Day Twenty Three: Arnhem - We're Outta Here! Plus an unexpected bonus.: (Year 23: 1990) - Grampies Go 50 for 50 Fall 2017

October 13, 2017

Day Twenty Three: Arnhem - We're Outta Here! Plus an unexpected bonus.: (Year 23: 1990)

Flash Back to 1990:

Howie Meeker was a great Canadian hockey star, and later TV hockey commentator and hockey school operator. The school was 100 km north of our house, and for days I drove the boys there, drove home, and then back to pick them up. The girls by then were starting or in to university careers and were out of the nest.

Hockey was the rage for the boys over quite a few years.

A rare family group photo, since Steve is usually on the other side of the camera.

Laurie graduates from high school. She would now begin a successful university career.

The house on the new land is now complete. For decades forward it will be our family headquarters.

Two of our "little birds" had already flown by this time. "Who Knows Where the Time Goes":

-----

Fast Forward to 2017, the Netherlands:

So many people from here and from home were suggesting a ride in the Sonsbeek park, that I gave it a whirl. The park is actually a little bigger than I had thought, and has a lot of attractions, including six restaurants. The hospital is only about half way up the park, near that pointy bit on the right. So before I knew it, I was shot out and just continued on to go see Dodie.

Houses on the edge of the park are quite impressive

The park is beautiful, and it does have an extensive network of paths for cycling.

These are Egyptian geese. They are native to southern Africa but have become established here.

They took Dodie off for the scope test at 10. By 11 I was thinking "how long can this take?" By 11:30 I was frantic. The nurses said "Don't worry, they'll call us soon". By 12 I would have needed sedation. But then Dodie came rolling back in, happy as a bird, not unconscious, no problem. They had had to wait in a scope test traffic jam, and she had had a nice nap. So now she leapt from the bed and said "let's pack", because the test had shown no problems.

Having exhausted every test they could think of, the doctors still had no idea what got Dodie. But with the symptoms now all gone, we could say "So, see ya!" (or hopefully not), and they tearfully said goodbye. They are all so sweet, and whether doctors or nurses or any other staff, always shake hands for hello and goodbye.

We gleefully grabbed our stuff and headed for the exit. Dodie called a cab while I jumped on the bike. Naturally I beat her back to the hotel by a long shot, and had the bikes and the gear organized by the time the taxi arrived.

Dodie thanked Joke, the owner of the Hotel Old Dutch for taking care of me for three days, and we crossed the street to the station to find the train to Dusseldorf.

Finally back at the hotel, Dodie thanks owner Joke for watching over me for three days.

The company that accepts bikes on a roll on roll off basis is called Abellio. You can only buy the tickets from a machine. But neither we nor a Dutch guy that tried to help out could get the machine to make any sense. Fortunately the man from the train ticket sales office (which does not sell these tickets) came with me and we both had a good time pushing all the buttons. After a while the man did get the machine to be willing to sell two human tickets and two bike ticket to Dusseldorf, but then it did not like my debit card. We tried to feed it cash, but by then it had forgotten what we were buying. Lots more button pushing and eventually, we were in! And it was all true, we just rolled the bikes on the level into a car, secured them with an elastic rope, and plopped down on adjacent chairs for a smooth cruise into Germany.

Trying to figure out the train ticket machine.

Our train to Germany. The modern Arnhem station has by now lost its unfamiliarity, but I can not say I actually like it.

Rolling your bike straight on is so fine.

This train only goes as far as Dusseldorf, and that had us thinking. First off we remembered that heading north, the Rhine became ugly after Koln. (Cologne). So we did not want to cycle starting at Dusseldorf. On the other hand we would be arriving too late to train onward, so we would be prisoners of Dusseldorf for one night. Reluctantly, that was ok.

Dusseldorf was a revelation in several ways. Right off the bat, in the station we could see we were in a totally different place. Really not in Kansas anymore.
There were large, fast moving crowds. Giving the lie to Netherlanders notion that their country is overpopulated. Moreover, the crowds were multi-ethnic. This was not a case of Angela Merkel's one million Syrian or other refugees, but lots of people, of all races and nations, usually speaking German, from what I could hear. It felt like nothing other than New York City, or Toronto. No Dutch town, not even Amsterdam, was this busy or this cosmopolitan.

Just noticed this in a bike shop window in Dusseldorf. We had heard of the bike helmet- air bag before , but never seen it. The poster shows an elegant model who obviously does not want to be wearing a dorky helmet, and then it shows the thing inflated. Look a the price!

On a normal downtown street, a crowd drinking in front of a microbrewery blocks the sidewalk. We would soon see that this is common, but in the old town.

Typical street in not altstadt part of Dusseldorf.

We made our way through the first streets beyond the train station, and found them to be large and with more cars than we had seen in all of Arnhem - typical big city. The lady at the hotel counter was from Poland, and I took the chance to probe the culture of the city by asking her what she thought of it. The reply was a little unexpected. She explained that she had travelled widely, even to places supposed to be dangerous, and had found that common people everywhere were great, especially if you were positive to them. She gave Dusseldorf people a reasonable passing grade, but she also waxed poetic about the "Konigsallee" shopping street and the old town.

With a map and a pamphlet we set off to see what she was talking about. Konigstrasse turned out to be almost exactly the "Champs Elysees". That is, a broad boulevard lined with the top retailers, like Gucci and Prada. In the centre is a sort of canal, which adds a special atmosphere of its own. The street also features a lot of cafes, with outdoor seating. So altogether a great strolling spot.

These fashions have a big drawback - not fluorescent yellow.

Gucci bags - big drawback, not rack mounted!

A real Prada store - not so different from the fake one in Texas.

Rolex watches - but do they also track speed and distance?

A giant famous department store on the way to the old town.

The canal like water in the centre of Konigsallee

The first high rise office tower in Dusseldorf, built 1922-24

Great as Konigsallee is, it is not the best of Dusseldorf. The best is the old town, which in 1/2 a square km is said to contain 260 restaurants, inns, and craft breweries. It has the reputation of being the "longest bar in the world", and we could see that. Some small street section did not just have people drinking or dining on the sides, but were totally filled with - mainly beer drinkers. This was not some rowdy street party, but rather a good humoured gathering of the people for an evening out.

We were actually looking for just a bit of street food. The density of bakeries here is noticeably higher than in Netherlands, but Dodie talked me out of pastries. Then there were several stands offering "Dutch" fries. I rejected that, because I knew the right thing was bratwurst. We were not long in finding it, and it was sooo good. We got the fries too - which came sprinkled with paprika. And the bun on that bratwurst - super! It was just so great.

We walked through the crowded streets, just marvelling at all the activity. We knew that in Apeldoorn everyone now would be asleep - if they had ever woken up!

We eventually came out onto the market square, in front of the Rathaus. This features a statue of the elector Jan Wellem. The guidebook labels this the most important baroque equestrian statue north of the Alps. Sure, ok.

Next up were eis cafes, one on each side of the lane. I chose one just because at a distance it looked the most chocolatey. It was actually Dodie that chose straight chocolate, while I went for choco-mocha. We were both immediately surprised. You can tell top quality instantly, and this was it. We did casually look across the street too, but how can you beat the unbeatable!

So there you have it, from the depths of despair to the heights of gelato induced euphoria, all in one day. We are so glad!

This was really high quality gelato, nicely decorated.

The Konigsallee "canal" after night fell.

Addendum: A video came in from Amelia and Evee and Joe, and Josh and Sabrina. Dodie played it over and over. Have a look:

In the hotel, Dodie receives a get well video greeting from the Montreal kids. She played it over and over.

This has got to be one of the most powerful get well videos ever. Of special note: the obvious love and sincerity that shines through, Amelia's brilliant poetry, and Evee's fascination with everything scatological. Dodie could not have chosen a better ailment to appeal to a 5 year old if she had planned it.

Today's ride: 2 km (1 miles)
Total: 460 km (286 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	1
Comment on this entry	Comment	0