Today, we drove from Bad Homburg to Kerkrade, The Netherlands, & it took us about 2 1/2 hours. It was nice having leisurely coffee with Chris & Dana after J&K left for school. Chris got Columbus Day off even though he works in Germany now. In fact, he'll get both German & US holidays off.
We stopped at a travelers' center/truck stop/roadside stop/gas station & snacks/restaurant & fast food place before arriving here at the Golden Tulip Hotel, one of 4 in a chain in The Netherlands. The best news about this hotel besides it's clean & nice is that it has free wifi!!
But back to the roadside place. I must try to describe it since I've never seen one like it before. As you would expect, there was fast food, Burger King, but that's where the similarity ends. It was huge, as you'll see in this picture. We got sandwiches & then went to Burger King for an order of fries. The man there asked me if I wanted mayonnaise or catsup, so I said catsup & later noticed on the bill that it cost 20 cents for a packet!
Well, I spoke too soon. The server at this hotel is very slow loading my pictures, so you'll just have to imagine the various areas: soup, salad, sandwich bars, hot foods of many kinds, cooked to order steaks & fish, fancy dessert area, & of course, a wine & beer section! Remember this is on the freeway where some cars travel in excess of 100 mph.
Gasoline around here is about 1.65 euros/liter, or roughly $8 per gallon, & the car we rented is a diesel, which is a bit cheaper than regular or high test gas. Dave drove all the way today, & when the freeway got down to 2 lanes each way, it was tricky. The cars in the fast lane expect to zoom right along, but when we 75-80 mile an hour folks need to pass a slow truck in the right lane, it requires patience to wait for an opening. We never want to jump in front of those fast guys! Our car is mid-sized, & I'm awfully glad not to be in the tiny ones I've seen, line Smart Cars or Ford Fiestas. Toyota has one on the road here that looks just like a Smart Car to me as well.
It's time to talk about bathrooms, public ones particularly, which I've found to be very clean & even fresh smelling. Usually, the public ones have a cleaning lady in them who goes into the stall right after you leave. Her pay is your tip left in her dish at the door. Suggested amounts are 50-70 cents---worth every penny!
Our hotel rooms for two have had 2 twin beds pushed together both in Berlin & here. I guess that's their idea of a double. Better than one double bed I'd say.....
We stopped at Remagen to see the famous WW2 bridge captured by the Americans when they were closing in on Germany. It was the last remaining bridge over the Rhine at the time. The bridge has not been rebuilt, but the big towers on each side of the Rhine remain plus a small portion of the bridge itself. The towers on the west side of the river have been turned into a peace museum that houses lots of history & artifacts. The towers on the east side remain standing too. The first picture is how it used to look before destruction.
And here's how it looks today:
On to Bruges tomorrow!
THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Lives lost in WW2
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