the joy of cycling ...

Yesterday we returned my borrowed bicycle to Antoon and Tini's house. It was so nice of them to let me use it while I was here! I also had the opportunity to visit (lunch) with them again and see their daughters and granddaughters. This was my first time meeting their daughter Astrid in person and her lovely daughter Lisa-Maria! Astrid and I have already 'met' via Facebook, but it was great to be able to meet in the flesh too. Anyway, as I was riding there, I kept thinking that for so many people, Holland may be about windmills and wooden shoes, but for me it will always be about de fiets (bicycles). No blog about a trip here to the Netherlands would be complete without some time dedicated to the bicycle and what a wonderful job the Dutch do with their cycle paths!

The Dutch bicyccle boom started in the late 1800's when a Dutch baron had his blacksmith copy a model of a cycle named the velocipede. In 1869 the first Rent-a-bike business was started in Amsterdam as well as a Learn-to Ride school. In the beginning, cycling was considered a rich man's sport and the first Dutch cycling club was founded in 1871. Just before the turn of the century, the bicycle had trickled down to middle and lower classes and everyone was on a bicycle! From postmen to policemen to farmers to the Dutch army (who even had a machine-gun mounted bicycle battalion. The cycle paths here transverse the villages, towns, cities and countryside. They are all signed and mapped and the maps are readily available in gas stations and bookstores. Since Holland is quite flat, the cycling is relatively easy and there are many sights to see, so never boring! If you are looking for a cycling holiday, there are packages offered to cyclists of all levels. Day trips, weekend trips, full cycling vacations ... a myriad of choices! If you don't think you can do that much cycling, motorized scooters also use the network of cycling paths in both rural and urban areas. The network stretches into each of the 12 provinces and while some run parallel to the roads some are designed just for the cyclists and take them through routes where cars cannot go. Making yourself familiar with the traffic rules the cyclists must follow is a good idea! ;-) You can rent bikes at most train stations or bike shopes or bring your own. Apparently the airlines have a special transport box for oversized luggage! You can take the bikes on the train and the water taxis too, although they must have their own ticket! I have some cool pictures of bikes on the water taxi and people lined up for the trains with their bikes.

Anyway, yesterday I said goodbye to my Dutch bicycle. It became a part of my family here. I also said goodbye to Antoon and Tini, their daughters Esther and Astrid, and granddaughters Jessica, Cindy and Lisa-Maria. I know I will see them again. I hope they visit me in Canada, however, if they do not, I will be back. I am not sure I will borrow the bike again ... I may be renting a scooter or an electric bike! lol!

In the evening last night there were more goodbyes at another birthday party! Steven, Koos's son, was celebrating his 50th birthday at a pub not too far from Koos's home! Oh my, the Dutch do know how to have a good time!  :-)  Much beer and wine was drunk and laughter and music and singing ensued. And even though I was at a disadvantage with my language barrier, it was a blast! I recorded some of the songs the crowd sang at the end of the evening, and replaying it at breakfast today had Koos and Hettie breaking into song again. Another fine memory to take home with me!

time and people march on .....

Yesterday was another walking tour with Riet. She is in training for the Vierdaagse and she gave us quite a workout while we were visiting. What a great way to see the city! The "vierdaagse" (Dutch for "Four day Event") is an annual walk that has first took place in 1909 and has been based from Nijmegen since 1916. Walkers walk 30, 40 or 50 kilometers each day for four days depending on the division. It began as a military event with a few civilians but over the years that has changed to mainly civilian with participants from around the world. They expect over 45,000 participants, including about 5,000 Military from 160 countires plus a half million supporters cheering the walkers on. The opening ceremonies are this weekend and the march starts next week. This is the world's largest walking event and upon completion, participants receive a royally approved medal (Vierdaagsekruis). Riet has her and her husbdand's medals from the past marches proudly displayed in her home. I would love to return some day and participate in this event but I am not sure my knees would be happy about it! Each day of the marches is named after the biggest town it goes through. Tuesday is the day of Elst, Wednesday the day of Wijchen, Thursday the day of Groesbeek and Friday the day of Cuijk. On final day (Friday), the public gives the walkers flowers as they pass ... gladioli ,,, a symbol of force and victory stemming from Roman times where gladiators were showered with Gladioli. So, the Nijmegen marchers are similarly 'showered' in flowers on their arrival and the entry into the city and towards the finish, the St. Annastreet, is called Via Gladiola during the Nijmegen Marches.

So we took the bus from Nijmegen to Groesbeek and there we walked with Riet (but only 12 km, not the 40 she will be doing each day of 4 days next week). We started our Groesbeek tour at the National Liberation Museum. They have done a remarkable job bringing the past back to life, and the museum commemorates all of the Allied fighters who died here during the war. There are interactive presentations, dioramas, models, originanl films and audio fragments as well as the sounds and smells of war. The layout of the museum is such that you step through the occupation, the liberation and the rebuilding of the Netherlands and Europe. They present the horrors of war along with the exhileration of liberation and truly illustrate how important freedom and human rights really are. A truly remarkable achievement and I was pleased to tell them so in my comments in their guest book.

From the museum, we walked the path throught the Seven Hills to the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery and Memorial. The cemetery contains 2,331 Canadian, 255 British, 3 Belgian, 2 Australian, 2 Polish, 1 New Zealand, 1 Dutch, 1 Russian, 1 Yugoslavian and 20 Unknown soldiers of World War II and is somewhat unique because many of the dead where brought from nearby Germany so it is one of the few cases where bodies were moved across international borders. Citizens of Nijmegen 'adopt' a soldier and consider it an honour to care for their final resting place. It is a beautiful place and an emotional visit. Within the cemetery is the Groesbeek Memorial, commemorating the members of the Commonwealth land forces who died during the campaign in north-west Europe between the time of crossing the Seine River at the end of August 1944 and the end of the war in Europe. There are 1,103 names on the memorial and it consists of twin colonnaded buildings which face each other across the grass forecourt of the cemetery, between the entrance and the "Stone of Remembrance." The names of the men whose graves are unknown are inscribed in panels of Portland stone built into the rear walls. I doubt anyone can visit the site without being moved by the sacrifice of the individuals who gave their lives, and being moved by the care with which the Dutch honor them.

Following this, we visited a windmill and then settled for a late (delicious) lunch at an old inn. It was a long, wonderfully tiring day that was capped off in the eveing with a visit to Riet's daughter's home to enjoy the company of her family. What a warm welcome we have had from our extended family on this trip!  :-)

That's all for today. We are once again enjoying Koos's hospitality in Boxtel, and YES ... we returned here by train, but only because it was raining. I could have done it ... really, I could! LOL!

The Romans walked here..

Sunday evening we arrived at Riet's (cousin to my father) house. So wonderful to see her again! (It is sad for me to not see her husband Jo who passed away a few years ago. My memories of him are of a kind man who laughed a lot.) She has a lovely house and another one of the wonderful gardens the Dutch are so good at. Her garden is under rennovation and her grandsons have been hard at work transforming the lower half into a set of pebblestone steps down to the pond that frames the bottom of her property. It is quite lovely! There is a bench to sit on and fish from, or watch the nesting swans, or just contemplate the day! Riet had dinner waiting for us, and as she is a vegetarian, it was a noodle dish that had peppers, onions, cashews and
egg and was delicious!! After dinner, Riet's daughter and son-in-law, Sylvie and Richard came to visit. With them came their 3 sons, Jordie, Danny and Davy along with 2 girlfriends. A full house and it was much fun!

Yesterday was dedicated to sightseeing in Nijmegen, the oldest town of the Netherlands. The history of this town goes back two thousand years when the Romans settled here and Nijmegen grew to become the largest town of the Netherlands. It was granted market rights around the year 104 AD by the Roman Emperor Trajan. Initially Emperor Charlemagne chose to build his palace here and over the centuries that followed a succession of monarchs, dukes and emperors also chose Nijmegan as their residence. That meant the citizens became one of the most privileged people of Europe. It wasn't till several centuries later thay growing merchant towns surpassed Nijmegen.

Because of its strategic location, the town was often at the centre of conflicts. During the 2nd world war, the Allies bombed Nijmegen by mistake, killing hundreds of civilians and destroying most of the town centre. The people here have done a remarkable job with restoration. Riet took us to the square where our first stop was a Koffi date with her friends. They were super friendly to me and we had a lovely visit. A couple of the friends spoke very little English but made the effort to chat with me regardless. So nice. And so appreciated because I cannot do much in Dutch. It was so nice to sit outside and soak up the sun in an outdoor cafe and people watch in a centuries old square. The Lange Hezelstraat was an important thoroughfare even back in Roman times and it became one of the main trading routes in the region. Because of this, it can be called the oldest shopping street of the Netherlands. I must admit, we didn't really shop, but only browsed a couple of places where the vendor spread their wares on blankets. I am guessing though that if you like to shop this is a shopping heaven.

Our point of interest after koffi, was St. Stevenskerkhof the massive church and clock tower in the centrum. The original building was started in 1254 and was almost completely detroyed in the Allied bombing in 1944. It was subsequently restored and we climbed the 200+ plus steps to see the view of the city from under the clock. Dad and I had one pIcture taken with the famous Nijmegen bridge in the background. Our timing was perfect because we were able to climb to the top of the tower and watch a woman play an instrument called a Breeah (sp?) and hear the music that plays out to the centrum below. It was a cool experience to say the least.

After that, we walked an 11 km hike across the river Waal via the railway and foot bridge and then through a lovely neigbourhood with Riet acting as our guide and Dad chatting with people as we went. The hike back across the river was over the famous Waal Bridge which was the site of much action during World War II. Because it granted access to Germany, the occupying German forces put up fortifications to defend it. You can still see a German cannon still aiming at the bridge that was left in place after the war. Before this bridge was built in 1936, all traffic had to cross the river by ferry. This famous bridge remained intact during the liberation by the Allies (Operation Market Garden) in 1944 and is the topic of the movie "A Bridge too Far".

From the bridge, we explored the Valkholf where the Romans founded the capital of the Batvians prior to 70 AD and which later became the site of the Emperor's fortress. The fortress was expanded over the centuries but was later demolished in the 1700's with only the 2 attached chapels being spared. And although they overlook the Waal Bridge, somehow they were spared in WW II.

Well that is enough of a history lesson for one post. We dragged our tired butts back to Riet's for dinner and a visit with her son and DIL, Josh and Miriam and their children Wesley and Omi. Was so nice to put faces to names and to finally meet these people who share the same great grandparents!

That is the extent of my recall tonight. Not to mention all this typing on the BB is getting pretty old! Hope you enjoyed!
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French women don't get fat...

And neither do the Dutch! For the French, it might be all about the cuisine and portion control, but for the Dutch it is all about the cycling! Lol! What an experience this part of my trip has been. 70 km from Boxtel to Nijmegen op de fiets. Thank goodness the Netherlands is so flat is all I can say! At least that part was appreciated on an older bicycle with no gears. Since yesterday was Sunday, the traffic was light and there were many cyclers out and about but the paths were not jammed. There were tourists out and about. Native Dutch people on picnics and Sunday drives. And so many groups of cycle clubs out for a tour. Large groups looking like they were searching for the tour de France and took a wrong turn! I took a great picture of such a group that stopped for a rest at a pub and were replenishing the tanks! I am getting quite good at taking pictures as we ride along. And when I say quite good, I mean I don't fall off the bike and land in the ditch! This is not a comment on the quality of the photos, that remains to be seen yet.
I loved looking at the farms as we rode yesterday. It is fascinating to me to see the differences between here and home. Dairy farms, pig farms, horse farms, goat and sheep farms... all so clean, neat and tidy. And no wasted space. We passed goats staked on the sides of the road. We passed one warehouse in a small town where they built a little fence on a strip of lawn behind the warehouse and a fat little pony grazed. I found that pretty interesting and thought of the massive lawns at ExxonMobil in Belleville and how many ponies that would house! :-)

We first made our way through Heeswijk-Dinther, stopping at a castle that has been dated back to as early as 1080. Yes, 1080! These remains can still be seen in the cellar vaults. Over the centuries, the castle itself was expanded, refurbished, demolished and rebuilt depending on the financial means of the owner at the time and it now stands in wonderful repair on beautiful grounds and features a brassiere where you can sit and have a lovely meal.

I spent some time wandering the sheep pastures with my camera while Dad consulted the map, trying to decide the next leg of our route. He said he wished he had brought his compass and we would follow it to Nijmegen! I said I think NOT!! He said why not? To which I replied I preferred to follow the labeled paths, get there today and I had no desire to be pushing my bike (not to mention my sorry ass) through some cow pastures just because that is the way the crows fly!! :-s It was a moot point anyway because we now compass, so we followed the paths and accepted the assistance of many kind strangers along the way, as each leg required at least one SOS! We made our way through Loosbroek, Heesch, Grave and finally Malden where my father grew up. We visited the gravesite of my great grandparents, went by the house where they lived and I even saw the school my father attended as a child. It is somewhat like a trip back in time even though it was not my time. A trip to the fatherland ... so glad I came...
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Happy Birthday Koos!

Ok, I am falling behind on my posts! Having too much fun visiting I think! Also, I am not in a place where I have access to Wifii any longer, so that complicates things. Yesterday we returned to Koos's house in Boxtel to celebrate his birthday. He had his sister, his niece, all his 4 of his children, all their significant others and 7 of his 8 grandchildren present. That's a lot of people for his house and garden, but what fun it was! There was lots of food and laughs and drinks too! I am learning my older relatives are quite willing to tell me stories about the 'Theo' they remember as a child. My goodness my father was a naughty child! I have heard so many stories! I love it!

I took one of my fav pics yesterday but am not able to share it without the internet. It was a pick of my father cycling to koos's for the party with a case of beer balanced on the back carrier of his bike. Where there is a will there is a way!
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The farm that Antoon built ....

Dad and I are staying at Antoon's and Tiny's for a couple of days. (As family background, Tiny's grandmother and mine were sisters.) They live not too far outside of Boxtel on a beautiful little farm Antoon has built. They fisrt built the garage and the stable and lived there for a few years while they buiilt the house. Antoon did all the work himself. They have some ponies, a couple of horses, and a couple of Belgian Shepherds (Groenendael) dogs. There is a horse farm right next door and between the two properties there is a field of a half dozen yearling colts so I am quite enjoying the view! Tiny and Antoon are wonderful hosts and I think it is tiring for everyone when there is a language barrier. I know it exhausts me. Tiny understands much of what I say but usually answers in Dutch. Dad translates. Antoon understands little of what I say. Dad translates. I understand nothing of what Antoon says. Dad translates. Getting the picture? LOL!! Actually, their command of the English language is way, way, WAY better than my Dutch. Part of what stops us both is confidence. I feel like I hace a mouth full of marbles when I am trying to pronounce many dutch words. Three of their granddaughters visited today and I had great fun with them. Michelle is almost 14, Jessica is 11 and Cindy is 8. They are beautiful, charming girls. Michelle and Jessica both have excellent English and Cindy is learning. Cindy already knows more English words than I know Dutch. She laughed with delight when I shook her hand and said "Ick ben Jeannie".  :-)  Like most girls of their age, the two eldest wanted access to their Oma's laptop at the same time. Since I have mine with me, I let one use mine and we shared photos and Facebook pages and exchanged emails!  I also had them invite Karen to be a FB friend as I know they would all get along so well. I also know Cindy and Dana would have a blast playing together ... perhaps some day in the future.

Antoon generously took usout ion the car today and we stopped at a couple of horse farms so I could look around. I enjoy touring the farming communities here as much as the medeival cities and their amazing cathedrals and castles. He took us to a tack shop in an old barn, where I purchased a new set of stirrup irons for Miss Maddie. Ok ... they are for me to use on Miss Maddie!  :-)  Dad scored a free piece of used leather strapping he will use to repair a rifle carrier thingie so he was happy too! lol! The trip back to the farm was interesting because Antoon kept stopping for me to take photos. I told them about Glenn's blog (www.hubbers.ca) and the photo challenge he has us playing there. The current theme is FENCES, so Antoon stopped every time he saw a fence he thought I might like to photograph. And I think he purposely  took some detours in our return trip to facilitate my picture taking!

So, no history lessons yesterday or today! Just much time spent getting to know extended family and touring this mooi country!

hugs from me!  :-)

Tour de Franz

Yesterday, Marie Christine and Franz had the day off work, so Franz planned an outing for us, hence our very own tour de Franz! :-)  So they picked us (Dad, Koos and I) up at 9:30 a.m. and off we went in Franz's car. I will have to get a picture of Franz's car because I think it is very cool. It is a Renault (?) of some type and is the biggest little car I have ever been in! It is kind of cube like to look at and even has some overhead storage compartments in the back like an airplane and has so much headroom. Not sure about the leg room, but I know Lorne (all 6'4") would love the headroom!

So our first destination was Gorinchem, also called Gorkum. I am having a hard time wrapping my lips around the pronunciation of some of these places,but am trying! Gorkum is a small city in the western Netherlands that covers an area of approx 22 km. 3 km of the area covered is water. There is so much water here. Water everywhere! It is said that Gorkum was founded around the year 1000 by fisherman and the farmers that farmed the raised land of the area. As were most of the settlements of the time, the city was fought over by different factions over the centuries and reinforced with city walls to protect against the invaders. By the 16th century, the city walls had to be replaced with new fortifications and eleven bastions (a structure that juts out of the wall to be used in defense againt assaulting troops) which still are almost completely intact. These are also called bulwarks which is a term I have heard before. The new walls were placed farther from the town centre, making the city twice as large and were finished in 1609 and in 1673 Gorinchem officially became part of the old Dutch Water Line which were a series of water based defenses so the Dutch could flood the lowlands as a defense against the enemy yet maintain economic trading within their own Dutch Republic. Rather ingenious if you think about it! The city walls had four city gates: the Arkel Gate in the north, the Dalem Gate in the east, the Water Gate in the south (where the ferry to Woudrichem was), and the Kansel Gate in the west. Of these four gates only the Dalem Gate remains. The others were removed in the 19th century to make way for vehicular traffic. A portion of the Water Gate was preserved in the gardens of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

We left the city via water taxi through after viewing the locks into the main river Linge. I believe this is the location where the Water Gate would have stood. Our first destination was Slot Loevestein, a medieval castle built by the knight Dirc Loef can Horne between 1357 and 1397.  It was built in a strategic location where the Maas and Waal  rivers come together and was originally constructed in order to take tolls from the vessels passing through the rivers for the purposes of trade. The castle changed hands a few times over the centuries and was even used as a prison to house political prisoners at one time. It is said to be haunted but I didn't see any ghosts floating around myself!

From Loevestein we went again by water taxi to Woudrichem, a beautifully preserved medieval town that was granted city right in the early 1300's.  Woudrichem is also one of the eleven official Dutch Fortress Towns: a series of strongholds that for centuries formed the Holland Water Defence. Franz, Dad and I walked the perimeter of the town while Koos and Marie Christine scouted out a pub where we could rest and recoup! There we met some gentlemen playing billiards and generally enjoying life. The harbour in Woudrichem is now considered a National Monument and was modified in 1998 to look again as it had in the 17th century and is intended for historic ships like clipper barges, Dutch Stijlstevens and Frisian Maatkasten. The water taxi came and went from a small dock just beside the little harbour. In the old town centre, there was a church from the 15th century. The heavy square tower used to be higher and much more conical but the spire section was shot down by the Spanish during the town's occupation in 1574. Since then, the tower has been known locally as 'The Mustard Pot' - de Mosterdpot. The entire church burned down at the end of the 16th century but the building was restored and today it belongs to the Dutch Reformed Church.

We ended our day back in Gorinchem where we had left the car. We had dinner at a pancake house called Rosella. Was so so yummy! They offered 43 different kinds of tea. The pancake I had was a dinner pancake and contained onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, bacon and ham! There was a bottle of syrup on the table. Well, they called it syrup but it was not maple syrup. It was actually molasses. Another culinary experience to say the least!  :-)

We ended the Tour de Franz back at Koo's where we drank wine and previews some of my photos from the day on his large screen tv. Koos's favourite pic of the day was the one of him and his new blonde girlfriend he flirted shamelessly with on the water  taxi! ;-)

Today Dad and I are off to stay with Teene and Antoon on their farm for a ouple of days. Koos will spend the next couple of days getting ready for his 84th birthday bash on Sat. What fun!

Have a great day!