Sunday
Total Pieterpad distance for the two days was 21 km but we walked a little bit more.
It was good that we split it over two days, good for our own feet and for the boys.
The Sunday, Nic and Luca walked as well. Luca did really well, next time he´ll come along on his bike with Nic.
We had cooler weather than on the Saturday and timed it really well because the first splatters of rain started to come down when we hit the outskirts of Zuidlaren. Of course we had a pancake stop when we came to the end point of the day´s walk. Then, on to Assen to the Chinese Terracotta Army exibit for Milan (school project).
It was a wonderful day and a lovely walk. The landscape of Drenthe is magnificent, we all are in agreement that we would love to live there.
Here´s an overview of the day:
Some movies shot on Suday:
Two playful horses, being egged on by the brothers:
And here are Elma's pictures (many taken by Milan, actually):
Sunday, May 25, 2008
24 May 2008, Groningen to Glimmen
Saturday
We left by train on Saturday morning 20 to 10, arrived in Groningen just past noon. Ate something at Burger King and then we were on our way.
The weather was beautiful and the walk was magical.
Nic and Luca met up with us at the farmhouse where we stayed the night.
We had supper at an Italian restaurant in Zuidlaren, came home filled with good food and tumbled into bed, exhausted.
Here are some video's from Saturday.
Watching the bridge go up (Groningen)
Looking for the elusive cuckoo
Walking
Walking some more (sandy road):
Elma's pictures:
We left by train on Saturday morning 20 to 10, arrived in Groningen just past noon. Ate something at Burger King and then we were on our way.
The weather was beautiful and the walk was magical.
Nic and Luca met up with us at the farmhouse where we stayed the night.
We had supper at an Italian restaurant in Zuidlaren, came home filled with good food and tumbled into bed, exhausted.
Here are some video's from Saturday.
Watching the bridge go up (Groningen)
Looking for the elusive cuckoo
Walking
Walking some more (sandy road):
Elma's pictures:
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Saturday & Sunday: juggling traveling arrangements & kids
Elma and her tribe have this small change of plans:
L has a party on Saturday morning that he does not want to miss.
M does not want to miss one second of walking.
So, Elma, me and M will leave Saturday morning by train to Groningen and do the first leg of the walk. Nic and L will leave for Groningen Saturday afternoon and set up camp, we'll catch up at the end of the day. We all overnight together as planned and on the next day we all walk the second leg. After this, we all go to Assen together and see the exibit Chinese Teracotta Army.
See?!
Simple!
L has a party on Saturday morning that he does not want to miss.
M does not want to miss one second of walking.
So, Elma, me and M will leave Saturday morning by train to Groningen and do the first leg of the walk. Nic and L will leave for Groningen Saturday afternoon and set up camp, we'll catch up at the end of the day. We all overnight together as planned and on the next day we all walk the second leg. After this, we all go to Assen together and see the exibit Chinese Teracotta Army.
See?!
Simple!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
The next leg: from Groningen to Zuidlaren
This is a 21 km walk that we will be splitting over two days. Elma and I will be walking on May 24 and 25; probably Nic and the boys will come too. The distances are nice and short, 10 km a day, and we will include a visit to the Drents Museum in Assen to see the Chinese Terracotta army (one of Elma's boys is doing a school project on these figures and really wants to see this exhibit).
Day one we will probably walk from Groningen to a midway point (Paterswolde is a bit out of the way but looks like the best option so far). Day two we'll walk the rest of the way to Zuidlaren, of course visiting the well preserved G1 Hunebed (Dolmen) of Midlaren on the way (between Midlaren and Zuidlaren on the Schutsweg) - and having arrived in Zuidlaren we will probably go on to the museum in Assen by car, and after that drive back home.
I did some reading and found that there's a nice little wooded nature reserve called Appelbergen east of Glimmen which is quite popular. Through the woods runs a medieval highway, called Hoge Hereweg. There are two Hunebedden (Dolmen) in this wood but they were destroyed quite some time ago. It seems that during WW2, some 20 to 30 Dutch people were executed and secretly buried in this forest. The bodies have not been found yet despite much searching.
We will be moving from Groningen province into Drenthe, crossing the provincial boundary just south of Noordlaarderbos. This forest forms the barrier between the Hondsrug ridge and the Drenthse Aa river valley. We should be able to see the change from clay grounds in Groningen to the sandier soil of Drenthe, the landscape should also become more undulating and wooded as we move into Drenthe.
We will be walking along the Hondsrug, a long sand hill which was pushed upwards by gletchers back in the Saalien ice age. Hondsrug does not refer to a dog as the name first suggests, but to the Hunze river which runs through that area. The first part of the route will go along the Noord Willemskanaal, a very old waterway (canal) and one of the city of Groningen's main traffic arteries in the old days.
We'll be overnighting in Glimmen, over here. It looks wonderful!
Day one we will probably walk from Groningen to a midway point (Paterswolde is a bit out of the way but looks like the best option so far). Day two we'll walk the rest of the way to Zuidlaren, of course visiting the well preserved G1 Hunebed (Dolmen) of Midlaren on the way (between Midlaren and Zuidlaren on the Schutsweg) - and having arrived in Zuidlaren we will probably go on to the museum in Assen by car, and after that drive back home.
I did some reading and found that there's a nice little wooded nature reserve called Appelbergen east of Glimmen which is quite popular. Through the woods runs a medieval highway, called Hoge Hereweg. There are two Hunebedden (Dolmen) in this wood but they were destroyed quite some time ago. It seems that during WW2, some 20 to 30 Dutch people were executed and secretly buried in this forest. The bodies have not been found yet despite much searching.
We will be moving from Groningen province into Drenthe, crossing the provincial boundary just south of Noordlaarderbos. This forest forms the barrier between the Hondsrug ridge and the Drenthse Aa river valley. We should be able to see the change from clay grounds in Groningen to the sandier soil of Drenthe, the landscape should also become more undulating and wooded as we move into Drenthe.
We will be walking along the Hondsrug, a long sand hill which was pushed upwards by gletchers back in the Saalien ice age. Hondsrug does not refer to a dog as the name first suggests, but to the Hunze river which runs through that area. The first part of the route will go along the Noord Willemskanaal, a very old waterway (canal) and one of the city of Groningen's main traffic arteries in the old days.
We'll be overnighting in Glimmen, over here. It looks wonderful!
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Sailing with Martinus
Long weekend 1 - 4 May, much too short.
The best time I've had in a long while.
The best time I've had in a long while.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Garnwerd to Groningen (13 km) on Sunday, 27 April 2008
We left Garnwerd after nine in the morning, after a good honest Dutch breakfast prepared by our Francophile host.
Walking out of Garnwerd my right foot started to bother me, it got steadily worse as we walked on. In the end it was so painful -even with painkillers and Diclofenac- that I took the bus to Groningen station over the last km or so while Elma walked that last distance. Almost two weeks later the foot is still painful when I walk, so I'll have to have it medically seen to.
The walk itself was delightful, a good part of it ran alongside the Reitdiep canal. It seems that the Reitdiep valley is the oldest man-made landscape in Europe, created by the Hunze river that connected Groningen to the sea. The weather was sublime.
Along the way we saw a gorgeous little church at Oostum from the 13th century. it's built on on aterp wierde (In Groningen it's called wierde, in Friesland it's called terp), a piece of land that was artificially heightened back when this area was regularly flooded. Most of that has been excavated now, only the churches and graveyards are still up high.
A bit further on, just before crossing the canal, we encountered a restaurant with tables on the side of the road overlooking the water. Of course we sat down and enjoyed a cup of coffee and some cherry(?)tart. We heard from a variety of people there that good walking shoes are of the utmost importance when doing such a walk. My foot by that time was hurting a lot so I was pathetic, and Elma was walking in bright red ski boots which of course attracted comment ;-)
One couple told us of a long distance walk (old pilgrim route) of about 800 km called el Camino de Santiago, they made it sound very attractive but I think I'll have to be a bit fitter and more experienced before I tackle that one.
The walk took us over the meandering Paddepoelster Road which is a very old road. Eventually we crossed the Van Starkenborgh canal into Groningen, sat for a while on a bench and watched the world go by. Also sitting on a bench next to us were two youngsters who were also doing the walk, and I was relieved to see the one girl in even worse shape than I was! After that we followed cycle roads and walking paths until we reached the city itself and I hopped (crawled) on a bus towards the station. Elma will have to correct me on details or add some more info because I was rather wasted this day because of the pain in my foot.
And here are Elma's pictures:
I learned a few things on this walk:
- make the backpack as light as possible.
- walking with a human is completely different to walking with a dog.
- asphalt walking hurts the feet.
- definitely need to do something about the level of fitness.
- around 10 - 15 km a day is a good length for a weekend walker like me.
- I really loved walking like this even though the foot hurt like hell.
- I'm going to finish this walk, and then do a next one. And a next one. And a next.
Elma and I decided that we'd do the next leg on the weekend of 24 & 25 May. That will take us from Groningen to Zuidlaren, the total distance is 21 km. It's supposed to be one leg but we'll be splitting it over two days, it comes down to about 10km a day. As time goes on and we get fitter and more experienced we will probably do longer distances, but it's not an endurance race - the main intention after all, is to enjoy the walk and get to know this country of ours from a totally different angle.
Walking out of Garnwerd my right foot started to bother me, it got steadily worse as we walked on. In the end it was so painful -even with painkillers and Diclofenac- that I took the bus to Groningen station over the last km or so while Elma walked that last distance. Almost two weeks later the foot is still painful when I walk, so I'll have to have it medically seen to.
The walk itself was delightful, a good part of it ran alongside the Reitdiep canal. It seems that the Reitdiep valley is the oldest man-made landscape in Europe, created by the Hunze river that connected Groningen to the sea. The weather was sublime.
Along the way we saw a gorgeous little church at Oostum from the 13th century. it's built on on a
A bit further on, just before crossing the canal, we encountered a restaurant with tables on the side of the road overlooking the water. Of course we sat down and enjoyed a cup of coffee and some cherry(?)tart. We heard from a variety of people there that good walking shoes are of the utmost importance when doing such a walk. My foot by that time was hurting a lot so I was pathetic, and Elma was walking in bright red ski boots which of course attracted comment ;-)
One couple told us of a long distance walk (old pilgrim route) of about 800 km called el Camino de Santiago, they made it sound very attractive but I think I'll have to be a bit fitter and more experienced before I tackle that one.
The walk took us over the meandering Paddepoelster Road which is a very old road. Eventually we crossed the Van Starkenborgh canal into Groningen, sat for a while on a bench and watched the world go by. Also sitting on a bench next to us were two youngsters who were also doing the walk, and I was relieved to see the one girl in even worse shape than I was! After that we followed cycle roads and walking paths until we reached the city itself and I hopped (crawled) on a bus towards the station. Elma will have to correct me on details or add some more info because I was rather wasted this day because of the pain in my foot.
And here are Elma's pictures:
I learned a few things on this walk:
- make the backpack as light as possible.
- walking with a human is completely different to walking with a dog.
- asphalt walking hurts the feet.
- definitely need to do something about the level of fitness.
- around 10 - 15 km a day is a good length for a weekend walker like me.
- I really loved walking like this even though the foot hurt like hell.
- I'm going to finish this walk, and then do a next one. And a next one. And a next.
Elma and I decided that we'd do the next leg on the weekend of 24 & 25 May. That will take us from Groningen to Zuidlaren, the total distance is 21 km. It's supposed to be one leg but we'll be splitting it over two days, it comes down to about 10km a day. As time goes on and we get fitter and more experienced we will probably do longer distances, but it's not an endurance race - the main intention after all, is to enjoy the walk and get to know this country of ours from a totally different angle.
Pieterburen to Garnwerd (16 km) on Saturday, 26 April 2008
Day one and it would not be a journey of mine if things did not go wrong.
I was supposed to transfer on station Gouda(!) to the intercity train that Elma was already travelling on. The train announcement said, cross over to platform 5 and get on the train to Utrecht, as we pulled into the station. So I did... into the stoptrain to Utrecht and not the intercity I should have been on. Elma had to get off her train in Utrecht to wait for me, or travel all the way to Groningen on her own. She waited, we met up and then we went all the way to Station Baflo where we waited for the Regiotaxi (which was half hour late!). Meanwhile, the man from the local VVV saw us standing there and regaled us with all kinds of information and he also gave us a couple of brochures to take along. That was very kind of him, we saw many of the things he described all along the route!
The regiotaxi took us to Pieterburen at breakneck speed (no wonder you never see any children outside in the little villages along the route... they had been yanked indoors by terrified parents!!!)
We started out quite late on day one and we had 16 km to walk, so we set off at a brisk pace and did not stop along the way until we hit Winsum. The pace was not so brisk at first but after the fifth group of geriatric walkers left us in a cloud of dust, we picked up speed. We managed to arrive in Winsum before a pair of very nice old ladies, which gave us some relief: we were not last!
Had some lovely apple pie and coffee sitting in the sun on a terrace in Winsum, then we continued on to the last leg of the day's journey. The first bit was fun, walking along a sloot, over fields and past some very bored horses, but after that it was less pleasant. We were walking on the verge of a very busy road with impatient cars whizzing past. Happy to arrive in Garnwerd, my tongue dragging on the road by that time, we looked for our overnight address and found it without any trouble. We then tottered off to see a bit of the old town and eat something at the local cafetaria. Uitsmijter (two slices of bread, three eggs runny yolks, thinly sliced ham, onion rings, fried mushrooms and some guilt salad), tea, glass of rose each and finally decadent ice cream on the banks of the canal sitting on a wooden bench watching the cows come home. Heaven!
We went to sleep earlier than I had done in years, around nine! Slept well, aside from the few mosquitoes that decided I was a nice snack.
For me, it was a lovely flat green countryside with many meandering little streams which (thank you VVV guy) by their very curves prove that they are the original natural waterways (farmers make straight lines, nature goes in bends and whorls) from back in the days when this province was regularly inundated by very high tides and storms.
Elma took some lovely pictures:
I was supposed to transfer on station Gouda(!) to the intercity train that Elma was already travelling on. The train announcement said, cross over to platform 5 and get on the train to Utrecht, as we pulled into the station. So I did... into the stoptrain to Utrecht and not the intercity I should have been on. Elma had to get off her train in Utrecht to wait for me, or travel all the way to Groningen on her own. She waited, we met up and then we went all the way to Station Baflo where we waited for the Regiotaxi (which was half hour late!). Meanwhile, the man from the local VVV saw us standing there and regaled us with all kinds of information and he also gave us a couple of brochures to take along. That was very kind of him, we saw many of the things he described all along the route!
The regiotaxi took us to Pieterburen at breakneck speed (no wonder you never see any children outside in the little villages along the route... they had been yanked indoors by terrified parents!!!)
We started out quite late on day one and we had 16 km to walk, so we set off at a brisk pace and did not stop along the way until we hit Winsum. The pace was not so brisk at first but after the fifth group of geriatric walkers left us in a cloud of dust, we picked up speed. We managed to arrive in Winsum before a pair of very nice old ladies, which gave us some relief: we were not last!
Had some lovely apple pie and coffee sitting in the sun on a terrace in Winsum, then we continued on to the last leg of the day's journey. The first bit was fun, walking along a sloot, over fields and past some very bored horses, but after that it was less pleasant. We were walking on the verge of a very busy road with impatient cars whizzing past. Happy to arrive in Garnwerd, my tongue dragging on the road by that time, we looked for our overnight address and found it without any trouble. We then tottered off to see a bit of the old town and eat something at the local cafetaria. Uitsmijter (two slices of bread, three eggs runny yolks, thinly sliced ham, onion rings, fried mushrooms and some guilt salad), tea, glass of rose each and finally decadent ice cream on the banks of the canal sitting on a wooden bench watching the cows come home. Heaven!
We went to sleep earlier than I had done in years, around nine! Slept well, aside from the few mosquitoes that decided I was a nice snack.
For me, it was a lovely flat green countryside with many meandering little streams which (thank you VVV guy) by their very curves prove that they are the original natural waterways (farmers make straight lines, nature goes in bends and whorls) from back in the days when this province was regularly inundated by very high tides and storms.
Elma took some lovely pictures:
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