Oct 2 – Another perfect sunny day, and we must be feeling better, as our plan for the day is hiking. We were originally supposed to walk into Valkenburg from the Pieterpad, so our plan for today is to find that trail!
A great day!
Sept 29 – So we are here in our cozy apartment. We walk out in the sunshine every day, and Jim has found a walking park and trail that is very pleasant. It has been pointed out to me that this is what other people do on vacation – it’s called r-e-l-a-x-i-n-g. What a concept!
The restaurants in town are busy, but so far we have been content with our little kitchen and Jim’s homemade soup.
There is an Indian motorcycle shop here:
The ruins of Valkenburg Castle sit atop the only hill in town. Originally built of wood in 1115 and destroyed in 1122, the sign tells us it was the only castle built on a hill in the whole country! Not many hills here…
Oct 1 – Are you ready for some real excitement? Today is the Valkenburg Goat Parade, which, if we understand things correctly, ushers in the first keg of bok beer of the new season.
I was concerned about finding a good spot to watch the festivities, but no worries – the five marching bands went up one street and down the next, and we had plenty of opportunities to see them. But where were the goats? And where was the beer?
Here is a plaque in the main square, apologizing for the hundreds of “goat riders” subjected to torture and execution in the 1700s. These were marauders who were believed to have consorted with the devil, enabling them to ride across the sky on flying goats. We did not see any goats today, flying or otherwise. Nor any beer. Oh well!
Would you like to see some more wall art? Valkenburg has plenty!
A good day!
Sept 25 – This was to be our week of hiking on the Pieterpad – the Netherlands trail that starts in Pieterburen in the north, and extends to Mt. St. Pieter in the south. The weather is perfect – sunny, cool and breezy, with blue skies and zero rain in the forecast all week. Best laid plans…
As Jim began to feel worse and tested positive, we asked Boris to drive past our hiking origin point, and take us right to our accommodation for the evening in Groesbeek. One look told us that if we couldn’t hike out from here, we were pretty well stuck – no traffic for hitchhiking, and definitely no public transit. Jim even looked for a taxi service, but there was none. We are only booked here for one night, and I knew I, for one, would not be ready to hike in the morning.
We talked about our options, and decided, with heavy hearts, to cancel our reservations along the trail for the next week. We asked Boris to come back tomorrow and drive us south to Valkenburg, where a quick online search found us a studio apartment with a kitchen, near a grocery store, so we can hunker down until we feel 100%. That’s our plan B.
Sept 26 – We both slept well in the absolute quiet of the countryside. Boris showed up right on time, and two hours later, we are in Valkenburg. One week of walking = two hours of driving. Thank you Boris – we literally could not have done this without you!
So now we are at the Marx Motel. Karl? Groucho? Who can say?
We have an efficiency apartment with a balcony and a kitchenette stocked with everything we should need. Here we can rest and recover.
Valkenburg is a pretty, tourist town. There are many things to see here, but we only walked the three minutes from our apartment to the excellent grocery store. We bought some chicken soup – sure to help us feel better!
So here we’ll be for the next few days. We’ll check in when we have something to report!
Sept 22 – We couldn’t be so near to Jim’s friend Boris without taking a short excursion to Germany so that the two old friends could catch up. Jim made it sound like it was just a short hop across the border, but it was actually four hours of train and bus connections to get us into Xanten (ZAN ten).
We got to our weird little hotel in the middle of an industrial park, and I started feeling odd. All the symptoms of a cold, but with a fever and chills added in. Now, we had our flu and RSV vaccines just before we left, but the updated Covid jabs were not yet available. Yes, I wore a mask at the airport and on the planes. No, I didn’t put on a mask once I got into town – no one here was wearing one, and I thought I had evaded whatever germs might be gunning for me. I was so wrong.
So, Jim had a grand time catching up with his friend, and I had a few days to contemplate the meaning of life.
Sept 24 – Today Jim and Boris visited Xanten’s biggest attraction – an archeological reconstruction of the Roman settlement of Colonia Ulpia Traiana.
Sept 25– So, Xanten is the only place in Germany that starts with the letter X. Boris had no idea what the word meant, so I turned to my old friend Wikipedia, which informed us that Xanten is a corruption of the Latin Sanctum (holy) or perhaps Santen (saint), both referring to St. Viktor, an early Roman convert to Christianity who was executed in this town during the 4th century for refusing to sacrifice to the Roman gods. There is a huge cathedral in town that bears his name.
So that was our trip to Xanten. As Boris drove us back to Netherlands to begin our Pieterpad hike, Jim started to feel odd…
Sept 21 – Yes, I know we said we were not doing the tourist thing, but we are feeling better today, and Jim found a museum we haven’t visited. So we took the hotel shuttle back to the airport (which is also the train and bus station) and hopped on a train to Amsterdam Centraal.
Yes, there are canals everywhere in Amsterdam, lined with houseboats and water taxis. The Venice of the north.
Our goal is to see Our Lord in the Attic Museum, a Catholic Church built in the upper floors of a house. During the 1600s, all Roman Catholic, Jewish and other houses of worship were confiscated by the ruling Dutch Reformed Protestants. A wealthy Catholic merchant built a church upstairs in his attic so that he, his friends and family could continue to practice their faith. From the outside, it looks like just another house on the street.
The Dutch did not prevent other religions from practicing, they just outlawed the practice in public. The church was used until the mid 1800s, when the Basilica of St. Nicholas was built just down the road. It became a museum in 1883.
The lower floors of the house have been restored to reflect how the merchant’s family lived.
Then up the stairs to the church:
After exploring Our Lord in the Attic, it was just a hop and a skip to see the Basilica of St. Nicholas down the street.
Then we were back on the street. What else could we see?
You may notice that the houses are very narrow – at one point, real estate tax was based on the width of the building, so houses were built narrow and tall :
Sept 18 – Who is ready for an adventure ? We are! Want to come along?
Today we packed up all our cares and woes into new backpacks that are so small that they actually qualify as carry-on luggage, and got on a big iron bird to Atlanta and then a 757 to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. For the first time, we did not have to show a boarding pass to get on the plane – the camera verified our faces, and we walked right on! All went according to schedule, and we arrived mid morning after a typical no-sleep-packed-like-sardines flight.
Schiphol Airport is a destination in itself, with supermarkets, art exhibits, showers and sleeping areas. Cheese, anyone?
We are here for several days at an airport hotel, just to recover from our jet lag. As we have visited Amsterdam several times before, we have no tourist plans here. Van Gogh? Rembrandt? Been there. Rijksmuseum? Anne Frank House? Done that. Sorry!
Sept 20 – After a fitful night’s sleep, we walked into the town of Hoofddorp to find a supermarket and have lunch. Throughout the Netherlands, you will see separate lanes for pedestrians (right), bicycles (left), and auto traffic (far left), as well as bus lanes, tram and train tracks (above).
This pedestrian walk meandered prettily among flower beds meant to attract butterflies and bees. Very nice!
There was even a little park with a pond and an anti-slavery monument.
Tomorrow, we will take the train into the city!
Feb 8 – This morning we said goodbye to the Pacific.
We dragged our suitcases back down to the Pan American Highway, and had lunch at a truck stop while we waited for a bus.
We were just finished, and our bus pulled up – a big one with air conditioning! Yay! It was an easy two hours back to the Panama City bus terminal and an easy Uber back downtown.
Feb 9 – One more night at the Executive Hotel, then up at 5:30 for an early hotel breakfast and an Uber to the airport.
We encountered a new wrinkle in airport security this morning. After waiting in line to check in, and enduring the shoe removal and X-ray machines, we walked to our gate, looking forward to a sit down prior to boarding. The officials then rounded up everyone in the gate area and subjected us to an additional security screening, then cordoned us off so we had no access to coffee, water or bathrooms. Those in the know told us it was an extra security measure for those headed to the US, looking for drugs. Humph!
Four hours later we landed in Houston, had a six hour layover, then home to Norfolk by 10 pm.
It was a fabulous trip, and it’s nice to be home. Thanks to all who traveled with us!
Feb 3 – So, what makes a successful beach vacation? Swim, walk, eat, and repeat!
Jan 5 – Now here’s some excitement! We were running out of food, so got up early to trek up to the Pan American Highway to reprovision at the little market. We wanted to go before it got too hot. For the first time all week, I had to put on pants and shoes!
Even though it was early, it was still mighty hot. We made it back alive, and resumed our day. Walk, swim, eat, repeat!
Feb 1 – When Jim designed this trip, he divided it into three parts: a week of culture (Panama City), a week in the mountains (El Valle de Antón), and a week at the beach. You’ve traveled with us for the first two adventures. Guess where we’re going now?
We had one more scrumptious breakfast (and I did the dishes one last time in cold water) then we packed up, taking all our leftover food and condiments with us to our new apartment.
We wheeled our bags to the bus stop on the main road. Within five minutes a van pulled up with our destination on the windshield – San Carlos. We got in and watched as the 15 passenger van took on at least 20 people, then stopped wherever a person stood waiting to get on or signaled to get off, as we traveled down the mountainside. Although others paid with a dollar and received change, we were charged $2 each for the experience.
In about 45 minutes, we reached the beach (playa), and the bus let us off in front of the huge Playa el Palmar building – 28 stories tall and the only skyscraper around. We walked about 10 minutes in the broiling midday sun down a private road until we reached a security booth.
We had to show our passports to the security guard to get in, and the landlord left Jim a series of videos (in Spanish, of course) explaining the code to work the door and how to operate the state of the art appliances. We’ve never been in a place like this, ever!
Now, if you’ve been traveling with us for a while, you know that we are modest travelers who don’t go in for anything posh. So, everything about this place is just blowing my mind. Our bedroom wall is floor to ceiling glass, looking out at the Pacific.
The downside (and there always is one) is that this hi-rise is not near the town, and the commenters said it’s definitely not a place to stay if you don’t have a car. Jim took this as a challenge – there’s no place that we can’t walk! But the lack of shade and consistent temperature of 90 / feels like 95 every day will be interesting. Stay tuned!
Jan 30 – Jim had one more hike on his list, so we set off this morning in another direction to find Loma el Pastoreo / the Grazing Hill.
We walked down a road that was not a main road. On either side were large private homes behind stone walls and iron gates. So peaceful and so pretty.
We finally reached the trailhead, if you can call it that. It looked more like a dry stream bed, full of sticks and rocks. Jim said, Up! So up we went.
After a steep, but mercifully short scrabble, we reached the vista. We could see in all directions. It was so windy!
Our time in El Valle is drawing to a close. We had dinner at the Colombian restaurant, with excellent patacones (fried plantain chips as big as your hand), and one more evening walk down the main road. El Valle has been a magical place for us, and we’re going to miss it.
Taking Our Time 