Town Mouse and Country Mouse

A fun town and country adventure in Belgium today. We started with perhaps the largest fair in Belgium, the annual winter market in Sint-Lievens-Houten. In addition to the usual fruits, vegetables, cheeses and sausages, and imported items of every kind (clothing, toys, household furnishings, to name just a few) there were plenty of cows, horses and tractors.

We saw John Deere and Lamborghini tractors, among others

The fair has been designated by UNESCO as part of the "intangible cultural heritage of mankind". Food plays a major role. I was tickled by the menu offerings at the many snack carts:

On the menu: hamburgers, hot dogs and escargots (snails in garlic sauce)

We skipped the escargots and instead enjoyed a grilled sausage slathered with mustard and grilled onions. Our snack was washed down with champagne since the fair's pavilion featured products of that region. The fair was fun, and different from our town's own Saturday market mostly in scale and language. In Sint-Lievens-Houtem we heard both Dutch and French spoken. In Venlo, it's Dutch and German (mostly the latter).

On the way home we stopped at Mechelen, a university town near Antwerp. I read recently that Belgium became a country in 1830 - as a political entity, it's younger than the United States. Mechelen has a much older feeling - we visited the 13th century Gothic cathedral, climbed the 15th century tower, and watched and heard the restored 18th century clockwork chime the hour. As the light began to fade we searched for chocolate pralines (an obligatory stop when in Belgium) and enjoyed an early dinner on the Grote Markt (main square).

Cafes on Mechelen's Grote Markt

I must be a town mouse*. I'm already planning our next visit to Mechelen, sometime in the late spring or summer. I'd love to hear the double carillon played (Mechelen is also home to a world-renowned carillon school) while sitting on the Grote Markt enjoying a Gouden Carolus beer.


*The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse is one of the Aesop's better-known Fables, and maybe my favorite. Unfortunately the Town Mouse doesn't come off so well, at least in the version I am familiar with. But I'm pretty certain that farm life isn't the life for me.

Hooray for Hollywood

I must admit I'm not a big fan of American movies and television. But living in Europe has taught me gratitude for the American entertainment industry. Partly because of the apparently universal appeal of blockbuster action films and reality television, people all over the world are entirely familiar with my language. And that's good, because being American, I am a monoglot. Meaning, if you speak English, we can talk. And if not, not.*

Thanks to the ability and willingness of others to speak my language, I've been able to chat about shoes with an Austrian couple in a monastery beer garden in Salzburg

Bräustübl Tavern in Mülln

and talk about tandem bicycling touring along the Rhine river with a friendly German couple

I was even able to give these folks directions!

and get tips for where to stay in the Moselle river valley from a Belgian beer brewer in one of Limburg's best pubs.

Our semi-local pub, the Hertog Jan brewery tasting room in Arcen

So thank you Warner Brothers, United Artists, and all the other media companies who have enriched my life. Even though I don't want what you're selling, I sure am enjoying the byproduct.

*I'm working on this, but at my age, it's uphill all the way.

Operation Market Garden

Along the Liberation Route

My wanderings the last month or so have led me to ponder the lessons of history. In the last four weeks I've seen the concentration camp at Dachau, the Nazi party rally grounds at Nuremburg, and several Dutch memorials.

Fall weather and a return to a somewhat normal routine allowed me to resume my traverse of the Pieterpad. So I spent a lovely fall day walking from Groesbeek to Millingen aan de Rijn, towns so small I'm surprised they have Wikipedia entries. Readers who happen to be World War II buffs (if there are any) might recognize their names from the airborne expedition known as Operation Market Garden. Yes, Virginia, this post is (mostly) about a military operation.

In a nutshell: Operation Market Garden was an effort by the Allies in September 1944 to use airborne troops to seize a series of bridges across the rivers Meuse and Rhine, to enable a rapid Allied armored advance into the German heartland. Spoiler alert! The plan didn't work; the airborne troops suffered heavy losses, some were evacuated, and the remainder were taken prisoner. Arnhem, the plan's final bridge, wasn't liberated until April 1945.

Recalling these facts is one thing; stumbling across a sign marking the "Airbornepad" [a walking path which according to its website follows "the footsteps of the liberators"] during the anniversary week of Operation Market Garden is something else. As it happens, I also drove to Arnhem this week, and as I crossed the John Frost Bridge, I remembered its predecessor's role in history. Places so often evoke feelings ... which brings me to this post's destination.

The very necessary Pieterpad route book (which is unfortunately only available in Dutch) mentioned a Canadian Cemetery not too far off the path, near Groesbeek. Walking a 500 kilometer path mostly alone does allow a certain amount of contemplation. This day, I chose to go a little farther in order to contemplate war, sacrifice, and the meaning of history. Let me take you there ...

Just inside this entrance is a memorial stating THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE. It's true:

Most of these fallen warriors were in their twenties. All were too young.

Each headstone tells a different story; the common theme is that of life cut short.

Each grave has its own garden, carefully tended by a local, grateful Nederlander

Will we ever learn?

For those of you who aren't WWII buffs, the 1977 film A Bridge Too Far does a great job of telling the story of Operation Market Garden from every side - British, American, German, Polish and Dutch. Back in 1977 war was definitely not "in". The DVD is available at my hometown library, and might be at yours too.

My apologies to readers who were hoping to see pictures of delectable European produce. For you, I present this shot, taken at a self-serve pumpkin stand just outside the Canadian Cemetery (seen in the background):

Road Trip

Vineyard near Husseren-les-Châteaux

My parents are volunteering in the Black Forest for a few weeks, giving me a good excuse for a spontaneous road trip.

Splashing in the fountain, Eguisheim

I drove south through Germany on the A61 motorway, aka autobahn. The one thing everyone seems to know about the autobahn is that there is no speed limit. It can be a bit startling to be passing a truck that's going 80 km/hour (about 50 mph), only to be passed on the other side by a car going close to 100 mph. Add in rain and construction diversions, and it turned out to be a fairly stressful drive. Luckily the weather was partly clear and I was able to enjoy the spectacular scenery just south of Koblenz, aka the Romantic Rhine, an area I hope to revisit soon.

Despite weather and traffic I arrived safe and sound, and in time to enjoy a good German meal with my folks. It was great to see them again, and we had good travel stories to swap as they had recently been in Tanzania and we had just returned from Greece. It's pretty obvious who I got my travel bug from!

Cobblestones and 16th century residences in Equisheim

We spent Saturday exploring the Alsace region, my first visit to that part of France. It's a beautiful area, a hilly patchwork of vineyards spread nearly up to the forested tops, ornamented with charmingly historic villages. Although now part of France, it is historically tied to Germany as well, as shown by place names like Kaysersberg, Obermorschwihr, and Steinbach.

We shopped for fruit at the Saturday market in Rouffach, enjoyed a delicious lunch of French and German specialties (the onion tart was especially yummy) in Eguisheim, tasted Riesling and Pinot Noir wines in Ammerschwihr, and listened to an impromptu organ concert at the Romanesque church in Kaysersberg. I was surprised at the good wine values, and it was interesting to see how the French spend a sunny afternoon - eating good food, then shopping for wine to accompany future meals. I could get used to that!

Marché du samedi in Rouffach

For the trip home, I chose a route through France, partly to avoid some of the construction diversions that helped slow me down on Friday, and partly just to see some different scenery. The French motorway was definitely different - the pavement was rougher and there were no rest stops. But with a speed limit of 130 km/hour, at least I wasn't startled by cars zooming by.

The most interesting sight I saw on the return trip was the disused, seemingly abandoned border checkpoint near Lauterbourg, France. Seeing those rusty, dusty buildings helped me better understand what Europe gained by unifying. I imagined a world of abandoned checkpoints, where instead of wasting time and energy fearing and distrusting each other, we enjoy a good meal together and then shop for wine. I could get used to that, too.

Photo credit drw25

Greece

If my major - Liberal Studies - had been a Girl Scout badge,
it would sport an image of the Parthenon

No posts the past two weeks because we were in warm and sunny Greece. While this adventure was definitely outside Limburg, it is a typically Dutch vacation destination. People here tend to take their holidays in sunny places like the Canary islands, Turkey, Spain and Griekenland.

We decided on our vacation destination just two weeks before departure, after considering Ireland, Barcelona and a driving trip through Germany and Austria. I'm still excited about visiting those places; maybe next year.

Gaudi's Church of the Sagrada Famila (Sacred Family), Barcelona
Photo credit Roy Stead

Normally I make pretty elaborate vacation plans, but the kids were hoping for some relaxing beach time, so we kept our itinerary simple: a three-day bus tour to some out-of-the-way ancient sites; a few days at the mainland beach town Nafplio; a couple of days in Athens; and four days on non-motorized Hydra island.

This was the first time we've tried a bus tour, so we didn't know what to expect. It was great! Not only did we have a great guide and driver, there were only 13 people on the tour (on a full size tour bus) and we were the only Americans. The only other kid in the group was the same age as our younger daughter, and they got along great (she's from New Zealand, so language wasn't a problem). Five members of our group were from Brazil, and the other was a Aussie traveling on her own.  I can't imagine a better group; we had a great time together visiting the ancient theatre at Epidaurus, the site of the original Olympic Games, and Delphi.

At the starting line of the 200m "stadia" run at the original Olympic stadium

It was hard to say goodbye to our new friends, but we were ready for a little beach time, so we boarded the Greek equivalent of Greyhound bus to Nafplio. In this seaport town and original capital of independent Greece, we found ourselves surrounded by Greeks; relatively close to Athens, Nafplio is a popular weekend getaway for Athenians (about one third of all Greek residents live in the Athens metro area). We enjoyed hiking to the hilltop fortifications, swimming in the warm and salty water of the Aegean, watching beautiful sunsets and eating tasty Greek food. If you ever get a chance to visit Nafplio, be sure to stay at the Pension Rigas and say hi to Lena for us.

View of Arvanitia beach from the hilltop fortification

Rested after our beachy sojourn, we returned to Athens to see the sights. Climbing the Acropolis was a peak experience for me, but I think the rest of the family preferred viewing it from the air-conditioned comfort of the Acropolis Museum restaurant. We really appreciated that many of the ancient sites stay open until 8 pm, since the middle of the day felt really warm to us, with temperatures in the mid- to upper-90s (high 30's Celsius). We chose to visit several wonderful museums (such as the Acropolis Museum and the National Archaeological Museum) when it was hottest, saving the sites for the early morning or evening. We even had time to ride the funicular to the top of Lycavittos Hill for a great view of Athens and the Acropolis. That was on one of the hottest days, so we followed up with some liquid refreshment, including my new favorite coffee drink, Cappuccino Freddo.

Iced espresso, lightly sweetened, topped with frothed milk foam. Yum!

Before we left for this trip, several friends (who must have been watching the news earlier this year) asked us if it's safe to visit Greece. We felt very safe, even when surrounded by camping protesters when walking through Constitution Square. Greeks are proud of their ancient democratic heritage as well as more modern democratic practices such as free and spirited public debate, and rightfully so.

Photo credit Tilemahos Efthimiadis

Athens was great, but we were ready for a break from the noise of the big city. Fortunately we had saved the most relaxing part of our trip for last. We boarded a high-speed FlyingCat catamaran to the non-motorized island of Hydra, and saw this when we disembarked:

Hydra Island is officially non-motorized

Admittedly donkeys aren't silent, but there is something relaxing about listening to them clop-clopping up the cobblestone paths. The best time of the day for donkey-watching is early in the morning, when the pack trains queue up at the waterfront to load up cases of tomatoes, bottled water and sacks of hay for deliveries all over Hydra town. We spent four very relaxing days swimming, playing cards, napping and celebrating our 28th wedding anniversary, which was a great excuse for eating more delicious Greek food (including grilled octopus, stuffed grape leaves, gyros, and the very yummy vegan giant beans).

Does anyone have a recipe? These are so good!

We loved Greece! Maybe it's the delicious food, maybe it's the warm and sunny Mediterranean climate, maybe it's the warm and friendly people. It's probably a combination of all the above and more. One thing I'm sure about: we'll be back.

Goodbye, Hydra town

Tour de Limburg

Cows lined up to watch traffic on the cycle path
 ... or perhaps the grass was greener on the other side

Ride Across the Netherlands, the Last Day

Although it wasn't marked as such, this appeared to be the end of LF7

Woke up late, must have needed the rest. Breakfast was much like Belgium - a melange of the best cultural elements of France and the Low Countries - in addition to the usual coffee, boiled egg, ham, jam, and yogurt, there were two kinds of aged cheese including a wedge of deliciously moldy blue, plus baguette, croissant, and my favorite pastry, pain au chocolate. Our breakfast host, who speaks Dutch (the regional language in this part of Belgium) and French but not English, asked me how to say "eet smakelijk" in English. I pondered this for a moment, then pronounced: bon appetit. We shared a bit of a giggle about this linguistic oddity.

The skies were threatening but we rode dry and fast. Found the turnaround point south of Maastricht by about noon and rode back to the station by about one o'clock. A quick stop at the station Albert Heijn for sandwiches and juice, and we were on the train headed north. Enjoyed a conversation with an Amsterdam University student on the train. He was bringing his grandfather's bike back to school, his third bike this year - the first two were both stolen - a common problem in Amsterdam but fortunately something we have yet to experience.

Heading north near the terminus of the LF7 in Kanne

Arrived home by 3 o'clock to a sudden dose of reality: Tim had a business dinner in Nuenen so I drove him to the restaurant and continued into the village to find a cafe where I could reflect about our week on the bike path. 

Our experience was in many ways typical of this lovely country: varied, pleasant, and with adventures to suit the taste of Goldilocks. In a relatively short time we saw a wide array of landscapes and met people from different walks of life; even the weather joined in the display of variety. We cycled through two countries and passed within a few kilometers of a third. It was an idyllic first European touring experience.

Are we planning another cycling adventure? You bet! Where would you go? Suggestions welcome!

Our route to Maastricht and home again.