking it was part of a landscapers design. Broken and twisted remains of military defences are scattered everywhere and tombstones mark where towns once stood. 100 years later and you can still feel the pain. On our way to Verdun we spent a day in Metz, France which turned out to be a lot more interesting than I remembered it from 1972 when Bert and I spent a week in the back lot of a VW dealership having a new Van engine installed.  Luxembourg City is a short drive from Verdun and it was a great place to spend a day just walking about. We found a really good campground and managed to get some domestic things accomplished. We crossed into Belgium and stopped at the” Waterloo Battlefield Monument”. Strangely our camping books did not list any campgrounds in Belgium so we inquired at the restaurant. The fellow pointed to a park like setting out back and suggested we stay there.  We did, and what a great spot under the tall chestnut trees. Just a short hop away were the 226 steps that ascend to the top of the monument made from battlefield soil. The Lion on top looks out over Napoleon’s final battlefield and guards a new Europe. Over 300,000 soldiers fought here and changed Europe forever. Lit up at night, It’s a very impressive sight from the RV window. Off to Brussels for some famous French-fries and waffles then onward to visit “Venus-of-the-north”… Brugge.

When we sailed into Germany from Sweden we landed at the Baltic Seaport of Sassnitz on the Island of Rugen. This north coast ferry port is only a stones through away from Prora, where you find another very interesting project by the Third Reich. Hitler decided he wanted a beach resort for the common worker, it was called a “Holiday Camp”. Like all of his plans, it’s massive, designed to house 20,000 at a time with a central social hall that could accommodate everyone. The building project was almost complete by the start of the war when the labour force was redeployed for the war effort. It had very limited use during the war but after the war it was used for displaced refugees and then for the Soviet and East German military. Since then it fell into major disrepair and only a short time ago some developers, realizing it’s potential, have been renovating the buildings into upper end beach condos, hotels and rental units. It really is a fantastic beachfront location and just a few kilometres down the way is the very clean and classy ocean resort town of Binz. Anyone interested in a long term real-estate investment opportunity on the Baltic Sea should take a close look at this one. In the attached photo of Margot standing next to the scale model you can get an idea of the actual size of this 4.5 Km long complex.
We’ve really enjoyed this slow drive south through the German countryside with it’s beautiful lush green rolling hills that are dotted with picturesque farms, quaint towns, and tinny villages every few kilometres. Our travel pace has been rather slow considering we avoid the major autobahns in favour of the 2nd and 3rd level roads that tend to be much less stressful and offer a much better opportunity for us to see and experience all these wonderful places. One such place was Munster (The other Munster just south of Hamburg) where we found the German Panzer Tank Museum. 150 Tanks, guns and vehicles from the past 95 years were on display. The huge place was filled to the rafters with all kinds of rare and fascinating military machines and memorabilia. Margot gets full points for hanging in there for most of the day without any complaints (I actually think she enjoyed it too).
As we headed south we spent some time exploring the old city of Wurzburg. With it’s dominating huge castle sitting high on a ridge overlooking the old town below, you can’t help but be impressed. We drove up to the castle, parked the RV in the castle moat and gave it a full tour including the very interesting museum inside. This beautiful city was seriously bombed just three weeks before the end of WW2 but it was rebuilt and still retains much of it’s original splendour. As we carried on south the next morning we decided to stop in for a coffee and quick look at the old medieval walled town of Rothenburg. We couldn’t leave it and ended up spending a wonderful day roaming about and exploring this fantastic place. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to have lived in the Middle Ages, come to the 10th century walled city of Rothenburg where you can walk along the defensive city wall, explore the many towers or get lost in the narrow cobble stone streets. You get the feeling at times that you’re on some kind of movie set for a Robin Hood sequel. This wonderfully preserved town is filled with great shops and restaurants, and did I mention the view of the valley below?
Tonight we are near the German/French border in a small city called Karlsruhe and getting ourselves mentally prepared for the next big stop, a visit to the WW1 battlefield area of Verdun, France.

Hamburg was a real mix of experiences. We toured an old Russian Submarine that was commissioned a few years after we were married, we think it looks much more worn down than we do. Squeezing our way through this pipe we couldn’t imagine living under these tight conditions for months at a time, makes our motorhome feel like the Ritz. On the flip side of the U-434 sub, we toured the 1896 full-rigged 3 masted steel sailing vessel the “Rickmer Rickmers” and were captivated by the notion of sailing throughout the “Far East” aboard this beautiful ship. This would be a great boat for your next ocean crossing Jim. Walking about Hamberg can be quite interesting, entertaining and even surprising. For example, on the slightly bazar side, we couldn’t help but note the irony of strolling through a large fairground crowded with happy and care free people in the shadow of a MASSIVE “Third Reich” Bunker (bomb shelter) and gun tower. Adding some irony-on-top-of-irony (if that’s possible) we then discovered that inside the 15 foot thick concrete walls of the infamous bunker is a collection of music related businesses.  Further down the road I’m sure we discovered the location (as you can see from the picture) where Ronald McDonald so suddenly disappeared from North America too. I’m not sure however if his new business venture will have the same general success as the original one but it does make you wonder what the new “happy meal” includes.
As we left Germany and drove through the Danish countryside on our way to Copenhagen we were surprised at the geographical resemblance to certain areas of Alberta. Crossing the impressive “Oresund Link” into southern Sweden we made the same comparison. I now understand my Grampa Beyerstein’s desire to settle in the Camrose area. Copenhagen is not the most economical of destinations but it has many impressive qualities including it’s delicious Danish pastry. Besides some very impressive architecture we were really caught off guard by the “far-out” and “groovy” district of Christiania. This community of about 850 hippies have been squatting on a large parcel of prime central development land that was a military post before it was abandoned due to it’s old age and disrepair. Today, this authentic hippy leftover from 1971 is still going strong despite causing much public controversy and political unrest. It seems sex, drugs, and rock & role are still causing trouble. It is fascinating however to see the consequences of a “make love not war” communal society experiment some 40+ years later. Somehow all those 60 and 70 year old long haired hippies don’t quite seem as cool now as they did in 1969, but each to his own… Peace Baby! Speaking of time passing, we got a good look at the famous “World Clock” at the Copenhagen’s City Hall. Completed in 1955 after 27 years of work it’s the most accurate mechanical clock in the world with a 570,000 year calendar. One specific gear in this clock will take over 27,000 years to make one revolution. I loved the fine workmanship and mechanics of this beautiful timepiece and as the only person I know that could manufacture parts as fine as these, you would have been very impressed Rhys. We decided to take a quick walk through the Arsenal Museum at the well preserved 1604 armoury attached to the old Palace and after 3 hours they turned the lights out on us about half way through this fascinating display of Scandinavian military history. No visit to Sweden is complete without a mandatory stop at a local IKEA store so before boarding the ferry to Sassnitz, Germany we paid our respects to one just outside the nice little city of Malmo.

One of the best things about travelling in a motorhome is the discoveries along the way. Every day we experience something of significant interest like the historic Dutch village of “Zaanse Schans” that Aad told us to visit. It really was a great place to stroll around and get the feeling of old Holland. My favourite stop was the reconstructed windmill (sawmill) that was fully operational and cutting lumber for restoring all the old buildings. Sharon, you would have loved the original windmill that was used for making artist’s paint from ground limestone. You can actually buy their manufactured paint, we bought some peanut oil made from the “oil” windmill and are now planning a wok night soon. Another unadvertised discovery was the fishing village of Harlingen This picture perfect town, with it’s two harbours, many canals and tall ships looked as if it hadn’t changed since the 1500’s. Our Stelplatz was a five minute walk from town and overlooking a busy lock. We were so impressed we stayed an extra day. At one point we thought we’d drive around Hamburg on our way to Denmark thinking that it was mostly an industrial centre but changed our minds as we got closer and became more curious (this is were the Beatles got their start), we’re glad we did.  Hamburg is the second biggest port in Europe and it is a very industrial shipping area but that’s part of the fascination. It also has a very modern and lively city centre with beautiful parks and waterfront. Anyone interested in shopping would not be disappointed and we even found a “colourful” new Easter jacket for Margot… I wonder how long it will take to find a matching scarf? We stayed at a Stelplatz just one easy train stop from the central station and from there we had a great time exploring this city of surprises. Tomorrow we’re off to Denmark.  Wishing everyone a wonderful Easter.

We had the most wonderful time with Anneke and Els who received us with open arms and made us feel so completely welcome as they dropped everything and focused their energy on taking care of us. We had a wonderful afternoon sipping wine in the sunshine on the garden patio of Wim’s amazing estate home. Walking through the streets of Hillegom we experienced Oma’s old neighbourhood and even visited their childhood family home. We had a great day exploring “The Hague” with Add providing the expert driving and tour guide services. The Hague is a very sophisticated and fascinating international city that really did impress us. We had a quick visit to the new King’s (Willem-Alexander) palace and even saw the Prime Minister (Mark Rutte) give an official send-off to a German dignitary at the Binnenhof Castle (Home of the Dutch Parliament). We ate “bitter ballen” and “salted herring” on this day, but not at the same time; both were new and tasty experiences. The next day we had tea and treats with Hedy and her son Jan in their beautiful family home near The Hague. Once again we were received as family and treated with such warm hospitality that we felt immediately at home. We had such a wonderful experience these last few days, we only wish that we could have shared this special time in Holland with Oma, Bob, Katie, Lia and Cam. It has been such a privilege getting to know this side of our new family in Holland, I hope that someday soon we get the opportunity to reciprocate their kindness in Victoria.

I don’t think we wasted a moment of our time in Amsterdam. Our Hotel was in the most central location possible and when we weren’t chasing down an activity we were wandering through the lively streets, alleys and cannel’s of old Amsterdam. Just walking about is great entertainment in this city and absorbing all the activity and beauty becomes a challenge in itself. We did take-in a few choice activities that all turned out to be well worth the time commitment. We spent the better part of a day going through the famous “Rijks Museum” and actually coming close to doing justice to about sixty percent of it. We took a trip to the “Keukenhof” gardens that’s open only during the tulip season and it truly is a large and magnificent display of tulip flowers. Our cannel boat trip was fun, educational, and a great way to spend some time on a rainy day. Anne Frank’s house turned out to be a surprise for me. First, just getting in was a challenge, unless you really like standing in long lines. We went during the dinner hour and the lineup was somewhat reduced. It truly is a remarkable story of courage and strength and it does take on a stronger sense of reality when standing in the secret rooms where Anne wrote her diary and this family hid from the Nazi’s for two years. One of my favourite activities was the early morning trip we took to the amazing 100 year old “FloraHolland” flower market. This is the largest flower auction on earth and it supplies much of the world with fresh flowers 365 days a year. It’s massive and looking down on the huge and efficient shipping and receiving operation reminded me of watching worker ants with important missions scurrying about on an ant hill. If the buyer and seller are at opposite ends of the complex, a 15 kilometre overhead conveyer delivers the large flower wagons for them. Can’t imagine what the day before Mother’s Day would look like in this place. The red light district was also impressive and entertaining in a different kind of way, but I’ll leave that one to your imagination. Bicycles, bicycles and more bicycles. Bicycle parades! Everyone seems to ride bikes and use public transportation which gets you anywhere quickly and efficiently. Unless you mess-up. When returning to our campground we got off the train with our big bags and asked a very nice bus driver for instructions. Trying to be helpful, he dropped us off at a golf course that we tried to describe to him. The problem was, there were two golf courses in the area. Of course it was the wrong one and now we found ourselves quite a distance away from “home” without any further bus services for the night. Not many people were still around the club but two young golfers spotted us and when they realized our predicament, without hesitation, they offered us a ride. With golf clubs and travel bags packed to the roof we all squeezed into their small car and they drove us all the way to our campground where they wouldn’t even consider compensation for their efforts, Real gentlemen, and for some reason, they made us think of Cam.

Everything  went according to plan as we met-up with Bert and Camilla at the friendly “Amsterdam Hotel” just a stone’s through from Dam Square and a short walk from the main central train station. This hotel is just across the street from the park where Bert and I bought our old VW van in 1972. In that van we traveled all over Europe together with me at the wheel and Bert expertly navigating an impossible road network long before the days of GPS. Here in Amsterdam we forged many great memories and now 42 years later we get the opportunity to share some of them with Margot and Camilla while adding even more to that collection. Thank you Bert and Camilla for flying all the way from Edmonton to make this reunion happen.