The Dutch march

Heading east of Rotterdam along the Rhine brings you to the frontier cities of Nijmegen and Arnhem. With the coming of spring these lands were bursting with succulent lime green vegetation.

Nijmegen is the oldest town in the Netherlands founded by the romans as a strategic camp. This became evident at my first stunning viewpoint on the Rhine. Having enjoyed the plesant park, prominade and sitting out by the few remaining old buildings, I headed east along the river. This brought me to the pituresque remains of the old town walls, shrouded in forest, which the people of the town had dismanteled themselves in the 19th century when it was shown that they were no longer effective. The point in particular is a preserved tower looking out over the impressive modern bridge with expansive views either way down the river --- it has been converted into an appealing guest house.

Walking along the banks of the Rhine until the sun was almost gone brought me past lush inlets and fields with deaply ploughed rich soil, until I settled down on one of the beaches sheltered by tall growth created artificially by the essential flood control system. I sat one of these many pier like constructions right our into the Rhine as huge barges pushed their load along on of the busiest trading routes in the world, throughout the night with a deep rhythm which became a part of my sleep.

Arnhem with its similar strategic location to Nijmegen saw some fierce fighting in the war. I was greated there at the bridge too far by healthy looking man in uniform. He was delighted that I was a Scot because it is a Scot from Glasgow who is the only remaining member of the 1st airborne divishion which was charged with only 600 lightly armed men to hold the bridge. He himself had been a young boy in a house next to the bridge which he demostrated with photos and supplies from the time including beer from Britain and Germany. The original bridge has been defiantly resurected and he plans to place a British tank at the site so that people will remember.