Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Walking in Wageningen and Nijmegan

Dinner last night with Kees and Dineke was even better when daughter Iris and granddaughter Lisa came for dinner. The moose (Canadian of course) and books that Norman brought for Lisa were well received. 

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What fun! 
Perfect photo! 
After dinner the sun came out and we went for a bike ride to work off the delicious meal we just ate. About 15 km through hillsides (not too high) and lovely treed areas. 

Norm and I are feeling more Dutch all the time especially on the bikes. You really do have to pay attention not only to the traffic but to other bikes and to your own traffic signals. 

This morning after breakfast we headed to Wageningen to walk besides the dykes and through the fields, The Bovenste Polder.
It was sunny, windy, warm, and fresh. A great day for a walk. 
You should start with sitting.
You can see here that the wind does get your attention. Kees and Dineke loved it. 
We took a moment to look at the Rhine River. Norm and I should be bike and barging by here a couple of weeks. 
And feed the horse.
Our circle tour took us to the Belmonte Arboretum. Amazing pathways through trees, all identified.
You can see where we came from, looking towards the Rhine. 
One of the interesting sites in the Arboretum was the bug house. A structure of cob, bamboo, wood and bees. 
Can you see the bee? This is a "bee hotel" in the arboretum with tubes of bamboo providing homes for the busy bugs.l
Yellow Bunny liked it. 
We were very lucky because the rain held off as we headed to Wageningen. 
Wageningen is where on May 5, 1945 the German generals Johannes Blaskowitz and Paul Reichelt and the Canadian generals Charles Foulkes and George Kitching conducted the discussions on the German surrender. The capitulation act was signed here at the Hotel de Wereld. 
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We stopped for a drink in the hotel. 

One visiting Canadian displayed the commemorative flag she had purchased showing the 70th anniversary. 
Outside the hotel you can see a striking war memorial sculpture. 
May 5 was Liberation Day in the Netherlands. Although we didn't attend the celebrations in Wageningen or Amsterdam our illustrious prime minister, Steven Harper did and made the front page of a local paper. Well maybe it is the King's wife Maxima that is the centre of attention.
The two generals to the right look like they are having a good time. 
We headed back to Nijmegen where Norm and I got dropped off and walked the 3 km home. A little wet but worth it because we stopped at Strik Patisserie for pastries, a " hazel into" for Mary and a "caplet je" for Norm. They practically melted in our mouths.


1 comment:

  1. You certainly earned those pastries after all of that walking and cycling!

    ReplyDelete