Laurie picked us (two other Washburn students and me) up at the train station and drove us to Margraten. We didn't see much by way of the town, but we went to the Netherlands American Cemetery and walked around. Like all other military cemeteries, it was hauntingly beautiful and very meticulously maintained.
In total there are six Medal of Honor winners buried there. I had no idea what LTC Cole earned his MOH for before I took the picture of his grave marker, but afterwards I read about it and it was pretty amazing. As a quick way to put it, he did what just about every other battalion commander (and military leader at that) envisions their combat time will be like - he fixed bayonets and charged enemy positions.
After we spent a good while at the cemetery (where I got asked a lot of questions about the military by the others on the trip), we had ourselves a Dutch treat:
These are called Negerzoenen, which translates to "Negro Kisses." There has been a movement in the manufacturing business to shorten the name to simply Zoenen. They consist of a wafer topped with marshmallow and covered in chocolate. They were good, but one is almost too much sugar for one person. So what did we do after we had too much sugar from the zoenen? We went for ice cream.
For about $5 I got three scoops of vanilla ice cream covered in about a pound of cherries, strawberries, and raspberries. Despite the fact that it was about 45 degrees outside (and that is where we ate), the ice cream was amazing and something I will have to do again once it warms up in the spring.
Once we had finished our ice cream, we headed to the highest point in the Netherlands, which coincidentally is also the point where Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands meet. The Dutch have turned the area into a mini-theme park-esque area with a fake little village where they sell over-priced food and souvenirs. There was also a labyrinth:
We never actually figured out how to get out, we just back-tracked and went out the entrance. Here is a picture of the four of us who traveled. I've got the beard, then it is Laurie (Dutch), Kali, and Lauren. Kali and Lauren are in their third year at Washburn. Kali is spending the entire year here studying for her masters in tax law (gross) and Lauren is just here for the semester.
Here is the actual point where the three countries meet. I have labeled them to make it easier to tell (there aren't red lines on the ground, though there are thin strips of metal).
Lastly, we took the elevator to the top of the look out tower where I snapped this panorama of the three countries (the second photo shows roughly where the borders are).
These lines aren't perfectly laid out, but you get the idea. All in all it was a good day seeing the areas outside of the city limits since I haven't gotten out too much (though I have run to Belgium twice in the last month; it is about a 4-mile trip each way).
Preview for next post (whenever that may be): seeing Coheed & Cambria in Utrecht.
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