Traveling Tuesdays: Belgium and Holland - Part 3

Day 4 –Wednesday, April 20 – Arnhem, Kroller Muller Museum, and Airborne Museum

Wednesday morning, we were able to sleep in a bit and enjoy a leisurely morning. Being as sick as I was, I was thrilled for this extra downtime. My cold was especially bad this day, but this was one of the days I was most looking forward to so I sucked it up and did it all. We had a poor lecture on the “War on the Rhine” that I attended in the morning, then an early lunch before leaving for the entire afternoon.

Our first excursion was to the Kroller Mueller Musem. We were told we our tour was going to feature mostly Van Gogh, but our guide hardly showed us any of his work. Most of us ended up wandering off on our own. We had some free time at the end to explore the sculpture garden, which was really nice because the weather was gorgeous. Here are some pictures from our walk through the garden (no pictures in the Museum, which was often the case).

Emily and me.

I took this picture because of the family on the bikes. Everyone bikes there. Notice the infant, which probably is about one, in front of the dad on the bike. Seriously - everyone bikes, even if they cannot pedal.

There goes the family, with two children on their own and the other two with Mom and Dad.

BEWARE - the next part of my blog update is going to have some photos you may find disturbing

Ok, now that you've been warned I have to share one of the most hilarious moments of my trip. We had just arrived at the Koller Mueller Museum and our tour was just starting. All of the sudden, I heard Louise Rose gasp and say  "Oh my God" under her breath. I looked at her and she was giggling so I knew then nothing was wrong. I asked her what she saw and she told me to go around the corner. There, I saw a man lying in a war sculpture of a bombed/destroyed grave yeard. He looked to be in his 20s, was wearing jeans and a jean jacket, and a girl who I thought to his friend was taking his picture. At first glance, all I could think was "How could he be laying in the art like that? Why isn't an alarm going off or a security guard telling him to move? That's rude."

Then I realized he was not a real man. Nope, no way was this guy real. He was a manequin and part of the sculpture. How did I figure this out, you might ask? Well, it all relates back to why Louise was giggling, and I have the pictures to show you why. Again, you might find these photos disturbing so I'm warning you again.

You might not be able to see it on this photo. You can see why I thought he was real at first.

Now it should be fairly obvious. You can even see "stuff" on his pants. I have no words...

I immediately starting giggling, which prompted Emily, the UNC host, to want to know what was going on. She saw it and said (in her sweet, southern drawl) "Good gracious Jesus! Mary, Mother of God!" It was HILARIOUS! It was seriously one of the oddest but most memorable moments of the trip. And we never did figure out the purpose of the exhibit.

We then had a 30 minute drive to the Airborne Museum. I enjoy WWII history so I was excited about this part of the trip. The museum was cool. We started with a 15 minute video of “Operation: Market Garden” before being able to wander the museum on our own time. Market Garden was a failed mission by the Allies in WWII, in which the Allied troops (mostly British - not too many American) were attempting to capture key bridges behind German lines in a complicated parachute and armoured assault. The goal was to seize several bridges, including the road bridge over the Lower Rhine at Arnhem, in the Netherlands. By seizing this particular bridge, the Allies would be able to move into East Germany and invade other Nazi-controlled lands. However, some of the drops did not go well (they were off mark) and those who were at the bridge did not get the reinforcements they needed and were forced to retreat. This story was made into a movie in the 1970s called “A Bridge Too Far,” from a saying of a British Lieutenant-General who told the operation's architect, before the operation, "I think we may be going a bridge too far."

Many believe that had the Allies been successful with this mission, the War would have ended 6-12 months sooner, bringing relief to the starving Dutch.
 
Because my dad is a WWII buff, I took a lot of pictures here. Here are some of the best.

This is THE bridge.