Chapter 6

Donna mentioned the tourist woman said European trains always leave on time, right down to the second. We boarded our train in Ramstein, and as the station clock struck eleven, the train whistle blew, and our trip began.

“I only brought jeans in case it turns too cold, otherwise I’ll only wear short skirts and low tops for you.” She kissed me. We were always in contact with each other by holding hands or touching shoulders.

It only took about an hour to reach Frankfurt, and once checked into the hotel, Donna called the travel company that was hosting out bus tour. We were relieved that everything was on schedule, and we’d be leaving in the morning. Not wanting to become lost, we stayed close to the hotel. We sat in a park and looked at all the older looking buildings. Most of them had been destroyed in World War 2 and were rebuilt to the original blueprints.

In the morning, we met the tour guide, bus driver, and other passengers. Each name was confirmed, and our guide made sure we all had our passports handy for the different border crossings. Donna and I soon realized and joked that we were the only couple that was likely under fifty and was the only ones not to have grey hair.

The other passengers also noted our much younger appearance, and we soon became the unofficial grandson and granddaughter to everyone. They thought it was cute that we were on our second honeymoon in our young marriage. We marvelled at the beauty of the Swiss Alps and the rugged beauty of the mountains and green valleys.

Being nosy, I’d peer out the front window of our bus and cringe. With so many streets very narrow, I expected the driver to sideswipe a building or an oncoming car. Our tour took us to Innsbruck, Austria, site of the 1976 Winter Olympic Games. Donna and I tried to meet all the other passengers, enjoying their company each night at dinner.

Returning to Germany, we travelled through Munich, Nuremberg, Frankfurt, and Düsseldorf. This was a high-class tour, evident by the stately looking hotels we’d stay and dine in and unique tourist trips we’d make.

I’d only seen pictures of Venice Italy and all the water canals and we couldn’t leave without taking a romantic ride on a gondola. Amsterdam Netherlands was the next closest place in comparison to a city on the water. We found out Amsterdam has 100 kilometres of canals and has 1,200 bridges connecting the ninety islands that comprise the city. This part of our tour had the longest stay, and while most of the others chose to travel to other sites within Amsterdam, we chose to tour around by ourselves.

We were staying at the De, L’Europe Amsterdam, a five-star hotel established in 1893. The beautiful, brown brick and windowed building, was situated right on the water’s edge where two canals intersect. Inside there were numerous high-end restaurants as well as cozy-looking pubs and eateries, and we decided to have or morning breakfast in one of the small pubs.

I love omelettes and couldn’t see the colour of my plate for the size of the served to me, and the coffee was rich and hearty. We discovered the pub, was operated by a husband and wife team and it was obvious to them, we’re tourists. They were very friendly and started to chat with us. The husband and I enjoyed the wonderful cleavage and short hem of Donna’s sexy top and skirt.

The wife asked us what part of the United States we were from, and Donna said we’re not American, we’re from Canada. She asked what brought us to this part of the world, and I explained how I was in the Canadian Armed Forces stationed in Trenton, Ontario, and on United Nations leave from my tour in Cyprus.

She immediately called her husband to our table and told him I was a Canadian soldier. I showed them a picture of me with Donna in my blue uniform wearing my new Sergeant stripes. He stood me up, shook my hand and hugged me! She did the same to Donna and changed to give me hugs. We both thought these two must be nuts, or maybe it was a local custom.

We introduced ourselves, and all I can remember is their last name, Van den Berg.

“Thank you to the Canadian soldiers for liberating our Holland from the Germans in World War Two. You are our heroes,” he said, shaking my hand again.

“But that was fifty years ago!” I politely countered. He turned around a chair and sat, and his wife joined him beside Donna.

“It doesn’t matter to us if its fifty years or fifty days ago, the Canadian soldiers who served before you laid down theirs lives so that we could be free and live once more! Did you know there are approximately 7,600 Canadian servicemen buried in Holland?”

“I knew Canada played a vital role in liberating Holland but didn’t know how many had made the ultimate sacrifice,” I said.

“I’m sure you’ve heard of the Canadian Tulip Festival in Ottawa?”

“Yes, I have.”

“Do you how and why it started?” I shook my head, no, in innocence.

We continued to eat our meals as he resumed, “When the Germans invaded Holland in 1940, they had orders to capture the entire Dutch Royal Family and take them to Berlin. You could imagine what would have happened to them. Queen Wilhelmina had one child, Princess Juliana and wanted to ensure the Royal Family remained safe so she sent Juliana and her two children to live in Ottawa, Canada.”

“While living in Ottawa, Princess Juliana gave birth to Princess Margaret in 1943. Did you know that to honour her birth, Canada flew the Dutch national flag from the top of the Peace tower? That is the only time a foreign flag has ever flown over the Canadian Parliament buildings. And the hospital that she was born in was declared international territory so that she would be born a Dutch citizen and not Canadian.”

“When the war was over the Royal Family returned to Holland. As a thank you to Canada for keeping the Royal family safe, they donated 100,000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa. Princess Juliana sent 20,500 bulbs and Holland continues to send 20,000 tulip bulbs every year to Ottawa.”