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!