In the Netherlands, there is something really interesting hanging out in the canals. Look familiar? Yep, it's
Noah's Ark. OK, it's a scaled down replica, but it's still really cool. They are in the process of building a true to size Ark, but for now, this is something you need to go and check out. Some friends of ours scheduled a bus trip to see it, so we boarded at 6:30 (ugh!) in the morning, and took off.
Now, I'm sure that a lot of things come to mind when you think about Noah's Ark, but I'll tell you what I think about. It's the poem by Shel
Silverstein, that was turned into a song by the Irish Rovers. I'm a product of my environment. I blame my Dad. Now 99.9% of the people who read this are scratching their heads right now and thinking "Irish Rovers? Who the heck are they?" My parents are the only ones who know, I'm sure. Go ahead. I'll give you a minute to google it. (You know you want to.) Now I'll ask you if you noticed something in the picture.....yep. Two male lions. Noah needs to be careful about these things. No more lions...but being the unusual family that they are, they have decided to adopt a baby deer. Not a couple to be left out of the newest fad, Mr. and Mr. Moose have also adopted.
At least they decided to stay within their species.
The Lord seen some sinning, and it gave Him pain. And He says, "Stand back, I'm going to make it rain." And He says, "Hey Noah, I'll tell you what to do. Build me a floating zoo, and take some of those green alligators, and long-necked geese, some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees, some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you're born, the loveliest of all is the unicorn."
Old Noah was there, and he answered the call. He finished up making the ark just as the rain started to fall. He marched up the animals, two by two, and he called out as they came through..."Hey Lord, I got green alligators and long-necked geese, some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees, some cats and rats and elephants, but Lord I'm so forlorn, I just can't find no unicorns." 
Well, you get the gist of the story, but to find out what happened to those silly unicorns, you just have to google....Here's Noah himself, with some of his friends.
This is the upper level of the Ark. It was really interesting to see, and quite frankly, I think it would make an awesome house boat.
It also answered the age old question of they ate while they were at sea for a year...they had vending machines. Now it all makes sense, doesn't it.
After the Ark, we went to
Keukenhof Gardens in Holland. The Gardens are only open for a couple of months each year, during the blooming season, of course. It's amazing! Even with the late frost that we had this Spring, the flowers were blooming beautifully.
This is an organ that someone made by hand. It was very impressive, and made beautiful music.
We spent several hours wandering around the Gardens, but still didn't see it all. It's HUGE!
I think I took about 1,000 pictures.
Love the yellow and red together!
This windmill was built in 1892, and was donated to the Gardens in 1957. They restored it and opened it up to the public in 2008. There is a great view from the top.
Don't these remind you of peppermint candies?
It's hard to tell from the picture, but these flowers were teal blue in the center and faded to a purplish blue toward the outside.
I've never seen anything like these. They almost didn't seem real.
I think I had to have a picture of each kind of tulip that they had.
You also have to have the tourist picture wearing the clogs. Brandon was a good sport about it.
The swans were pretty, but nasty, too. They were begging for bread, and whenever the ducks got too close to the food, the swans would pull out their tail feathers. Cranky old birds!
I loved this little waterfall.
All too quickly, it was getting late and time to board the bus to return home. It was a beautiful day at
Keukenhof Gardens, and we hope to return there again. It's one of those places that's different each time you visit it. If you haven't been there, go quickly, because it closes the middle of May. If you don't make it by then...you'll have to wait until next March. I hope you enjoyed our
adventures this week as much as we did. We are going to do absolutely nothing for the next couple of days. Then I'll see if I can find a castle to explore that doesn't require a 3 miles hike. The weather is great, and time is flying by so fast. There are lots more place to see in Europe. No telling where we will end up next... Happy Travels!
All too quickly, it was getting late and time to board the bus to return home. It was a beautiful day at Keukenhof Gardens, and we hope to return there again. It's one of those places that's different each time you visit it. If you haven't been there, go quickly, because it closes the middle of May. If you don't make it by then...you'll have to wait until next March. I hope you enjoyed our adventures this week as much as we did. We are going to do absolutely nothing for the next couple of days. Then I'll see if I can find a castle to explore that doesn't require a 3 miles hike. The weather is great, and time is flying by so fast. There are lots more place to see in Europe. No telling where we will end up next... Happy Travels!
Thursday was the last day of our adventure, so we decided to check out some memorials to WWII. First stop was 
This is the main entrance to the monument. 
This statute was in the center of the monument. It's located on top of a hill, just outside of town, and the view was very peaceful and beautiful. 
You walk through this small room to enter the monument, and on the walls are plaques with the names of the soldiers who are buried there. 
Leaving 
The monument is 36 feet tall, 93 feet wide, and is in the shape of a five pointed star, found on a military uniform. The names of the 48 states are displayed in bronze around the top inside and outside of the monument. 
76,809 soldiers were killed or wounded in the Battle of the Bulge. 
The story of the Battle of the Bulge is engraved on the walls of the Memorial, starting with the words "The Battle began with fog and darkness..." 
The central atrium is 60 feet wide. 
This is the view from the top of the Monument, back toward the city of 
After leaving 
Brandon was our tour guide on this leg of the journey, because he visited this museum on his week long school trip earlier this year. 
The museum was very interesting, and was much larger than it appeared from the outside. It was three stories full of vehicles, 
Wednesday brought more beautiful weather, so it was time for more exploring. We decided to see a couple of nearby castle ruins, and headed off in that direction. Imagine my surprise when we just happened to drive past this lovely Abbey. I'd read about 
The 
This is a statute of the French abbot St. Bernard of 
Our next stop for the day was 
Once again, I'm learning that exploring castles in Germany means lots of hiking, so wear comfy shoes if you are serious about this! We climbed up and explored the ruins of 
OK, my Blogger is acting a little wonky again, and refuses to post this picture upright, so just turn your head side ways for this one. This is taken from the top of the castle, and you can see the outlines of the different rooms. It's also a nice view of the lovely cafe across the street of the castle. Castle exploration can be a little tiring, so be sure to stop by there for a lovely 
You also have a great view of the neighboring castle from the top of 
There was a lovely little stream winding though the valley between the two castles, so we relaxed for a little bit and just enjoyed the view. I'd build a house here, but apparently the valley between two castles isn't for sale. Go figure. 
