Day 6 - Monday
| Today we bicycled 45 miles from Zaltbommel to Nijmegen and then around Nijmegen to see some sights.
Today's theme: sin and forgiveness We left Zaltbommel at an incredibly early (for us) hour of 9:30 am and easily found our way through town and back to the riverfront route. We cycled along easily on a quiet path on a dike, pushed by a slight tailwind. It was a pleasant morning. The temperature was ideal for short-sleeved jerseys and shorts, though there is some rain in the forecast for late afternoon. We encountered several places with signage for a tribute to Allied airmen, casualties in WWII for the defense of the Netherlands. The first one we came across was for John Robert Fee, and American P-47 Thunderbolt pilot who was hit by flak during a mission to Arnhem on Sept 18, 1944. He went down near the bridge over the Waal River at Zaltbommel, and he did not survive. Later signs along our route told the story of a Norwegian and a Canadian. And about 8 miles into our day's ride, we came across a memorial to the members of the British 43rd Reconaissance Regiment who lost their lives in October 1944. This area was the scene of the Allies' Operation Market Garden in September 1944, a mission to secure a crossing of the Rhine in Northern Germany and the subject of the well known WWII movie, "A Bridge Too Far." (The bridge that was too far was in Arnhem, and we plan to cycle across it tomorrow.) About 5 miles into the day's route we came across the canal which connects the Waal and Maas Rivers. (The Maas, which originates in upper Marne region in France is known as the Meuse in that country and the Maas in the Netherlands.) Passage through the canal is managed by some locks, which were operating as we pulled up, allowing a large barge to move northward toward the Waal. It was interesting to watch because the outlet for the boat in the locks was controlled by a gate which operated more like a guillotine than a swinging gate. We stood and watched as the massive gate slowly raised up to allow the boat to pass. As the lower portion of the gate came up to eye level, we could see hundreds of tiny clams clinging to its surface. Interestingly, we could see them squirting little streams of water as the gate rose higher and higher. We read online that this is something that a clam does when it is extremely stressed. I tried to catch it on video, but I'm not sure it is visible in the clip that I captured. It was around noon when we reached the down of Druten, so we stopped for a cup of coffee and our daily dose of apple pie with whipped cream. We both agreed that the pie from Grand Café D'n Optie was the best that we have had so far. (Our research will continue.) We cycled on to Nijmegen and found the Hotel de Prince on Lange Hezelstraat, which we have been told is the oldest street in the Netherlands. The beginnings of the city of Nijmegen date back to at least 100 A.D., when the Romans established a settlement called Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum at this location. We checked in, unloaded our bags and paused to have a couple of glasses of Coke. Then we rode off on a trip around the city to check out some sights which interested us. We rode along the waterfront on the south side of the Waal, past the National Bicycle Museum and up the embankment to get on the road bridge. This bridge was secured by British and American forces as part of Operation Market Garden on September 20, 1944. They also captured the railroad bridge just a few meters downstream. The Nazis had of course wired both bridges with explosives, but neither of them was blown up at that time. Some say it was because of the work of Dutch Resistance fighter Jan van Hoof that the explosives were sabotaged, but this was not certain. Regardless, he is remembered with a memorial on the road bridge. We bicycled across the road bridge, stopping at the memorial to Jan van Hoof, and then continued to a small island in the middle of the Waal. There we stopped to look at an interesting piece of art called the Face of Nijmegen. This is a large replica of a Roman artifact that was discovered around 1915 while dredging the river. It resembles a huge mask, and one can climb some steps behind the mask to peer through the eyes toward Nijmegen. From the island, we cycled to a memorial for the Waal crossing in 1944. Here stand two stone pillars noting the names of the American units involved in securing the crossing as well as a list of several dozen men who were killed in the battle. Once we had paid our respects at the memorial to those lost in the Waal crossing, we climbed the steps up to the cyclist bridge that runs parallel to the railroad bridge across the river, and rode back across the river and into the city. We followed a path which took us first to the Titus Brandsma Memorial. Father Brandsma was a Carmelite friar and philosophy professor at the University of Nijmegen. He was outspoken against Nazism before the occupation of the Netherlands and was imprisoned after the invasion. He was held at Scheveningen (at the Oranjehotel) and at Amersfoot before he was sent to Dachau, where he was murdered. He was cannonized by the Catholic Church on May 15, 2022, almost exactly one year ago. He is remembered at the shrine here in Nijmegen as well as at the University where he taught. Our next stop was at the city hall in Nijmegen, where we stopped at memorials to the nearly 800 people killed by U.S. bombers on 22 February 1944. The Bombing of Nijmegen was an error, and news of it was suppressed by the Allies for many years. Sadly, the persons who lost family members in this tragic incident could grieve only privately. It was not until 1984 that a public memorial service was held. In the courtyard of the city hall is a poignant memorial to 24 school children and 8 teachers who lost their lives in the bombing. Titled "The Swing," the memorial is a bronze child's swing under a large chestnut tree in the center of the courtyard. It was erected in 2000. Around the corner, on an exterior wall of city hall are the names and photos of the nearly 800 others who died in the bombing. One can also see evidence of these losses in small circular plaques on the streets where the bombs fell. Before going back to the hotel, we paused at one of the old pubs in the Grote Markt and had a beer. We were seated near a sculpture of Mariken van Nieumeghen, a character in a medieval morality play about sin and forgiveness. The sculpture depicts Mariken as she is heading to the market to buy goods. In the story, she overstays her time in the city, meets Moenen, a charming young man who is actually the devil. She goes off with him and lives a life of sin and depravity, after which she finds her way back home and is forgiven. We left the market area and rode back to the hotel. The friendly desk clerk helped us secure the bikes in a storage place across the street which is owned by the hotel. Seconds after we left her, the rain started to fall, and we scurried for cover. By the time we had safely reached our room, it was a downpour. Steve had a identified an Italian restaurant for dinner (Merano, a place just down the street). We both chose a pasta dish - papardelle with duck sauce - and a small salad. It was scrumptious and we left with bellies so full that we walked around bit before heading back to the hotel to get ready for bed. Tomorrow, we continue riding along the Waal to near the German border and then turn back west and go to Arnhem. |
The Waal River is a major waterway which feeds into the Nieuwe Waterweg at Rotterdam and provides a navigable channel that connects with the Maas (Meuse River in France) 
American pilot John Robert Fee perished near Zaltbommel 
John Robert Fee, and American pilot killed during Operation Market Garden in September 1944 
The locks on the Sint Andries canal connecting the Maas (Meuse) with the Waal River 
Steve at the Sint Andries canal 
A cat on the trail 
A home along the trail 
An electric bike ridden by a cyclist who passed us on the trail 
Molly with apple pie from the cafe in Druten 
Fallow deer at a park in Druten 
Bicyclist hauling kids 
Lange Hezelstraat - we were told this is the oldest street in the Netherlands 
Hotel de Prince in Nijmegen 
Our hotel room in Nijmegen 
Crossing the road bridge in Nijmegen 
Memorial to Jan van Hoof on the Nijmegen road bridge. Some believe that he prevented the demolition of the bridge by sabotaging the Nazi's explosive wiring 
Using the special "bike gutter" to descend the steps from the road bridge at Nijmegen 
A view of Nijmegen from an island in the middle of the Waal River 
Molly looking through one of the eyes of the Face of Nijmegen 
Steve kissing the Face of Nijmegen 
A portable toilet with a lever to flush the toilet 
Memorial to the 1944 Waal Crossing at Nijmegen 
Names of U.S. soldiers killed in the crossing of the Waal at Nijmegen 
At the memorial of the Waal Crossing at Nijmegen 
Titus Brandsma Memorial - he was killed by the Nazis and cannonized St. Titus Brandsma in 2022 
Plaque for Titus Brandsma, a Carmelite friar who was killed at Dachau 
At the Titus Brandsma Memorial 
Erroneous bombing of Nijmegen killed nearly 800 persons 
Victims of the Allied bombing of Nijmegen 
Victims of the Allied bombing of Nijmegen 
"The Swing," a memorial to children who were killed in the erroneous Allied bombing of Nijmegen 
Small silver markers like these note the names of persons who died in the September 1944 bombardment of Nijmegen 
De Waagh, a pub in Nijmegen. The building, built in 1612 once housed the scales merchants used to weigh their goods. 
In the Grote Market at Nijmegen 
A Belgian blonde 
Mariken of Nieumeghen, a character in a medieval morality play 
Buildings in the center of Nijmegen |
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