The Greatest Generation.

This past weekend I traveled to northern France to visit Normandy.  For most people, this is just a place where an invasion called D-Day took place.  To me it's something a little special.  Seventy years ago, this is the place where my grandfather (Lt. Julian R. Sheehy) landed along with thousands of other young soldiers to complete a job that their country asked them to do.  As they landed, the Nazis sat waiting for them.  As the boats landed, thousand of young soldiers were mowed down by heavy machine gun fire.  Some didn't even make it out of the boats.  After the landing was complete, thousands of young soldiers lost their lives while trying to preserve freedom for Europe and the rest of the world.

My grandfather was an exception.  By some miracle, he was able to make it out of the boat, cross the beach and survived the landing.  Was it courage, was it instincts or was it a job he was asked to do and he did it without any questions?  I don't know.  What I do know is that he was a million times braver that I could ever be.  He left his family and traveled over 3,000 miles to do something amazing.  I can honestly say that I don't think I could do it.

Growing up, I used to hate going to visit my grandparents in Florida.  It was far, their house was always 80 F/ 26 C and my grandfather always seemed mean. Have you seen the Clint Eastwood movie Grand Torino?  That character was exactly like my grandfather. But as I got older, I realize how much of an amazing person he was.  In the end, he received a few Purple Hearts and survived one of the bloodiest wars ever.  I never go to ask him about it, but I would have loved to heard his amazing story of survival.

Shall we never forget what happened and never forget the men and women who sacrificed their lives so others could live in a free world.  As I travel around Europe, it's absolutely crazy what went on here and ever more crazy that so many innocent people lost their lives.

King + Orange = A Fun Day

Yesterday in the Netherlands was Koningsdag (King's Day).  What is Koningsdag? Koningsdag is the celebration of King Willem-Alexander's birthday.  It's a national holiday and is an excuse to go out, enjoy the weather on the canals and "party".  This was a special day because it was the first King's Day since the tradition started back in 1890, all other days were Koninginnedag (Queen's Day).  How would I describe it?  I would describe it as Mardi Gras meets canals meets boats meets a great time. Everyone is happy, drinking and wearing orange.

Orange is our new favorite color.

So why do they wear orange?  Well orange is the color of the Dutch Royal Family, The House of Orange-Nassau, which is a branch of the European House of Nassau.  The name Orange takes its roots from the French Princedom of Orange, named after the town Orange in the South of France.  The Queen's title is a result of marriage in 1515 between Hendrik III of Nassau-Breda and Claudia of Chalon-Orange from French Burgundy.  The dynasty had been established, when their son adopted the title of Orange-Nassau.

The morning after looks like Walking Dead meets Mardi Gras.

So the events started on Friday, Koningsnacht (King's Night).  All over the city there were stages built with bands preforming at all hours of the night and when I say all hours of the night, I mean all hours of the night.  There was a stage about 200' from our house and the bands played until about 2:00 am!  The next morning is filled with "garage" sales which is then followed by packed canals and lots of parting.  It is a lot of fun and if you come to Amsterdam for Koningsdag, a boat is the way to do it.  In the words of the Dutch "Het was Gezellig."

Where Am I?

Recently I went Geocaching with a friend of mine.  What is Geocaching?  Geocaching is a form of treasure hunt using GPS, in which an item is hidden somewhere in the world and its coordinates posted on the Internet, so that GPS users can locate it.  The reason I like to Geocache, is because it takes me to some very interesting locations.  This past weekend was no different when I ventured to a city that either has an identity crisis or has a split personality.  A confused city?  Well you tell me.

This weekend I ended up in the town of Baarle-Nassau, Netherlands or Baarle-Hertog, Belgium (depending on where I stood).  How could I be confused as to where I was?  Well, let me share a map of the area.

What is this city about and why are there lines all around it?

This town is located directly south of Amsterdam near the Belgium border, no it's in Belgium, no the map says it's in the Netherlands, but it is in Belgium, no it's in both.  It's in both, but the map clearly shows the city in the Netherlands.  Well, now you might really be confused.  In order to understand this oddity, you have to become familiar with some terms.  The first term you must know is "Enclave".  An enclave is a country, or especially, an outlying portion of a country, entirely surrounded by the territory of another country. The best example of this is Vatican City.  This is a country that is surrounded by another country, Italy.  Ok, so far so good.  The next term you must know is "Exclave".  An exclave is a portion of a country geographically separated from the main part by surrounding alien territory.  An example of this is Llivia, Spain.  This is a part of Spain that is separated from the main part of Spain by France.  Are you with me so far?  Now lets really confuse you.

How can Belgium be in the Netherlands when they are both different countries?

The town of Baarle-Nassau, Netherlands/Baarle-Hertog, Belgium is a complex example of enclaves within enclaves (also known as counter-enclaves or 2nd order enclaves).  This town consists of 22 Belgium enclaves and 8 Dutch enclaves (7 of which are counter enclaves).  This town has several markers marking the borders of each country.  One second you are in the Netherlands, then you are in Belgium and then you are back in the Netherlands.  How can you tell where you are?  Well the ground is marked letting you know where you are.

As you can see, the left side is Belgium and the right side is Netherlands and the line goes right through the front door.

Some houses that have the border going through them have a front door in one country and the other part of the house is in another country.  So the owner could sleep and wake up in the Netherlands, but then eat dinner and watch TV in Belgium.    So which country is this house in?  This house is located in both countries.  This house is the only house here where the border goes right through the front door.

Belgium on the left and the Netherlands on the right, huh?

Since the border runs right through the front door, making this house in both countries, it has 2 door bells (one for each country) and 2 house numbers (one for each country). Very odd, but yet very interesting.  So if you are ever in this area, be sure to check out GC4R5PF: Pungelpad 7 to see this odd house and area.  And this is why I love to Geocache.  Without a Geocache being placed in this area, my friend and I would have never seen this unique area, nor learned as to what this occurrence was called.  I love where my GPS takes me.  And to think, my friend has lived in this country all his life and he had never been here before.  It took an American and a Geocache to show him a unique part of his country.

Ohh that Smell...

I thought the 1977 song from Lynyrd Skynyrd would be the best title for this blog. Recently I went on a ski trip to Les Houches, France with my wife and some friends from the states. While I was there I tried to experience some French cuisine, but it mostly consisted of pizza, French fries (or fries as they are called there) and hamburgers.  On our last night, I decided to try some real French food.  The restaurant we went to didn't have a menu in English nor did the staff speak English (well, they spoke little English), but I thought we could manage.  In most cases, some of the things on the menu look very similar to English words.  Looking at the menu I decided to try "Andouillette a la moutarde". Not knowing what it was, I thought it was going to be some type of andouille sausage with mustard sauce.

It's amazing what a few extra letters can do to food.

Having lived in Louisiana, I knew exactly what andouille was.  I had it in gumbo, dirty rice and at some crawfish boils.  Louisiana is a state with French heritage, so I assumed that andouillette and andouille was the same.  I mean, it had a few extra letters on it but so did moutarde.  My first clue that this was a mistake was when the waitress came over to take our order.  I placed my order and she asked me "Do you know what that is?"  I said "Yes, its like a sausage with some mustard sauce on it, right?"  She smiled and said yes and left with our order.

This isn't the actual dish, but it looked very similar to this.

 When the food came out, everything looked good.  I cut into my meal and instantly realized I made a mistake.  Without taking a bite, I knew I was not going to be able to eat my meal.  To describe the smell, I'm going to use a phrase once used by my wife's cousin to describe the way Florida State was playing in a game they were loosing.  This thing smelt like "a bag of mashed up assholes".  I know that description is a bit graphic, but that is really the only way to describe the smell.  I turned my plate in an attempt to escape the smell and eat something else, when one of our dinner mates said "Can you turn that around?  That stuff stinks!"  I text one of my colleagues from work who is from France and she said "That stuff is made of death and intestines".

So what is this dish I ordered?

"Andouillette (French pronunciation: ​[ɑ̃dujɛt]) is a coarse-grained sausage made with pork (or occasionally veal), intestines or chitterlings, pepper, wine,onions, and seasonings. Tripe, which is the stomach lining of a cow, is sometimes an ingredient in the filler of an andouillette, but it is not the casing or the key to its manufacture. True andouillette will be an oblong tube. If made with the small intestine, it is a plump sausage generally about 25 mm in diameter but often it is much larger, possibly 7–10 cm in diameter, and stronger in scent when the colon is used. True andouillette is rarely seen outside France and has a strong, distinctive odor related to its intestinal origins and components. Although sometimes repellant to the uninitiated, this aspect of andouillette is prized by its devotees." - Wikipedia

To say it has a strong, distinctive odor is an understatement.  If you think I am exaggerating about this, I have found other blogs (The Grubworm and Things That Stink) that will back my description of  this item. One of the blogs was called "Andouillette or... The Dish of Death".  So when ordering food in another country, know that a few extra letters can change an entire meal.

That's the Sound of the Police

Since moving to Amsterdam, bicycles have been our primary form of transportation.  We ride them to work, to run errands and occasionally for fun.  The best part about riding bikes in the Netherlands is the fact that there are separate paved bike lanes to ride in. The bike lanes even have their own traffic lights to help with the flow of traffic.  While we don't "officially" know the rules of the road, I assume they are the same as driving a car in most places in the U.S.  Here are some basic cycling rules:

1. Pedestrians have the right of way (except when they walk into the bike path, then it is a game of chicken in which bikes always win).
2. While approaching an uncontrolled intersection, yield to person on the right (unless you can peddle faster than the person to your right).
3. Using a mobile telephone when cycling is authorized (it is not uncommon to see people texting with both hands while riding their bikes).
4. The maximum blood alcohol level permitted when cycling is 0.5mg, however being stopped for cycling under the influence of alcohol does not lead to the suspension of driving license (I'm not sure if the same thing applies to pot or not).
5. Approved lights at the front and back are compulsory at night and when visibility is reduced (I'm willing to bet that 97% of the people violate this rule as almost everyone is missing or has damaged lights on their bikes).
6. Red lights in the bike lanes means stop (another rule broken by a majority of the people here). 

 

"Pull the bike over ma'am"........"Headquarters, she's fleeing.  Send backup."

The last rule seems to be the easiest rule to remember, right?  Well the following may or may not have been a text I received today:

       "In my tired state, I just want to get here (home), right?  So I decided to cross the 

       street on a red light bc no card (cars) were coming.  I did this in front of a cop on 

       a motorcycle.  I drove past him, he apparently was saying hello to me but I didn't 

       hear him.  I hear a beep, see he's coming for me and pull over"

This has me a little concerned.

      "He proceeds to say that the rules here are the same in the US and he is giving me a 

       ticket for running a red light!"

At this point I'm thinking, "I'm glad this wasn't me cause I would never hear the end of it."

       "He asks for passport-don't have it"

       "He asks for my ID-don't have that either bc it's on (in) my phone at home"

This doesn't sound like it is going to end well does it?  In fact in the U.S., this usually means someone is going to jail.

      "He asks why I did it, I told him I was exhausted."

      "I don't think he like that answer"

      "So he starts writing in on his pad.  I see '75' written on the paper but don't know if

       that's the fee or what."

      "He gets a call on his CB and then just takes off"

      "Doesn't give me the paper, doesn't say anything to me but hands me back my 

      insurance card bc that's all I had to give him with my name on it (not exactly

      an 'offical' form of ID)"

      "So, I may or may not have received a ticket.  On a bike.  As if my day couldn't

      get any worse"

Sounds like someone may have dodged a bullet.  Now the waiting game begins.  Will we see if we receive a ticket for running a red light while on a bike or not.