Movember

(posted by John)

Here's a post that may make you giggle.  I participated in "Movember" 2012, growing a moustache as a fundraiser for Prostate Cancer research.  As an AMS Europe team we raised over 7,000 Euros!  Here is a picture of the final product of my work:



Before



After

Happy Halloween!

(post by John, pictures by Jen)

Happy Halloween 2012!

We celebrated by hosting the International School of Amsterdam (ISA) trick-or-treat event in our neighborhood in Amstelveen and turning our single car garage (think small, European single car) into a haunted house!

I dressed up as the Grim Reaper using my Dad's old costume and the kids helped me put a little fright into their classmates.  We had around 300 trick-or-treaters and ran out of candy by 7:15...so it was a successful night!  We hoped you enjoyed halloween as well.

Jack-o-Lanterns

Scary kids plus a bumble bee

What a handsome couple!

Our Haunted House

 

London - Fall 2012

(post by John, pictures by Jen)

I unfortunately had to make a trip back to the US for work meetings during the kids week-long October break from school.  With me out of the way...Jen and the kids packed their bags and headed to London.  Jen's best friend from high school Nikki now lives in London so it was a reunion as well.  I will try to talk Jen or one of the kids into elaborating more in this post, but for now are a couple pictures:

The Kids in front of Harrod's Department Store

Jen and Nikki

Oktoberfest!

(posted by John)

On October 6, 2012 I attended Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany with nine other friends http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oktoberfest.  Most of this crew, originally dubbed the Amsterdam 8, had also attended the Scotch Whiskey tour in June. 

Oktoberfest felt like a state or country fair times 100.  Food, rides, and lots of people!  We had reservations for a table at the Pschorr Braurosl http://www.oktoberfestoktoberfest.com/about/braurosl-hacker-pschorr/, one of 20-30 beer “tents” on the Oktoberfest grounds.  These tents are more like warehouses complete with oompah bands, food, and liter sized mugs of beer!

Prost!

We spent the afternoon in the beer tent and the evening at the Hofbrauhaus.  Another great male bonding weekend!

Take care,

John

Biking up Alpe d'Huez

(posted by John)

On September 26-29 I traveled to France with four of my friends to bike in the French Alps.  I have never biked up significant hills much less mountains so this was going to be quite a new experience….

Our Hotel - They cater to Dutch Cyclists

We arrived in Allemont, France on the Afternoon of the 27^th.  We checked into the hotel and went for a “warm-up ride” to prepare for the next two days.  That warm-up ride was about 35km including a 10km climb to Col d’Orson http://www.tourdoisans.com/col%20d'ornon.asp .

On top of Col d'Ornon

  It was on this climb that I realized two things:

1.       I needed a smaller gear if I was going to survive for the next two days

2.       I wished I had done more training for biking in the mountains!

I potentially could solve #1, but I would have to deal with #2.  Luckily there was a bike shop open in town and so I was better setup for the serious mountain rides.

We left the hotel at 10:00 on the 28^th, starting with a light ride until we reached the base of Alpe d’Huez http://www.bikes-oisans.com/cycling-oisans-158.html .  Alpe d’Huez is one of the legendary climbs of the Tour de France.  And it did not disappoint.  Beautiful views and plenty of pain!  But I made it!  What a great experience.



Vouder, John, Marcel, Jaap and Zander at the top of Alpe d'Huez



We didn’t stop there.  We went on to bike up the Col d’Sarenne as well http://www.steephill.tv/2006/col-de-sarenne/ The total tally for the day…8 hours on the bike, 96 km traveled.  I was spent…

The next day was a bit easier but considering how my legs felt (not good) it was hard as well.  Another 30km or so including a 10km climb and I was back at the hotel after about 2:15 hrs.  For the rest of the evening we celebrated our accomplishment!

Take care,

John

An Autumn Weekend in Switzerland

(posted by John, photos by Jen)

We headed to Switzerland before the autumn weather became too cold.  Lausanne was our destination city on the shores of Lake Geneva http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lausanne.  Lausanne is in the French speaking portion of Switzerland (Switzerland is home to four native language regions:  German, French, Italian, and Romansh).  I originally traveled to Lausanne in 2004 while working for Medtronic and immediately fell in love with the city and region.  It is truly one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been and I have been looking forward to sharing that experience with Jen and the kids.

We departed The Netherlands on Thursday, September 20 by plane and about an hour later we arrived in Geneva.  We immediately boarded a train and headed to our hotel in Espresse on the shores of Lake Geneva.  No car this trip, we intended to take full advantage of the Swiss transit system.  Many believe train rides are the best part of any Swiss adventure http://www.swisstravelsystem.com/en/home.html

On the shore of Lake Geneva

 

We headed into the Swiss Alps on a beautiful Friday morning.  After multiple train connections we arrived at Schilthorn, a 10,000ft peak on which a rotating restaurant has been built http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schilthorn.  Ryan chose this as our destination as he "definitely wanted to eat in a rotating restaurant that sits on top of a mountain.”  The restaurant was featured in the James Bond movie “On her majesty’s secret service.”

The ride getting there and the destination were wonderful!  Train rides through beautiful valleys with gorgeous mountain views…

Swiss Valley viewed from the Train

 

Snow-capped mountains…





Switzerland at 10,000 ft.

 

And a rotating restaurant!

A Rotating Restaurant at 10,000 ft!

 

We stayed on the mountain for about an hour and a half before beginning our decent toward our hotel.  Early into our journey back we had a 30 minute wait for our bus connection.  As luck would have it, we were entertained by 6-7 sky-divers jumping off a cliff into the valley where we were waiting!  Very entertaining indeed!  Ryan’s curiosity was peaked by this display.  We may have an xtreme sportsman in the making.

Waiting for our bus...

 

We arrived back at the hotel quite late that evening but what a wonderful day it was

We awoke the next morning and traveled to Lausanne.  Just a short train ride from our hotel, we toured the Olympic Museum http://www.olympic.org/museum.  Lausanne is home to the International Olympic Committee and thus has a museum of many famous Olympic artifacts.  Unfortunately, the museum was under construction, but they had a very nice temporary exhibit where we viewed medals, torches and memorabilia from the entire modern Olympic era.

The Olympic Museum

We spent the rest of the day playing at a park located right on Lake Geneva, shopping, and eating dinner at a Lausanne restaurant famous for its cheese fondue.  The Restaurant was recommended by our Swiss neighbor Sylvie and we all enjoyed it!

Playing at the Park

 

On Sunday we took the train to Chateau de Chillon, a historic Castle located on the east end of Lake Geneva http://www.chillon.ch/en/index.cfm.  The castle is located on a rock island just off the mainland shore.  Believed to have been first occupied as a military outpost by the Romans, the first castle structure was built in the 1100’s by the House of Savoy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Savoy.  The Castle guarded a key north/south trade route from France to Italy and thus was a tax making money machine!  The House of Savoy kept control of the castle until the 1500’s when it was conquered by the Bernese http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Bern.  The castle lost its importance as other European trade routes developed, but it still retained its strategic military importance.

Chateau de Chillon was definitely one of the better Castles we have toured.

Chateau de Chillon

 

From the Castle we took a boat to Montreax, a lovely lake side town in between the castle and Lausanne.  We enjoyed a nice lunch in the sun before boarding the train to pick up our bags at the hotel and head to the airport.

We continue to enjoy our European adventures, in many ways they keep getting better as the kids become more experienced travelers and we start to visit sites and places that are a bit off the beaten path. 

We hope you are well.  Take care,

John





Normandy

(post by John, pictures by Jen)

We returned to Europe in mid-August, the kids started school on Thursday, August 23rd.  Sounds like a great time for a weekend trip!  We must have missed traveling throughout Europe during our summer in the States because we hit the road August 24-26 for a trip to the Normandy region of France http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy.  We learned that Normandy was settled by the Vikings from Scandinavia over 1,000 years ago!

The primary purpose of our visit was to visit the site of the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_landings.  I had seen the invasion immortalized in the movies The Longest Day, Saving Private Ryan, and Band of Brothers.  I had also read accounts of the invasion.  So to stand on Omaha Beach http://www.omahabeach.org/ knowing what happened here 68+ years ago was quite a surreal experience.  Many believe the events of that day served to change the course of world history. 

Standing on Omaha Beach

We learned that they will never be able to remove all the metal from the beach.  We walked the hills that the Allied soldiers rushed to overtake the Germans.  We climbed in the bunkers that were still left on the site.  It was quite an amazing experience

Matthew in one of the German Bunkers

Omaha Beach Memorial

We also visited the American Cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach.  The site feels in some ways very similar to other military cemeteries I've visited (Fort Snelling, Arlington), but the fact that it is located overlooking Omaha beach makes for quite a stirring setting.

Ryan and Matthew in the Cemetery (English Channel in the Background)

The visit provoked many feelings.  Pride for being an American for the sacrifice made by our countrymen, righteousness that this war and our victory was in the name of Freedom, and sadness for the deaths of so many men on both sides of the conflict.

Omaha Beach Memorial Cemetery

A quote is displayed in the memorial museum that I thought accurately captures the American sentiment of WWII.  I think this quote is even more poignant in the wake of American participation in conflicts since that have been related to fighting communism or securing oil:

"If ever proof were needed that we fought for a cause and not for conquest, it could be found in these cemeteries.  Here was our only conquest, all we asked...was enough soil in which to bury our gallant dead." - General Mark W. Clark

On Sunday, we traveled two hours south to see the abbey at Mont St. Michel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Saint-Michel.  The island just off the mainland coast was originally build as a monastery in Roman times, with the existing structure being erected in the 11th and 12th centuries.  It was quite a site to see.

Jen & John in front of Mont St. Michel

Thank you for keeping up with our adventure as we enter our third year in Europe!

Take care,

John