July 22, 1990: Brusseles, Belgium

We spent some time in Brusseles, Belgium, before we had to be at the airport.    It was a chore checking in all of our baggage and instruments.   Security had to check everything, as they had a bomb threat at the airport.  

Jeff Grant liked Porsches, so he was found in one of the stores that carried them.   

I sat next to Dave Fox on the flight home.   I was so happy as I had a crush on him. He let me listen to his Aerosmith and Rush tapes on his sweet Sony cassette player.   He got the cassette player for $200.   He kept hiding his soda and peanuts, so he could get more from the stewardess. It was so funny.

One of my other memories I forgot to mention was of Nick Adams at dinner one night. He licked his fingers and went around the wine glasses to make the sound.  His mom yelled at him for that.  She also told him he had to finish eating his vegetables.    It was so funny.

We flew into Chicago and took a bus back to Muskegon.   When we got to Muskegon, we were welcomed with cheers and signs.   

I am very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to take this European tour with the band.  The band at Mona Shores only went to Europe once every 3 years.      We did some fundraisers before the trip, which helped offset the cost.

July 21, 1990: Netherlands

Today, we said goodbye to our Dutch parents.  Nick Adams exchanged addresses with the Dutch girl he danced with at the party.   Our host family had 4 grown children.   We went to Antwarp.   It happened to be their national holiday, so none of the stores were open.    We stayed at Novetel for the night.   I had a nice conversation with Stuart Grevel and Mandy Johnson down by the pool.   I played ping pong with Jamie.  He knew Dan Morse from Spring Lake which was a surprise.  

Jodi, Kris, Mandy, Michelle, Sarah, Jeannie, and Mr. and Mrs. Brink got stuck on the elevator that night.  

July 20, 1990: Netherlands

I finally was able to mail my postcards today.    At 10 a.m., we went to the Buitenpost Botanical Garden.   Then, we went to Leeuwarden and I found my mom a sweater. I got myself a jean jacket, an alarm clock for Grandpa Thomas, and a bath package for Grandma Gonyo from the Body Shop. 

We performed another concert tonight and surprised our bus driver, Yohon, with the song "Locomotion".    We were all laughing so hard.

July 19, 1990: Amsterdam

Our host mother had cheese and bread for us for breakfast.   It was very good.       

We left at 9:30 a.m. for our adventure in Amsterdam.   We took a boat ride under the canals through the Red Light District, which I remembered our friend, Karen Simons, talking about.  The Red Light District is an area where a man can pick up a prostitute.   The ladies dress in their lingerie and sit in the windows waiting for a customer.

We went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Amsterdam to get t-shirts.   Stopped at this small village to see this famous dike.  

Went back for the night at our host family's home.   Our host mom made us these huge meatballs, which were delicious. I will never forget how wonderful they were.   They also 

bought us Pepsi, as we Americans like our soda.  

There was a get together back in town with the rest of the band and their host families.   I had a nice conversation with Stacy Holmes.   Dave and Jamie were playing a game with coasters.   Nick Adams had the courage to dance with this Dutch girl.   We all thought it was so cute.

July 18, 1990: Amsterdam Bound

Left Cologne, Germany in the morning to go towards Amsterdam.    Mr. and Mrs. Fox left our group at this point, in order to spend more time in Amsterdam and get home earlier.   We got to Amsterdam and were assigned to a host family.   Susan Johnston and I stayed with an older couple a little outside town.    They had a beautiful home with a gorgeous garden in the backyard.    Our host father used to be a doctor.    We told the family about Michigan and showed them on the map where it was located.  
They were very nice to us.    We stayed in a room that was fixed up in their attic.   It was very nice.

July 17, 1990: Rothenburg to Cologne

We had some leisure time in Rothenburg.  I bought a crystal and went through this gorgeous Christmas store.   We did another concert at 11 a.m.    Then, we took our bus to St. Goar for a Rhine cruise to Koblenz.  Stayed at a Japanese styled hotel in Cologne, Germany.   

July 16, 1990: Rothenburg, West Germany

Today was Mrs. Wibalda's birthday.  We left for Rothenburg, West Germany.  We stopped in this town called Neuschwanstein.   I wasn't feeling very well today, so stayed on the bus.   Mrs. Fox stayed with me to make sure I was ok.  Jeff Grant asked if I had thrown up which made me laugh.

We had a tour of Rothenburg, then a Medieval dinner.   We all had to drink mineral water out of this big horn in order to see who could drink the most.   Chris Logan finished it.    Our meat had a whole jawbone still in it. Plus, we could see some hairs in the meat.  That freaked us all out.  Needless to say, we didn't eat the meat.      Dave Fox played with the jawbone.

July 15, 1990: Innsbruck, Austria

Today was a day of leisure which was nice.   We did some more shopping in Innsbruck.  I bought a leather wallet and a t-shirt of Innsbruck.    I walked with Susan and Mr. Christopher around the town.   I was holding Mr. Christopher's packages and I accidentally dropped one of them.   It was one of his steins he bought.  I felt so bad, as I knew he was collecting these different steins.   

Mr. Christopher was one of the many chaperones that went on this European trip with us.  He was one of our teachers at the high school.

Tonight, we performed a concert at Steinach's Community hall.

July 14, 1990: Brieg to Steinach, Austria

We left Brieg, Switzerland for our 9 hour trip to Steinach, Austria.   In Vaduz, Liechtenshein, I walked around with Mr. Christopher.  We went through at least 20 tunnels on our way to Austria. 

Went to a Tyrolean evening in Innsbruck, Austria.   The dancers did yodeling and German dancing.   

July 13, 1990: Alps Excursion

We left at 9 a.m. for an excursion of the Alps.   Mr. Fox is afraid of heights, so it was hard for him to go on the cable car we took to the top of the Alps.  He suggested that I wrap the camera cord around my wrist so I didn't lose it.   There was a nice lookout at the top.   I walked with Dina and Mr. Christopher through the Alps.  The mountains were spectacular.  They were lightly snow covered which made it so pretty.    I took several photos.   Nick Adams's glasses unscrewed and the lenses fell out.   Luckily, he could see without his glasses.   We saw some goats at the top of the mountains which was neat.  Of course, I was scared to get too close to them.  

In the afternoon, we went to this grocery store across the street.  

We did another concert at 8 p.m.   The crowds enjoyed it and wanted us to perform some more songs so we did.  

July 12, 1990: Castle de Chillon in Switzerland

Today was Matthew Tomasiewicz's birthday.     We went to the tour the Castle de Chillon in Montreux.   It had these sweet passageways you could walk through.   I had pizza and sprite with Susan and Mr. Christopher.   At 12:30, we left for Brig, Switzerland.  It took about 3 hours to get there.   The scenery on the way there was gorgeous. I had never seen anything like it in my life.

When we got to Brig, Mr. Fox hurt his foot when the wheel of our trailer went over his foot.   We went to the thermal baths.  One of the pools had a current that pushed you around so fast.  That scared me.  Mr. Holmen lost one of his lenses in the thermal bath, but luckily found it later on.  

I had a crush on Dave Fox the whole time I was on this trip.  

July 11, 1990: Montreux, Switzerland

I went shopping in Montreux with Dina, Susan, Dina's mother, Mr. Christopher, and Mrs. Fox.   Then, we went to the casino terrace to see our jazz band play in the Montreux Jazz Festival.  There was a pool down below with women swimming in the nude.    The boys on our trip were busy watching them, instead of the concert.   Jason and I had to go to the casino to pick up our t-shirts because they didn't have the black t-shirts that we wanted from the festival. 

In the afternoon, I went to Gruyeres to look around.  I bought Grandpa and Grandma Gonyo a souvenir.    The boys on our trip played soccer across the street from our hotel.  

The view of Montreux at night was gorgeous.   I had a nice conversation with Katie Gingras.   We also played the card game, "Bullshit".

July 10, 1990: Montreux, Switzerland

We left Rastatt, West Germany and headed to Montreux, Switzerland.    Our bus driver, Yohon, stopped us for a break at a rest stop and many of the band members played soccer.   It was quite funny.  I went shopping and got a Benetton sweater for $47.   We stayed at the Hotel Europe.   I walked by the water with Dina Wibalda and her mom, while some of the band members went to see the jazz concert at the casino.  

I missed my mom as she liked seeing places.   This was the first big trip without her.

July 9, 1990: Germany

We left our hotel for a tour of Trier.   I saw some of the sites that the Romans had built.   We went into this Catholic church that was constructed by the Romans.   The bridge by our hotel was built in 144 AD. It was still standing as it was back then.    Then, we left to Heidelberg, which was an old village.   We did alot of shopping there.  Dave Fox was trying to find the Hard Rock Cafe so he could get a t-shirt.  

We got to Rastatt, Germany and did some more shopping.  We had the greatest modern hotel room that had a hair dryer.  We did another concert here, which I think was enjoyed by the Germans.  Mrs. Adams and I talked a while. She said she is 5'11 and the shortest person in her family.   She said she met Mr. Adams in band.  She played the flute.

July 8, 1990: England to Trier, West Germany

We had breakfast on the boat.  It was pretty funny as our dishes were rattling as we were docking the boat.   At 7 a.m, we got to the Netherlands.  We drove in the rain towards Belgium, then to our destination in Trier, West Germany.   On our way to Trier, we stopped for lunch at this religious community that had a famous Virgin Mary statue.  We got to Trier and stayed at a hotel, which was not too nice.   Mrs. Adams's room was across the hall from us.  We talked to her for a while which was nice.   We were scheduled to do a concert at Brunnenhoff Trier, but thought it may be cancelled because Argentina and West Germany were playing in the World Cup. This concert was our first one on our tour.   It was nestled in a beautiful place with a waterfall.  The public would definitely be at the World Cup.  We did do the concert, but only a few people attended.   West Germany won the game.  While we were packing up our stuff, we heard cars driving by and honking all night.

July 7, 1990: London

We had 5 hours to spend in London today.   I traveled with Dina Wibalda, her parents, Susan Johnston, and the Holmens.   We went down to Oxford Street and went through the shops.    We found out how to get to Buckingham Palace, so we headed down there to see the changing of the guard ceremony.   We had lunch upstairs at the train depot.  I had delicious quiche.   We went shopping in Benettons. Dina found a sweatshirt there.   At 3 p.m., we took a bus to a tea room for hyde tea, which was about an hour away.  I sat next to Dina, Joel, and Stuart Grevel.

Our next stop was Sheerness, England, where we boarded this gigantic cruise ship for the night.  The boat took us across the water to the Netherlands.   I roomed with Jodi, Mandy, and Susan.   On the boat, I bought a Benetton watch for $42.  The deck was gorgeous.   It had a grocery store and many other shops to explore.   I got some motion sickness on the boat. The room was small for us, so it was hard for me to sleep. 

July 6, 1990: England

It's now 5 hours ahead in London.   We drove from Manchester, England to Stratford-Avon, then to Oxford.   We finally got to London around 5 p.m. and checked into the Novetel hotel.   It took forever to get checked into the rooms.   I sat next to Jodi Siegel and Mandy Johnson at dinner.  At 7 p.m., we took a sightseeing tour of London.  We went by all of the famous places such as Buckingham Palace, Harrods Department store, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben.   It was strange to see people driving on the opposite sides of the road.   There were signs all over telling drivers "Slow Down Now".

July 5, 1990: Band trip to Europe - England

I left for a 3 hour bus trip to O-hare.  I sat next to Dave Fox on the flight to England.  I met an English lady who told me all about.  I had a hard time sleeping with the noise and all of the food we got on the plane.   It was a 6 hour flight to Manchester, England.