Arnhem and onwards - Day 3

We had a bit of a disappointment last night, when trying to route ourselves south to Arnhem and onwards into Germany. Many many places in Germany require a low emission zone sticker, and without you would be fined 100 euros every time you entered one! We could have got one sent to us by post to home if we had known, but now that we are here the only two options left to us are 1) abandon all attempts at following the Rhine and simp,y blast through Germany on the autoroutes which exempt, or 2) try and get a sticker in Germany from a testing station. We decided we’d try that second option.

So, breakfast at 8.30 - a simple continental breakfast, and away from Voorstrat around 9.15. It took us a little while to get out of Voorschoten - the bridge was up letting what must have been several boats through. Finally out into the countryside we had a delightful journey through the polders north of the Rhine (yes we crossed it going to the north). Fabulous houses in beautiful villages set along the edges of lakes, a big (blue) sky and quiet roads.

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A usual occurrence on a road.. bridge up. Even on motorways 

However as time crept on we were aware we wanted to spend some time in Arnhem and had to get to a TUV station in Germany. So at Utrecht we gave in and drove the A12 to Arnhem. It saved us about 30 minutes.  We parked in the centre and near to the John Frost Bridge, name after the British Forces chief who so nearly held the Bridge. Taking our picnic, saved from breakfast, we wandered down to the Rhine and there was the bridge, constructed in the same style as before the war. As we wandered towards we came across a small museum, free to enter, but full of tremendous info about the wartime story. We were welcomed by a lovely Dutch lady and then left to wander and view and read. Afterwards we wandered on toward the bridge, and although it is being worked on we were still able to walk up onto it and have a good view back over the town.

The bridge as it was in 1937. None of these houses survived the fighting. 

The Bridge too Far - The John Frost Bridge - rebuilt in the same style

The view from the bridge. The small museum is bottom right.

Afterwards we sat and had our picnic on the banks of the Rhine and then make a small detour back to the car, taking in one or two of the very few buildings left after the war. 

The cathedral then and now, fully restored

We could see traffic was heavy getting out of the city and we were concerned about getting this low emission sticker. I had found that Kleve in Germany, just over the border, should have test centres which should be able to help us, so again we simply got there by motorway, as fast as we could to try and get it sorted. In the end it was an incredibly simple process. Howard had taken all the paperwork for the car, which the clerk accepted, and in a matter of a few minutes and 17.50 euros we were on our way! Phew! 

We then took a few minutes where we wanted to get to tonight, booked it and then reset the GPS for non motorway driving. We set off then through mostly farm land, flat country very little the Netherlands and my goodness how dry. We saw some watering of fields, but mostly the tractors were kicking up vast amounts of dust - the ground is incredibly dry. The crops were interesting, and some I didn’t recognise. But certainly maize, tatties, pumpkins, peas maybe. Germany’s Garden certainly. The German towns and villages we drove through were uniformly well kept, if not pretty. 

We crossed the Rhine again en route to Kleve. Wider this time! 

The Garmon navigated us beautifully in a complex series of roads, around Krefeld and through Neuss - I don’t think I could have done it with a map, and we finally arrived at Dormagan, a random town we selected for distance and proximity to the Rhine. On the surface it is a beautiful little town to visit with a pedestrian centre beautifully decorated with hanging baskets and a buzzing set of bars. It was only on investigation Howard discovered there is a huge chemical factory close by - obviously a big employer. Keeps the world turning I guess.

Checked into the Hotel Hottche in the centre of town. Perfect fine traditional German hotel. After a walk to the Rhine to manage out 10000 steps we returned along the Main Street for drinks and dinner - curry wurst for me and bolgnese for Howard, plus beer and wine of course

The nearby chemical factory! 

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An early night after a late night panic last night.

Daily drive 167 miles

Total trip 663 miles

Katwijk and Voorscoten - Day 2

The ship made a morning call at 8, with an apology for our late arrival. We arrived at 10am in Ijmuiden - only 15 minutes late. It was a beautiful day and we were on deck for the entry into Ijmuiden. But.. we actually only got off the ship at 11AM - we were on the ramp and were the 3rd last vehicle off the ship. Very frustrating! However we had a very nice chat to the customs man who was delighted by our attempts at Dutch and our happy return to the Netherlands! 

We had a really lovely run down to Katwijk, where we found the (Oude) Rijn exiting to the sea. We had a lovely walk down to the beach and a cracking cup of Dutch coffee at Paal 14, one of the beach restaurants.

This plaque actually says The Meeting of the Rhine and the North Sea, celebrating the sea defences, quite substantial at Katwijk of course…

We also came across this memorial to all those that had died on the sea from Katwijk, from 1919 to 2005…

Onwards to Voorschoten and a nostalgic look at our house in Meerkoeteiland. Someone saw us looking at the house and waved from the kitchen window. We were invited in and had a quick look ( the current owner bought from the Nourses 5 years ago and is moving out on Thursday). 

Easy check in at La Casita in Voorstraat, it has been open for 8 years but was a wallpaper shop when we lived here.

We then hired bikes from G Besuyen and cycled round the lake with drinks at the cafe at the water sports centre. So fabulous to be back at the lake!

We then cycled on to Leiden for more nostalgia and a drink at La Scarlatti in the sun looking over the water to the building that used to be V&D.

We cycled back to Voorschoten via a route we hadn’t used before, returned the bikes and had a drink in the Lindenboom as a tribute to the girls.

Dinner at La Casita and then bed after a full and satisfying day. 

Daily drive 37 miles

Ferry 310 miles

Total trip 495 miles

Heading for The Continent! - Day 1

An easy start from home as we were packed and mostly ready to go last night. Left the house at 9.45 and drove to Costco to buy sheets (😜) and then back to Mortonhall to leave them, plus the Arran Challenge Cup, in a locker to be collected by Jacques. Finally departed the golf club at 10.40. A completely hassle free journey, top down, all the way to Barburgh Castle which Howard hadn’t seen before. It’s an impressive edifice atop the beach at Bamburgh, overlooking the Farne Islands. Parking the car - 5 pounds for 3 hours - we took our picnic and headed for the beach. Everywhere was busy as it’s a bank holiday but we found a nice spot in the dunes overlooking the sea. 

Slightly anxious about the drive south, as there seemed to be traffic congestion on the A1 we headed back to the car and drove on south. And indeed there was a delay but good old Google took us off the main road and we tootled on through country lanes and nice villages. Once back on the main road we arrived at DFDS well before 3pm…..to find not only is DFDS’s booking system down but we seem to have left the coffee flask at home! Grrrhhh!  

We had about an hour and a half’s delay with loads of mostly Dutch cars and motorbikes piling in. Eventually about 4.30 they started to load us, in STRICT arrival order, despite the attempted rush by those that had arrived later. The staff were insistent! We were tightly packed on the car deck but managed to squeeze out through the cars and into our cabin. (Mostly Philippine crew) Our cabin was compact and bijou indeed! A very quick turnaround and up to the Sky Bar on deck 11 and we had a drink overlooking the stern and the cars and lorries still being loaded. We had booked dinner for 6.30 thinking that might be 7.30 CET but no, we discovered while on deck that it was 5.30 UK time! So we wandered down for our early dinner. The dining room and buffet food were very nice, and with a bottle of wine at 20 euros we were very happy. A lovely girl called Marta (architecture student from Gdańsk) did a great job of looking after us. The ship departed dock about 5.35pm, about 35 minutes late.

We retired to the bar with the remainder of the wine and enjoyed the live band. But with the threat of bingo at 9 and the wine finished we headed for bed. 

Daily drive 148 miles

Total trip 148 miles