Today we get a stark reminder of how some ideas that seem like they can’t fail can end up being a disaster. After D-Day and the success of that landing, the Germans dug in harder into the Netherlands and continued to occupy the nation. General Montgomery,the British commander of the allied forces was a brilliant strategist but his worse defeat was trying to cross the Rhine at Arnhem,NL. Everything that could go wrong went terribly wrong and its failure led the war to continue longer. The battle plan Operation Market Garden did not give access to the Allied forces to attack Germany in a surprise. If you watch a movie “A Bridge Too Far” you can learn the entire story. It was a three day battle. For us today,we made a quick visit to the bridge when you can see the scars of the shelling (the top of the bridge was bombed but the supports were used when rebuilt).
A sculpture about the Marshall Plan
A monument (two stones) to the Americans who lost their lives here 
the entrance to the Allied military cemetery
One of the two entrance chapels
British,Canadian and Polish soldiers
The only American here. He was a volunteer with the Polish army as he was not able to join the US army due to a ruptured eardrum. He is buried as a polish soldier.
Looking out the entrance
The locals come and take care of the cemetery and each year on the anniversary of the battle, the local children care for the graves. In looking at the gravestones it makes you so very sad. Most of the men here were 18-22 years old with a very few in their early thirties. There were Americans killed here too but the US requested they be buried in the US military cemetery together with 3,000 of their comrades in arms who were killed all over the Netherlands. It was disheartening to see how many young men were killed. Wars are started by old men but fought by the young. It saddens me to realize that nothing has changed in the world yet…
It was a sobering tour today.We headed back to our ship moored in the town of Cuijk. Since it was a warm and sunny day,Al and I decided to take a nice walk around the church we could see from our ship. Housed in part of the church was a small, very small museum of Roman artifacts. There are Roman ruins here and while restoring them these items were found. It took seconds to look the room over and then headed into the churchyard cemetery for a tour of the stones and the sculpture found there. What a nice surprise 
the museum 
the cemetery
The artist was finishing up her piece,a slide with a grater.. I think there’s a statement there! 
Im sharing most of the sculptures and it was uplifting to me after the morning’s sadness.
A small chapel in the cemetery. The old vs the new was striking. The cemetery has been closed for many years now but the graves were all left in place.
Al alongside his favorite
Reminds me of fish!
Which one is my favorite,you might ask? All of them! I am enamored with the idea of modern art/sculptural art being a major focus of cemeteries and think it would be a vast improvement to what we currently have in the US. 
After our stroll through the garden we crossed to the front of the church. Sint Martinuskerk shares the land with the Museum Ceuclum ( Roman ruins)
The church was closed for the day but allowed visitors into the front alcove and I could take pictures through the glass doors. As with most European churches, it had high ceilings and magnificient paintings.
The village of
While in town we stopped at a nice little caffe for tea… I tried my first bubble tea and fell in love with the treat! The bubbles are delightful and when they pop in your mouth it makes me giggle!
the museum 
the cemetery
The artist was finishing up her piece,a slide with a grater.. I think there’s a statement there! 
Im sharing most of the sculptures and it was uplifting to me after the morning’s sadness.
A small chapel in the cemetery. The old vs the new was striking. The cemetery has been closed for many years now but the graves were all left in place. The name of the project is now Beeldentuin and it’s worth a visit if you are ever in the area.
Al alongside his favorite
Reminds me of fish!
Which one is my favorite,you might ask? All of them! I am enamored with the idea of modern art/sculptural art being a major focus of cemeteries and think it would be a vast improvement to what we currently have in the US. 
After our stroll through the garden we crossed to the front of the church. Sint Martinuskerk shares the land with the Museum Ceuclum ( Roman ruins)
The church was closed for the day but allowed visitors into the front alcove and I could take pictures through the glass doors. As with most European churches, it had high ceilings and magnificient paintings.
The village ofCuijk
While in town we stopped at a nice little caffe for tea… I tried my first bubble tea and fell in love with the treat! The bubbles are delightful and when they pop in your mouth it makes me giggle!Our day ended with a walk back to the ship and a lovely evening dinner followed by entertainment from a duet of guitar and bass. Lots of singing along to tunes of our youth with two delightful musicians. Tomorrow we arrive at Kinderdijk again. Im almost over windmills!
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