My Trip to The Netherlands
by Jack Higgins
by Jack Higgins
First of all I am very grateful and blessed for the opportunity to visit the Pucas in Europe. Being 13 and traveling overseas alone was exciting especially since I would be with my friends. I was looking forward to seeing what life was like for them in a different country.
I arrived on a Friday morning and for my first few days there I biked with Josh and Caleb as they showed me around Wassenaar. We went to the Dunreil amusement park and Luciano’s for gelato. We also walked around the village square and they took me to the village’s candy store. Josh and Caleb had basketball game,too, where I noticed differences between American youth basketball and the Dutch youth basketball.
Our first meal out with Jack was for Dutch style pancakes at the Panenkoeken House.
On Tuesday morning we got up and hung around the house. Then at noon Josh and I biked to the village square to have lunch with a friend. Afterwards we biked back to the house, got Caleb and went to a park. That evening the boys had basketball practice, and I was very kindly invited to practice with them by their coach.
We had a blast goofing around the house, and Caleb decided sumo wrestling sounded fun.
Jack came to many of our basketball games and practices. It was so fun to show him baketball in The Netherlands. Here I am breaking Jack's ankles.
Wednesday evening we left for France and spent the night in Belgium.After driving several more hours Thursday afternoon, we entered France. We were headed to the beaches of Normandy to learn more about WWII. We ate dinner that night where I tried pear au vin. This was an uncommon dessert I would not normally have picked for myself in the States, but I appreciated the unique taste.
Big breakfast in Belgium before we finished our long drive to France.
Awesome cars in Ghent Belgium.
Friday morning we got up and started on a tour with a private tour guide. We went to Point du Hoc, where the army rangers had to take out a land-to-sea gun emplacement; Omaha Beach, where some of the hardest fighting occurred; a German inland gun-armament position; the Arromanches cliffs overlooking the artificial harbor; and the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial.
Our nice house on the beach.
Walking to the beach we all thought this sign was funny.
This is Gold beach where the British attacked
Going into a bunker on Point Du Hoc. The Nazis were completely contained in these bunkers and could stay in them for a long time when attacked.
Look at this crater!
There was a machine gun here during WWII.
The guide showed us a picture of where the big guns used to be and told us a story about taking the gun out of this base.
The guide also drew us a map in the sand of the attack plan for each beach.
We liked the tanks. This is in front of one of the American Museums.
This was one of the remaining machine guns that could fire for 1000 of feet up the beach.
American cemetery.
Map of the landing beaches and attack plan.
These big guns were used to take out the ships at long range. They were relocated to the bunkers after being taken off of naval vessels.
Artificial Harbor at Arromanches
Saturday we drove to Le Mont Saint Michel and climbed up to the abbey via the rampart way. After going through the abbey we came back down through the very crowded main street. We ate lunch at a cafe where I had a baguette sandwich, Coke (labeled in French – cool!) and for dessert, flan. We left France Sunday and drove through the gorgeous French countryside back to Wassenaar.
Le Mont Saint Michel monastery.
We liked the old elevator.
Sidewalk in Le Mont Saint Michele. View of water surrounding island.
Clay like sand that felt extremely cool on your feet.
Crepes!
On Monday we went back to the Dunreil amusement park, but that night we took a bus to The Hague. There we walked through the city to see the sights and then ate at Taveerne De Resident. I found The Hague to be a mix of old and new buildings, and it was interesting to see an old castle still being used today for their governing body.
Off to dinner. This is the Parliament building in Den Haag
Dinner at Tavern de Resident, one of our favorite restaurants.
Tuesday, my last full day, we biked around Wassenaar, filming as we went, and then came back to the house for lunch. We then biked out again on a photo scavenger hunt for points towards gelato at Luciano’s, and got every possible item on the list. That night Mrs. Puca made Thai food for dinner, we played Apples to Apples, and we had a late night.
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Ice cream at Lucianos, the famous award winning ice cream shop in our village of Wassenaar.
Wednesday morning we left for the airport and I said my farewells to the Pucas. Though I boarded the plane sad, I left with lifelong memories we will all look back on in years to come.
In closing I hope to be able to visit Europe again, but more importantly, I cannot wait for the Pucas to return to the States.
Saying goodbye the next morning at Schipol airport in Amsterdam.
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