52.03091°N 5.85797°E - Arnhem, The Netherlands

29.August-1.September

We ventured in to The Netherlands. First destination was supposed to be Njimegen, the other city left to the woman in the Swan Tower story (see entry from Kleve, Germany).

We only knew of one camping spot in Njimegen, and after enduring re-routes due to road construction, roads that are on the map but don't exist, and driving most of the 20km on tiny farm roads, we were out of patience. For the record, Njimegen is the oldest city in The Netherlands and is a university town as well. What we saw of it from the RV was quite active and beautiful.

We made our way to Arnhem – well known for its role in WWII and the movie A Bridge Too Far, among others. We inched our way to a promising campground, to be turned away – they said we are too big. Our first rejection of the trip! Frustrated with the day, we backtracked as there were three other signs for camping on the main road and found Buitengoed Hooge Veluwe. They happily accommodated us, though perhaps the shrub hedges were not as pleased with our arrival.

The campground is huge, with an increasing number of what appear to be cabins (mobile homes) being placed on site. Not sure if these are retirement homes or just folk’s summer houses. The lots are quite small, but most are quite beautifully landscaped.
This park has a huge emphasis on kids – mini-playgrounds in the center of most pitch areas, indoor and outdoor pools, laundry, etc. A little expensive, being that our unit is self contained – but we did use the swimming pool and showers (easier to bath the girls in the double family shower than in our RV).

Since we’re on the hygiene theme – the Dutch seem concerned with hygiene. So far, every public toilette has had either an attendant fussing over it and cleaning the stall after each use, automatic toilet seat cleaner, or has a sanitizer dispenser so you can clean the seat yourself.

The campground is about 8km from town, so we are finally forced to explore public transportation. It was about 300km to the bus station – which took us about 15 minutes with the two kids then about 20 minutes by bus into town. Small, crowded city with a mix of very old, very new, and very new-but looks old architecture.

While Dan was out searching for a new fuse (did I mention I burned out the first fuse?), the girls and I entered the Church of St. Eusebius and immediately took an elevator ride up! Yes, I said “elevator!” – Smack in the middle of the entryway, stands a glass front elevator (and a bar too – but it wasn’t open). The elevator slows as you rise so you can look at the bells in the tower – this church being more of a Belgium church with many, many bells of varying sizes. The girls and I were simply in awe! The view at 73m was phenomenal – there was a stairway accessible to allow us up another 10m, but it was really narrow and no ballisters – no way I was going to attempt that with 2 kids on my own! We spent a good amount of time at the top – enough to hear the bells toll, then met up with Dan in the lobby to tour the rest of the church. We were able to descend in two areas and tour small catacombs that have been excavated. Megan was a little scared of the first, but was determined to follow dad at the second location. Very cool as they reside in the original structure of the church, which has since been rebuilt since being destroyed in WWII. Worth mentioning, one of the original bells remains on the church floor, where it landed when the church was destroyed.

Our first bus ride home was not quite as successful as the ride in. Somehow we got off on the wrong stop and wound up walking a very long way home. Kind of cool in that we are in an area bordering the largest nature reserve in The Netherlands, De hoge Veluwe National Park . There are several homes with thatch or grass roofs which are very cool to see.

My second venture in to the city was by myself - to make copies and get groceries. I wound up getting on the "short" bus on the way home - so got off at the last stop and waited 10 minutes for the full-route bus. by the tiem I got home, lugging 220 copies, 3 textbooks and 2 bags of groceries, I felt like I had worked out with Michel but with the addition of rain. (Michel - if you ever need to really make a point with your clients, just make them walk about 4km with 40lb in the rain.)

This trip has made us realize how much we take things for granted. We are functioning without a car that's appropriate for cities and without bicycles. Whatever we want has to be hand carried from wherever we buy it. We largely conserve water as we usually have to move to fill or empty our tanks - so the less we use, the longer we can keep the RV in it's spot. We watch the energy usage so we don't blow fuses... It's fun and enlightening. I didn't realize how much we consume in our every day lives.