The Savage Traveler: Tulip Time River Cruise Day 3

Mon. Apr. 7: I woke early and looked out the window to see we were still streaming along through a canal. But by the time our alarm went off at 7:45 we were going backwards. In talking to the captain later I found out that we were now on the lower Rhine River and that it was too narrow at Arnhem to turn around in the river so the captain "backed" us into the docking area to leave easily. We docked nearly under "The Bridge Too Far" from the story of the Battle of Arnhem and soon learned more about the history of it. The allies tried to paratroop in to liberate the city from the Germans by taking the only bridge into town. However, everything that could go wrong, did, and they were not successful on that attempt. Later the Allies did liberate the city and the Dutch remain grateful to the Allies. Our tour guide for the morning was Alice, and we weren't as happy with her as we had been with the others. She had lots of facts to share, particularly about artists and architects, but didn't do as well with the human/cultural side of things. We spent more time on the bus than the day before as we were taken outside of the city to see that part of the area and then back through the city. Here in the south of the Netherlands the land is more stable and there are small hills that we found out in the afternoon are glacial moraine. We got out at a park on the highest hill in town, 180 meters high, where we could see Germany in the distance and out over the countryside. Then we stopped at an urban park that was part of a huge family estate when it was built over one hundred years ago and walked around a small waterfall and ponds full of geese, swans, and ducks. Finally, we stopped near the city center and walked around there. The guides all use a "QuietVox" system with which they can speak at a low level into their unit and reach our receivers within 50 meters and we hear through a personal earpiece. It works very well once we connect with their frequency and not another guide's. We returned to the ship for lunch and to move on to our next stop. As we motored we sat on the sun deck and chatted with Kris and Heidi. The sun came in and out and the lovely countryside streamed by as we made our way to Nijmegen, along a branch of the Rhine River called the Waal River.

Urban manmade waterfall

Fountain near the end of the park

Last remaining original city gate. The wall and other gates were
torn down to allow Arnhem to expand and grow.

Arnhem street vew

Original City Hall

New City Hall on the left. Old and New mingle in Arnhem

Peggy, Marv & Kris relax in the sun

The Bridge Too Far at Arnhem

About 2:30 we docked at the quay right next to the gates of the old city. Our guide was a retired high school and college history teacher with a lot of knowledge of the town, having been here at one of the many universities since he was in school there in the sixties. He carried a satchel with pictures and maps to illustrate his talk, and was a bit of an absent minded professor but we enjoyed him very much. He gave us a much better history than we had in the morning of not only Nijmegen, but also Arnhem. He told us that Nijmegen (pronounced Nime'-again) was accidentally but heavily bombed by the Allies who had to dump unused ordinance and thought they were dropping it on very nearby Germany. It was the Allies who later liberated the town so the townspeople are mostly grateful, but older citizens, particularly, still harbor mixed feelings. Nijmegen had been there since Roman legionnaires were stationed there during the Roman Empire and built a walled town. When they were withdrawing around 230 CE they sold the market rights to noblemen who established the "New Market" for the area, which is what Nijmegen means in Dutch. Some of the old gates for the city still exist. When so much of the city was destroyed during WWII they rebuilt much of the old town to look as it did in the Middle Ages and it has a wonderful old feel to its narrow cobblestone streets and brick buildings. We strolled up the hills and through the streets, past parks and points of interest as Johann told us stories about what we were seeing, including the house where he lived as a student that had cannon balls in the basement from ancient times that they used to use for bowling. He walked us past a big brick building that was built in the 1000s as a hospital. It had a lovely courtyard out front that had many tables under trees and Johann told us that it is now a brewery called de Hemel or The Heavenly brewery. The tour ended at the town square/market where many people sought shopping or a pub. We got directions back to the brewery where we sat for over an hour enjoying some of their seven beers. There were only a handful of others there, all locals, and the sun was shining with a gentle breeze. It was delightful! We made it back in time to sit in the sun on the deck for a while and talk with four other passengers, including Carol and Jessie, as we made our way on down the Waal and through the night on to Belgium.