Mixed Time With A Bit Of Rhein - Holland & Germany

Tomorrow led to yesterday which took me to the next day and before I knew it a week had passed. Joyce and her husband invited me to stick around as we all seemed to be on the same page. With no plans and nothing on the calendar we spent our days together cycling, walking, visiting World War 2 museums, conversing on all sorts of topics and even made a short overnight trip to Germany for Schnitzel and beer on the Rhein.

For a couple of days we combined cycling with hiking by pedaling to one point and walking to another then picked up the bikes with a vehicle later. We retraced the general route of a warlord named Marteen who some 500 years ago terrorized villages. There is now a 400 km walking route in honor of him. It passes his castle. We ate sandwiches there.

For one day we just biked up and down the Rhein stopping for coffee at a castle as we biked shady wooded roads, past an odd mechanical dam, and along the top of an open dike raised above the flood plane. We stopped briefly in a village that looked awfully new having been totally destroyed and rebuilt after WW2.

Much of our time was spent in the area near Arnhem which hosts a World War 2 Airborne Museum for Allied Forces. The Arnhem region of Holland saw heavy fighting and is famous for a major operation known as Market Garden where thousands of Allied Troops invaded via parachute and glider at various locations. The fighting at the specific location of Arnhem was not successful but other nearby villages were liberated. The movie, “A Bridge Too Far”, was based on fighting that took place in the area. It would take a year for the Germans to be defeated entirely. Today museums, monuments, and an odd tank here and there commemorate the sacrifice and efforts. WW2 history interests me therefore I found the Airborne museum to be very good. I was impressed by the extent and variety of original WW2 items. Much of it was displayed in life sized diorama settings.

Joyce had the idea of going over to Germany for a night and camping on the Rhein. I’ve only been to Germany once and that was on an overnight drive straight through on the motorway three yeas ago. My rule for counting a country as being visited is that you have to spend at least two days and one night while visiting someplace and doing something. I figured a camp next to the Rhein and a visit to a couple of villages with schnitzel and beer for dinner would do. I don’t know why but for whatever reason Germany has not drawn or interested me much in the past.
 
Our quick trip to Deutschland proved to be a good one.  The campground was a little odd by American standards with our site set on a small piece of grassy land in the middle of permanently affixed camper trailers and small kit built wood lodges. It wasn’t exactly on the Rhien but set next to a very nice tributary. Our campsite was close to the water with a view slightly blocked by playground equipment and toy trucks sticking out of the sand. Off to the side of the equipment was a nice picnic table. Two short docks extended from the shore for access to the water. One was a nice steel grated variety. The other was wood and covered with bird poop.

For dinner in Germany we drove a very short distance from the campground to Rees. It’s an old village built right next to the Rhein and is protected from flooding by an ancient dike that surrounds it. We chose a restaurant on the water front to watch heavy barges pass while raising glasses of beer to the good life. Before dinner I had my photo taken with a lonely wood sculpture entitled, “Woman With Rucksack”. It seemed oddly appropriate.

Today I will wrap up my visit with Joyce and Gert. It’s been a really good time and I feel like I’ve been on a nicely guided trip. It’s been good for all of us and once again I sense that the timing was right. Joyce’s father recently passed and I think my visit along with all of our activity has been a positive diversion from regular routine which can be good for the grieving process. Later this morning they will give me ride up to Amsterdam where I’ll continue on my own once again. Needless to say their hospitality is Greatly appreciated!