As I mentioned last time I intended to make a trip in my country. We had some extremely nice weather and I should have left a bit earlier, but I didn’t. I left on 16 September, still having seven days of very good weather at two different sites. First of all I went to Deventer, a city on the border of the river IJssel where my late father was born and where he grew up. I have sweet memories of visiting my grandparents in their lovely house in the old city center. I loved it because in fact there were two houses, the ground floor used to be a shop and to enter the house you had to go up the stairs after my grandmother had opened the door with a rope, from the first floor. There were many corridors and stairs to go up to the attic and down again another way, or get lost. To enter my grandmother’s bedroom you opened the door and then had to step down a few stairs. All of that was so exciting for the very young girl I was at the time.
Anyway, I also wanted to go there because of the river. I went to a camp site next to the river and with a city park at the other side. I was quite busy there, but I had parked next to the park where it was relatively quiet. The day after I had arrived I saw this flock of sheep being herded in the park to graze, I could not believe my eyes at first but then I thought how clever it was to do so instead of using machines to keep the grass short. To get to the other side of the river, into the old city of Deventer, you have to cross the river with a pedestrian and bicycle ferry. The old city is very beautiful and has a lot of hip new places for drinks and food as well. The very first day I was walking around in the old city I heard somebody call my name, I looked around but thought that it could not be for me, but it was! It was Lia, a good friend from my secondary school time in Bergen op Zoom whom I had seen only once after our family moved away to another area in the Netherlands. We met again the next day and I had a lovely time with her and her husband Erik.
It was a joy to cycle in that area, on the dikes, through villages and fields surrounding the villages, crossing the river to get to the other side again. The village of Gorssel was lovely, with a beautiful museum of modern art: MORE. And on Sunday afternoon I discovered, not far from the camp site, also on the border of the river IJssel this very chill café MEADOW. I decided that one day I have to go back to that city camp site and continue exploring!
On Monday 21 September I drove to Millingen aan de Rijn (also a river) to a camp site at a former dairy farm where they only have horses and ponies now. From where I had parked my van I could see the fields around me. I love 'space' very much, being able to look away in emptyness. The first afternoon I cycled along the river and crossed three times with a ferry, just for fun! The next day, I did a long tour using the ‘bicycle junction’ system. That seems easy but I managed not to find two of these junctions for a while, meaning going round in circles and making extra kilometers. I also ‘discovered’ that this tour was bringing me to the ‘Zevenheuvelenweg’, the road of the seven hills. So you can imagine I had my share of physical exercise that day, no doubt about that!!
I left the next morning, since the weather forecast was promising lower temperatures and rain, which is not so much fun when you live in a small camper van. It was a great week though. I do not think I will go again before spring time next year, but if I do I will let you know. I will use wintertime to dream up some good trips and destinations for next year. And do lots of other things, winter things…
