Today Arnhem

There is nothing like starting your day with a sweet 2 year old who is always learning. Good morning to Lisa.

Norm is such a good opa.

We decided to explore Arnhem today but first a walk through the old part of Nijmegen. Some buildings date back to the 1600's. They are quite stunning. 

This is a statue of Marieke van Nimwegen. Famous throughout the Nederlands for a story a redemption. 

Saint Stephen church, bombed in the war was rebuilt and is beautiful today.

Even the door to the toiletten look impressive.

Unlike this one at HEMA, Dutch department store where they charge to use the facilities. 

We caught the train to Arnhem which takes less than 20 minutes. We love the smooth and efficient service. The train also leaves on time! 

Heading into Arnhem centre we came upon a market. Such fun, we bought mangos, dried apricots, fresh ginger, a flag of the Nederlands, and other surprises. Some of the food was for the dinner I cooked tonight for Kees and Dineke. I made them quesadillas, kind of sounds likes Kees&Dinekes, doesn't it? 

Their strawberries are already available. Lunch near by and then more walking.

Norm looks surprised but only because his clubhouse sandwich had four slices of bread and egg salad   In the middle. Delicious! 

Arnhem is known from the movie, A Bridge Too Far. It was here that the British tried to take the bridge in September 1944 to secure a route over the Rhine and into Germany. 600 paratroopers fought at the bridge for several days but reinforcements failed to arrive over land from the south, and the Germans took back the bridge. Today it is called the Johnfrostbrug for the officer who led the British forces. 

We walked over the bridge and back then visited a museum about the event. Unfortunately it was mostly in Dutch but you could still appreciate the effort given by the men. 

Today was like summer! The sun was shining and we were hot! So nice.....

A few more sights as we headed back to the train station, an aardvark, smoking fish and a knitted bench. Can you tell which is which? 

Now it is time to say good bye to Nijmegen. You can see Kees, Dineke and Norman all busy reading the blog.  

And now good bye. 

We are now waiting for a bus to Berlin. It leaves at 1am. There is a train strike in Germany so we have found an alternative way to travel. Yellow Bunny finds the train station a little lonely at this time of night.