Netherlands 4

 20 to 27 Sept

Parachutes

We had an unexpected addition to our plans at Otterlo; John discovered that on Saturday 21st there was a major air event to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem just 5 miles away at Ede. We set off early and joined the hundreds of cyclists on the cycle paths to the event. 100,000 spectators were expected and as we got closer to the venue lots of people were stopping on grassy areas to view from a distance and we did the same. There was a display by a Spitfire and then various aircraft including Hercules and Airbus A400 looped around the skies to facilitate a mass parachute drop which was an amazing spectacle. We read afterwards that 700 parachutists from different NATO countries were dropped overall. With the sun shining through the 'chutes, they looked just like mushrooms or jellyfish. There was also a display by The Red Devils, the British Army display team.

 

Our main reason for staying at Otterlo was to visit the Kroller-Muller exhibition, established by the late wealthy Helene Kroller-Muller and subsequently gifted to the nation. The exhibition is housed in her vast residence and includes the largest collection of Van Gogh paintings in the world. Outside in the grounds are more than 100 sculptures, including some by Barbara Hepworth. Surrounding the estate is the Hoge Veluwe national park covering a total of 21 square miles which is criss-crossed with cycle paths, so we ended the day with yet more cycling.

We explored the cycle paths to the north and west of the site over the next couple of days, heading for "the middle of The Netherlands" on one occasion, marked in an understated way with a tree and circular wall! 

We noticed how some modern houses in this area have thatch rooves. We also passed a beautiful field of sunflowers and Fiddleneck, the latter being grown for its nutritional benefits to the soil. 

Before arrival at our last site in The Netherlands, Leiden, we made a quick stop at Noordwijk on the coast, where the sandy beaches go on for miles.

We spent the next two days in Leiden, travelling in by bus, and we had to dodge some heavy showers of rain while in the city.  Day one focussed on the Botanical Gardens, which were very interesting from a historical point of view, but do not comprise a beautiful site to walk around. 

Giant water lily

Sadly we somehow missed the Observatory which is accessed from the gardens. On day two we picked up the Pilgrims Route leaflet from the tourist office and followed this trail along and between various canals to see churches and other buildings, the corn market bridge and areas where Rembrandt spent his early life. 

The Koornbrug

Hooglandse kerk

In the course of all this we learnt how two groups of Separatists fled the UK to The Netherlands to escape persecution. After twelve years these people briefly returned to Plymouth from where they set sail to the east coast of America on The Mayflower. Many famous Americans such as Clint Eastwood, ten presidents including President Obama, and John D Rockefeller are descendants of The Pilgrims.

We made it back to the van just before a heavy thunderstorm arrived, and the following day we had a wet drive down to our last site near Calais, before getting our return shuttle. 

Overall we really enjoyed The Netherlands and we certainly achieved the cycling objective.  We hadn't realised how many interesting things we would see; in fact, even the guy at the small service station in Hooghalen who filled our diesel tank (long time since we have had that experience!) seemed to find it hard to believe we could spend four weeks exploring his country!