Sevilla - Happy New Year

From Madrid we trained down to Sevilla to meet our friends, the Sechlers, and begin our tour of Spain's Andalusia Region.  Trains in Europe -- what a great way to travel.  The 2 1/2 hour ride featured comfortable seats, simple check-in, no security queue's, roomy cars that allowed you to get up and walk around, etc.  And beautiful scenery thrown in for free. 


Olive Trees.  This is a small grove.  Later in the trip we would see entire mountainsides covered with olive trees.



Happy Train Riders


The Andalusia Region was ruled by the Moors for almost 800 years, up until the late 15th century.  This gives the area a strong African and Muslim influence.  Cities have both historic mosques and cathedrals, and sometimes these religous structures have even been combined.  The cities are also known for white-washed houses and winding, narrow streets.  Sevilla also had a large number of orange trees, although we were told the fruit was too sour to eat.


One of Sevilla's many plaza's.  Note the orange trees; they were all over the city. 



One of Sevilla's winding streets




I grew up near a small town in Illinois called Andalusia, so I was curious on the origin of the name.  Our tour book informed me that Andalusia is derived from Arabic word, Al-Andalus, meaning "Land of the West." Mayor Earl Johnson, on the website of Andalusia, Alabama states that Andalusia is Spanish for "To Walk Easy."  His town is so named because it was easier to walk to Andalusia than to the town that it replaced in the mid-1800's.  The cornerstone of internet knowledge, Wikipedia, states that there are at least three potential heritages for the word "Andalusia" and provides great detail on all three possibilities (which I have kindly decided not to include here).  Mayor Curtis Morrow's website provides a very, very complete history of Andalusia, Illinois but avoids the thorny subject of the town's naming altogether.   However, the website does have a link to a new housing development called "Fancy Creek Crossing," a name that I'm sure will never be debated by etymologists anywhere.   

Now back to Sevilla.  The two big attractions are the Alcazar and the Cathedral.  The Alcazar (fortress) is a palace of moorish design,  even though it was commissioned by a Christian King, Pedro the Cruel, in the 14th century.  As you can see in the pictures, the intricate carvings, ornate ceilings and tile mosaics make for a beautiful palace.



One of the rooms in the Alcazar.  All of the ceilings were of ornate design. 



A hallway at the Alcazar.



The group in the garden of the Alcazar



One of the courtyards at the Alcazar.  Note the carvings -- it was like this throughout the entire palace.



Sevilla's Cathedral is the third largest church in the world, behind St. Peter's in Rome and St. Paul's in London.  Supposedly, the leaders of Sevilla decided to build a cathedral so large "they will think us insane." Seems like an interesting way to motivate the townspeople.  Attached to the Cathedral is the Giralda, 300 ft tall minaret which was part of the old mosque.  When the Christians assumed power and built the Cathedral, rather than tear down the minaret, they incorporated it into the new design.  We climbed to the top of the Giralda -- interestingly, it uses a ramp instead of steps.  Either way, it was still a long way up. 



Sevilla's Cathedral with the Giralda on the right



The Giralda.  The ramp to the top is wide enough for two horse to pass side by side. 

  

The front of the Cathedral





A monument to Christopher Columbus inside the Cathedral.  Although his burial place is not certain, most people believe that he is buried in Sevilla. 




Stained glass surrounded by carvings in the Cathedral



View of Sevilla from the top of the Giralda.  Note the Bull Fighting Stadium. 



Claimed to be Christendom's largest altarpiece at 43' x 65'.  The carvings include 36 scenes from the life of Christ. 



Toro! Toro! The view inside the bull ring.  I'm sure that it looks big until it's just you and the bull.

 




Caroline & Carol one their "audio guides."  These things were great ways to learn about the sites we toured.  However, audio guides (like blogs) have to strike the right balance between interesting detail and too much information.  At this particular palace, the audio guide went way overboard on detail; hence the girls had to rest while listening. 

We spent New Year's Eve in Sevilla, where apparently the local custom is for all the restaurants to require advance reservations for a fixed price menu at a very high price.  Since we were both unaware of and unwilling to participate in this custom, our choices for dinner that evening were severely limited.  After a lengthy search, we ended up at the "Texas Lone Star Saloon."  It wasn't listed in any of our guide books, but they had plenty of seating, a full menu, and the food was passable.



New Year's Eve Hotspot



Some of you may be wishing there were more pictures of the Alcazar or Cathedral.  Don't worry, we still have two more towns to visit, each with its own fortress and cathedral.



An inside courtyard at the Alcazar




Ornate ceiling at the Alcazar



Courtyard at the Alcazar

Alcazar Garden Courtyard



Ole' -- Spanish Holiday (Madrid & Toledo)

After Christmas we all traveled to Spain for 10 days of holiday.  First stop was Madrid with a side trip to Toledo.  After arriving in Madrid on Monday evening (the 27th) we set out to walk around the old city and find some dinner.  There were people everywhere!  There was a Christmas Market in full swing in Mayor Plaza, a huge Christmas tree in Puerta de Sol and lights above the street.  This was definitely not a normal Monday evening in Madrid.  Only later did we learn that the Spanish extend the Christmas season to Epiphany (January 6th).  That day is a holiday, a time for families to gather together and the day when kids open their presents.  Grant tried to make a play that he should get a gift on January 6th as part of "capturing the Spanish experience" but his parents quickly vetoed that idea. 


Puerta de Sol -- lots of people out for Christmas

 

The department store near our Madrid hotel had a Christmas display that sang every night at 7:30.  You can watch compliments of Youtube.  Link to video of Corty Landia.   The song has the same impact on you as "It's a Small World" at Disneyworld. 


Tuesday we were off to see the Palacio Real (Royal Palace).  We discovered that the Spanish technique to control crowds in the Palace was to only have one person selling tickets.  This resulted in a long (and later in the day, very long) queue on the outside, but pleasant touring conditions inside.  Built in the 18th century, the palace has 2800 rooms.  Luckily, we did not tour them all.  But the ones that we did see were exactly what you'd expect to see in a palace.  Huge chandeliers, marble statues, beautiful paintings, gleaming floors, etc.  The palace is only used for official occasions now; the current King and Queen live elsewhere.  



Royal Palace at Night

 


Near the Royal Palace



Royal Palace Courtyard.  How do they squeeze 2800 rooms in there? 



In the Palace Courtyard


One "Spanish experience" that we did capture was their eating schedule, at least partially.  We'd have breakfast at the hotel around 8:30, head out for touring, then find someplace for lunch at around 1:00 or 2:00 in the afternoon.    The lunches were full meals, which was fine with us.  The Spanairds also drink wine with lunch, which was even better.  Most of the attractions closed from 2-4 so there was nothing better to do.  We'd finish our meal and that would leave time to see one more attraction before things shut down at 6:00.  If we were true Spanairds, we would have then gone out to dinner at 9:00 but we drew the line there on our cultural integration.  Rather, we usually found someplace for tapas and then played cards in the hotel lobby. 

Our after-lunch stop was a visit to Basilica de San Francisco el Grande, which is a long name for big church built on a site where St. Francis of Assisi had allegedly founded a convent.  The "el Grande" is appropriate...the dome is over 100' feet in diameter, largest in Spain and larger than St. Pauls in London. 



The dome of the Basilica



One of seven sets of main doors, all carved from American Walnut



One of the many side chapels at the Basilica.  This painting of San Bernardino is by Goya.  The person on the right side of the painting, not looking up, is a self-portrait of Goya. 



Close up of Goya's self-portrait.



Wednesday we planned to visit Toledo, which is only 30 minutes away by train.  Unfortunately, the Spanish employ the same method of crowd control at the train ticket counter as they do at the palace...very few people selling tickets and very long lines.  So instead of leaving at 10:30, we could only get tickets for the 12:30 train.  We used the two hours to walk through beautiful Parque de Retiro.  You'll have to take my word for it on the Park's beauty.  When we got there, I discovered that the camera battery was dead.  There were definitely a few comments on the travel director's performance after this day. 

We finally got to Toledo and it was worth the wait.  It's a picturesque town situated on a hill and bordered by a river.  The streets are laid out in typical old-world "chaotic fashion".  In fact, the tour book's comments were "Remember that the streets are steep and windy and it can be hard to find sites.  To avoid frustration you might prefer to see only a few sites on a day visit".  Truer words were never spoken. 

The highlight of the town is the cathedral.  Begun in 14th century, its size is deceiving.  You don't realize how large it is from the outside because the view is "largely obscured by the warren of houses around it" (quote from our tour book).  Inside, it is easily one of the most ornate and beautiful cathedrals that we have seen.  The sacristy includes a beautiful collection of old paintings by El Greco, Van Dyk, Ruebens, etc.  It was like a mini-art museum. 

You will notice that I've included a few photo's of Toledo.  No, we didn't buy a new camera battery.  You can get pictures of just about anything off the internet, so that's what I did. 




 

Toledo's Cathedral



The alterpiece. 





Aerial view of Toledo



The monstrance from Toledo's Cathedral.  It was about as tall as me.  Makes you wonder WWJDWT....What would Jesus do with this? 

Leo Major - Liberator of Zwolle

You'll recall that before the holidays we traveled to Zwolle to get Grant's oboe repaired and enjoy a delicious (and very long) lunch.  You'll also recall the factoid that I shared regarding one Leo Major, a Canadian soldier, who was credited with single-handedly liberating the town in WWII. 

This information piqued the interest of our Canadian reader, who then did some exhaustive research to learn more about Private Major (sounds like the old "Who's on First" comedy routine).   It seems that liberating Zwolle was just one of his many accomplishments.  As you can read below, he was a true hero in both WWII and the Korean War.   Leo Major passed away in 2008 at the age of 87. 

Leo Major at a Parade in Zwolle in 1995.  The sign on the windshield translates to "The Liberator of Zwolle". 

Private Léo Major was a soldier from Montreal in the Regiment de la Chaudiere in World War II. He was one of only three Canadian soldiers in the British Commonwealth to be awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. He is the only Canadian to have been awarded the honour twice.

The Allied Landings In France
On D-Day during a Reconnaissance, he captured alone a German Armored Vehicle (a Hanomag). The vehicle was full of German communication equipment (along with secret German Army codes).
Days later, during his first encounter with an SS Patrol he killed 4 soldiers, however one of them managed to ignite a phophorous grenade.  After the grenade burst, Leo lost an eye. The Medical doctor told Leo '"My friend the war is over for you. You are going back to England" Astoundingly Leo replied defiantly "No Way!, Sorry but I have a war to finish". He refused to be evacuated.  He was a scout and a sniper and insisted that he needed only one eye to sight his weapon. According to Leo, "I looked like a pirate".

Holland Summer 1944
Battle of the Scheldt
Leo single-handedly captured 93 German soldiers during The Battle of the Scheldt in southern Holland. During a Roconnaisance, whilst alone, he spotted two German troops walking along a dyke. Ambushing them, he meant to take them prisoner. The German garrison, upon seeing this, thought their commander was surrendering to the Canadians, and surrendered themselves.  Leo marched back to camp with nearly a hundred prisoners. For this event he was chosen to receive a DCM. He declined the invitation to be decorated however, because according to him' General Montgomery (who was giving the award) was incompetent and in no position to be giving out medals.

The First DCM
In February 1945, Leo was helping the padre loading the corpses from a destroyed Tiger Tank into a Bren Carrier. After they finished loading the dead bodies, the Padre and the driver seated themselves in the front whilst Leo jumped on the back of the vehicle.  The carrier took off, but didn't go very far as it had struck a tank mine. Leo remembered a loud blast followed by his body being thrown into the air and smashing down hard as he landed on his back.  He lost consciousness and awoke after two concerned Medical officers asked him "Are you OK?" He simply replied "Is the padre all right?" They didn't answer, but loaded him on a stretcher and onto a truck for a very bumpy ride to a field hospital 30 miles away, stopping every 15 minutes to inject morphine to remove the pain from his back.  The Doctor was not encouraging as they told him that his back was broken in three places, with four broken ribs and both ankles broken.
Again they told Leo that the war was over for him. They didn't know Leo because he let them take care of him for a week while he contrived a way to escape from the hospital.  A week went by and Leo had the opportunity to flee. He managed to get a ride from a passing jeep that drove him to Nijmegen, where he had previously met a family there.  His stay with the family was close to a month. Leo went back to his unit in March, 1945. In the beginning of April, the Regiment de la Chaudiere were approaching the city of Zwolle , which presented strong German resistance.
T
The Commanding Officer asked for two volunteers to recon the German force before the artillery began firing at the city. Léo and his good friend, Willie Arseneault, stepped forward to accept the task. They knew that there was big risk during this mission, but accepted it none-the-less. Leo and Willie, not wanting this beautiful city destroyed, decided to try and capture the city of Zwolle alone, though they were only supposed to recon the German numbers, and attempt contact with the Dutch Resistance .

Around midnight Willie was killed by German fire; he made just enough noise to make the Germans open fire, giving away their position. Enraged, Leo killed two of the Germans, but the rest of the group fled in a vehicle.  He decided, more than ever, to continue his mission alone, and to avenge his fallen comrade. He entered Zwolle near Sassenport and came upon a Staff Car. Leaping out of the shadows, he captured the German driver, and led him to a bar where an Officer was taking a drink. Inside he found that they could both speak French, and Leo pretended that he had an army at his back - he even gave the German his gun back.
He then proceeded to run throughout the city firing his machine gun, attacking and capturing German troups (about 10 times during the night he capture groups of 8 to 10 German soldiers, escorted them out of the city and giving them to the French Canadian troups that where waiting in Zwolle vicinity. After giving his prisoneers he returned to Zwolle to continue his mission) throwing grenades and making so much noise that he fooled the Germans into thinking that the Canadian army really had surrounded them, and was entering the city. 4 times during the night he had to force his way into several house to get some rest. Stumbling upon an SS H.Q., he got into a quick but deadly fight with eight ranking German officers - four were killed, and the other half fled. By then, at 4.30am in the morning an exhausted Leo found out that the Germans had retreated.  Zwolle had been liberated, and the Resistance contacted.  Leo then set about collecting his dead friend, Willie, and took him back to the Van Gerner farm until regimental reinforcements could carry him away. He was back at camp by 5 am. For his actions, Leo received the Distinguished Conduct Medal.


The Korean War And His Second DCM
Leo Major fought in the Korean War, where he won another Distinguished Conduct Medal for capturing and holding a key hill (hill 355).  This position was in the hands of the Third US Infantry Division when the 64th Chinese Army made a decisive artillery barrage.  Over the course of two days, the Americans were pushed back by elements of the Chinese 190th and 191st divisions. The Americans retreated, leaving everything behind (Food, weapons, vehicles, etc).

They tried to recapture the hill, but without any success, and the Chinese had moved to the nearby Hill 227, practically surrounding the US forces. In order to relieve pressure, General Dextraze brought up an elite scout and sniper team led by Leo Major. Wielding sten guns, Leo and his men silently crept up the hill, surrounding the Chinese. At a signal, Leo's men opened fire, panicking the Chinese. By 12.45am they had retaken the hill.

However, an hour later two Chinese Division (the 190 and the 191) counter-attacked. Leo was ordered to retreat, but refused and found scant cover for his men. There he held the enemy off through-out the night, though they were so close to him that Leo's own mortars were practically raining down on him.
For three days, Leo's men held off multiple Chinese counter-assaults, until reinforcements arrived. For his actions, Leo was awarded the Bar to the Distinguished Service Medal.

According to General Dextrase Leo Major should have received at least 11 DCM for is action in WW2. For Gen. Dextrase he was the best allied soldier period. He was by himseft a one man army. 

[credits to many internet sources]

Merry Christmas

In what is becoming an annual tradition, our holiday greetings come to you from yet another new location.   We are living in Wassenaar, The Netherlands, which is a small village north of Den Haag.  Due to intercontinental postage costs, higher environmental awareness and general laziness, we are utilizing the internet to post our Christmas Card this year.  We hope that you are not too offended.

Our opportunity to move to Europe arose when Lori accepted a position with Shell Corporation, which is headquartered in Den Haag.  She joined Shell in May and is responsible for their refineries and chemical plants in Europe and Africa.  Being new to the job and the company she’s on the road quite a bit, but luckily most of it is on the same continent. 

 

Mark, Grant, the cats and dog joined her in late July and three weeks later Grant began seventh grade at the American School of The Hague.  In the Dutch tradition he rides his bike to and from school, rain or shine.  But mostly rain.  He played baseball this fall and is swimming this winter.  We’re still adjusting to the 6:00 am swim team practice time.  He also stays busy playing piano, oboe and a variety of video games.  

Kate is a senior at Vanderbilt University studying Chemical Engineering.  In addition to being busy with Senior Design classes she works for the school coordinating a study of autism detection in 9 and 18 month old children.  Her other full-time job is filling out medical school applications – she has just about reached her limit on answering essay questions.   One bonus of our relocation was that Kate upgraded her car.  She’s now driving our BMW X5 and is already putting the heated steering wheel to good use. 

To date, Mark’s Netherlands career has been as a house-husband.  Despite all that time on his hands, our Dutch neighbor keeps asking if we’ve found a gardener (yardman) yet.  That’s a pretty clear indication that Mark needs to step up his landscaping performance.  Perhaps it’s all the time he’s spent on golf lessons, cooking classes and Dutch language classes.  Whether being a stay-at-home Dad becomes a permanent career is still under review. 

 We are enjoying our life in Europe and invite you to visit.  We are only 25 minutes from the Amsterdam airport and have plenty of spare beds and bikes.  We have relearned how to drive a stick shift (on our only car) and would be glad to show you around.  You can also visit virtually, via our blog, http://www.wassenaarliving.blogspot.com/. 

Our best wishes for a beautiful and blessed holiday season.

Mark, Lori, Kate and Grant

Zwolle

Zwolle is a town of slightly over 100,000 people situated about 100 km east of Amsterdam.  It is about a 2 hour drive from our home.  There are two primary reasons to visit Zwolle.  The first is visit Willem Uiterlinden who is an oboe repairman.  Grant's oboe was having some issues adjusting to the cold weather.  His teacher located Willem, an appointment was made and off we went.  Willem's shop is located in the basement of his home.  As you can imagine, there are oboes and oboe parts everywhere.  He is an exceptionally nice person who repaired the oboe on the spot.   Then he proceeded to give Grant a short lesson to make sure the oboe was put to good use.  The bill for this one hour visit came to a grand total of 30 euro -- the bargain of the century. 

The second reason to visit Zwolle is to eat at De Librije (The Library), one of only two Michlelin 3 star restaurants in Holland.  (There are only 80-90 in the world).   If you're wondering why a town like Zwolle would have a 3 star restaurant, it's because Jonnie and Therese' Boer grew up in the area and like living there.   They are famous for using food from the region. 

I'm not sure how Michelin awards their stars, but it could be related to time spent eating.  We were seated at 12:15 and selected the four-course lunch.  We walked out of the restaurant at 4:30 after enjoying all four courses plus many, many amuse-bouche's.   On a per hour basis, the meal was priced quite reasonably.  Seriously, the food was delicious and we had a great experience.  The owners personally presented the menu and wine list.  They were also very active in the dining room, so they certainly aren't resting on the laurels.  Next time you're in Zwolle, I highly recommend a visit. 

Here's an additional piece of Zwolle trivia for our Canadian reader(s).  The town was liberated by a single Canadian soldier, Private Leo Major from Montreal.  Well done, Leo. 



After the big (and long) meal



Happy Birthday Lori!

We celebrated Lori's birthday by getting 3 more inches of snow.  There was no wind, so the trees were beautiful with their branches loaded down with snow.  Kate and I took Graber for his morning walk in the neighborhood, then we all (including Graber) piled into the car to go to the Wassenaar Market.  They were having some challenges dealing with the snow, but most of the vendors managed to open that morning.  Graber thought that it was all very interesting, especially the free samples from the cheese man. 


Going to the Wassenaar Market




Clearning Snow at the Market.  The trailer on the right is the Poultry Shop.  The stand on the left is fruits and vegetables.



 That evening we went out for dinner then came home for (non-homemade) birthday cake.  For those of you trying to count the candles, I married a younger woman so this was not even close to being a milestone birthday. 


Happy Birthday Lori.  Note the tell-tale box underneath. 




The neighborhood church is one of Graber's favorite spots to go potty on his walk.  Sometimes God gets mad and rings the bells -- it scares Graber and he slinks away. 



Where We Live, Part II

As you may have read, Europe has been battered by a snowstorm.  It snowed all day on Friday so Grant got out of school early.  Since that was the last day before Christmas break, that means they did nothing for a shorter amount of time.  Lori was supposed to fly home from England that night, but that wasn't to be.  She was very lucky to get out the next morning....most of the airports in Great Britain have been closed all weekend.  (FYI...she flew out of Liverpool which is named John Lennon Airport)

And then there's Kate.  The girl who has seen her Christmas flights cancelled or missed each of the last two years.  It looked like that opportunity would present itself again, but we were lucky and she arrived only an hour or two late.  She was lucky as well; there were plenty of flights from the US that were cancelled. 

I thought I would use this opportunity to give you some more photo's of where we live.  The shots are similar to the last posting; only the season has changed.  We've had about 9 inches of snow.  I made very good use of my new snow tires.  There was no wind, so the branches are loaded down; it's quite beautiful.  We're supposed to have rain by Wednesday so we'll enjoy it while we can. 

The Canadians across the canal should be feeling right at home.

Dog in Jail

I hope that those tulip bulbs are nice and warm underground.

Snow Dog.