All posts by karenfranza

Pieterpad: Montfort to Susteren

July 9, 2025Hiking, The Netherlands, Travelancient Roman coins, chapel of St. Anthony, Lourdes chapel, Montfort, rain, Susterenkarenfranza

July 6 – Today dawned gray with rain forecast all day. The temperature was in the low 50s and the high for the day was expected to be in the low 60s. Nine miles planned for today.

We passed the Montfort castle on our way out of town

The farmer is watering the crops even in the rain

A fairy house in a hollow tree with a Buddha inside

A little memorial to the Canadian airmen who lost their lives here in WWII

Another trove of ancient Roman coins was discovered here

Here is where an ancient Roman hammer was found. I assume the actual hammer was not this big

This is our endpoint for today, the little chapel to Our Lady of Lourdes – the second one we’ve seen in this country. We waited here in the rain for Ruud to pick us up and bring us back for one more night at the B&B Botervleig. I am chilled to the bone. Can’t wait for a hot shower!

A Day in Montfort

July 8, 2025Hiking, The Netherlands, TravelB&B Botervleig, castle ruins, gardens, Montfortkarenfranza

July 5 – Unlike the other places chosen for a zero mile rest day, there is not a thing to do in Montfort, except to visit the one grocery store. The grocery store does not accept either our VISA or our Mastercard, (only local debit cards), so we are lucky that the town has an ATM.

Unfortunately, we will not be here long enough to enjoy Montfort’s annual Ass Festival

Our hosts Marijke and Ruud run an absolutely top notch B&B

This is our breakfast area in the back garden.

A crabapple tree bursting with fruit. Marijke makes her own jams, preserves and fruit smoothies, which we sampled at breakfast

A pear tree, and there is also a mulberry tree (that the yellow jackets really adored)

How many eggs would you like for breakfast? Fresh eggs are so delicious, not at all like ones we get at the store.

Montfort is known for its castle ruin, but the castle is not open today. Lucky for us, Ruud is a member of the board supervising the restoration of the castle, and he offered to give us a private tour.

The castle was built in the 1200s by Henrik van Gelre, a rich bishop who bought up all the surrounding land. The stones for the castle had to be imported from Belgium – floated down the river then hauled overland.

A recreation of van Gelre’s skull. As you can see by the big chunk missing from the back, he came to a bad end.

“Tis but a scratch.” No it isn’t – your arm is off!”

Walking through the castle basement, Ruud explained that this castle was huge by the standards of the time.

Surrounded by marshy water, an enemy army could only approach from one side

The walls were angled so cannons could shoot without hitting the opposite tower – ingenious!

Artifacts uncovered during the recent dig

Prisoners were dropped through the hole in the ceiling and left in the small, dark space

There is much reconstruction left to go. Unfortunately, at some point the original stones were sold to make other buildings, so new brick is being used.

The gardens are also being restored to original specifications

For supper, I tried the local specialty of Zoerfleis – a cross between my Oma’s sauerbraten and North Carolina barbecue – pulled beef, marinated in vinegar and spices. It was delicious!

Pieterpad: Swalmen to Montfort

July 7, 2025Hiking, The Netherlands, TravelB&B Botervleig, gooseberry pie, Montfort, Pieterpad, Swalmen, wall artkarenfranza

July 4 – Another clear and cool day, with temperatures again in the ideal 70s. 14.6 miles planned today.

The nice thing about our customized app is that you know your exact mileage right up to the door of your lodging, instead of a guidebook’s mileage to the town center, plus who knows how much longer til you can actually put your feet up! I’m liking the GUIBO app.

Is the corn as high as an elephant’s eye on the Fourth of July?

We had to walk along the road for a while in an industrial area

The first sunflower we’ve seen, all by itself

This man was looking for buried treasure with his metal detector and a spade. He said he was searching for ancient Roman coins, but all he was finding was old bullets.

It is the Basilica of St. Odilien, but it was not open for us to visit

Near the church is a memorial for those from this town who “died due to war violence”. Many of the names are female. Were they victims of a bombing? Killed for resisting? Sent to a camp? We’ll never know.

This farmer really loves to sculpt his shrubbery

We came to the place where a treasure trove of Roman coins were found. It is thought that a Roman soldier buried them for safekeeping, then never returned.

And now we are in Montfort. Here is the only wall art we found

…and here is a statue of a man and his dog

And now we are at the B&B Botervleig, where we will sleep for the next three nights. Our host Marijke met us with homemade lemonade and a huge slice of gooseberry pie. I think we’re going to like it here!

Pieterpad: Venlo to Swalmen

July 6, 2025Hiking, The Netherlands, TravelPieterpad, Swalmen, Venlokarenfranza

July 3 – What a difference a rainstorm makes! We bid adieu to Villa Anna, and stepped out into the 56 F morning – a forty degree drop in one day! A beautiful clear day, with a high in the mid 70s and 15 miles planned.

More quirky statues as we walk out of Venlo

Getting out of the city. Which way do we go now?

Today’s signage was the most confusing so far…do we follow the red and white, or obey the X?

A noisy wood chipper came by to widen our path

This is St. John of Nepomuk, also known as the Bridge saint, as he was killed by being thrown off a bridge. He has his finger to his lips as he was martyred for refusing to betray the confessed secrets of the queen.

An exquisite supper – Jim had the stuffed peppers, and I had pasta and burrata. I’d not had burrata before: it is a cheese globe of mozzarella on the outside, which you break open to find soft creamy stracciatella inside. What a treat!

A Day in Venlo

July 5, 2025Hiking, The Netherlands, TravelGiselle Kuster, hot weather, Museum of Modern Art, Venlokarenfranza

July 2 – Well, we managed to get some sleep in our very warm room, and enjoyed a nice breakfast with some very crabby Germans who obviously did not sleep well either. Today’s temperature is expected to be 98 F for the second day in a row.

This is a planned zero mile rest day in the city of Venlo. We are happy not to be hiking, but wondered how to spend the day without cooking our brains. We ventured into the city to see what there was to see before the temperature got too hot.

Jim wanted to meet with his online group today, but our hotel has no Wi-Fi, so we looked for a place that might accommodate a Zoom call.

We went first to the bibliotek (a library should be a good resource no matter where you are), but they had neither Wi-Fi nor air con.

Most area restaurants had Wi-Fi but no air con, and did not appear to be places that would allow us to sit for an hour holding a meeting. We finally came upon the Museum of Modern Art, which had a little cafe where we could sit as long as we kept buying lemonades. Here are some things we saw in the city:

We stopped in the St Martinus Basilica, where it was dark and cool. This bishop must have been very famous, as his gloves and shoes have been preserved

Pretty carvings at the steps of the pulpit

The Museum of Modern Art. Light on your feet? Twinkle toes? Name this piece of art!

The museum featured the works of Giselle Kuster. She started out painting realistically…

I like an elevator with a sense of humor

When we left the museum at 4:30, the sky was turning dark and the streets were almost empty due to threat of the impending storm. It was 99 degrees F. We hustled back across town, and reached Villa Anna just as the sky opened and the rain poured down.

Pieterpad: Broekhuizen to Venlo

July 4, 2025Hiking, The Netherlands, TravelBroekhuizen, hot weather, Pieterpad, Venlo, Villa Annakarenfranza

July 1 – We have been watching the weather all week, as the temperatures continue to rise way beyond what is usual in the Netherlands. We chuckled when a heat emergency was declared at 80 F, but today will get up to 95 F, and we are not chuckling now.

We asked for the earliest breakfast time, to take advantage of the coolness of the morning, but it’s looking like we’ll be taking a miserable walk.

We reviewed today’s route, and saw that we are scheduled to walk by an Albert Hjein (Netherlands best grocery store!) at about mile 5 of our 12 mile day. This gives us a place where we can direct an Uber, if Uber exists out here where there is no city.

It took a minute, but yes! Uber is available, and Rajik will come for us in 14 minutes! O happy day! A 7 mile day is doable in any heat.

I bet you wish you weren’t wearing those wool coats!

So, today we learned another lesson of the Pieterpad. When Uber drops you off right on the trail, make sure you are walking in the right direction. Yes, we walked this stretch twice. Now it’s an 8 mile day!

Interesting yard art – I like the pants!

I bet this guy heats up nicely in the sun

We were hoping for a shady woods walk, but no luck so far

Another ferry crossing – wonder why they don’t just build a bridge?

Time to put up the sun-brella. That little bit of shade makes all the difference

Jim didn’t have that option – he left his umbrella at home

We got to walk along the water for a while, but it was no cooler there

Well look at that – a marker for the Camino de Santiago!

…and walk some more into the city of Venlo

So now we’ve arrived at Villa Anna, a lovely historic B&B with – you guessed it – no air conditioning, and only one window, so no chance of a breeze. And no Wi-Fi either. It actually got up to 98 F this afternoon. It’s going to be a long night…

Pieterpad: Meerlo to Broekhuizen

July 3, 2025Hiking, The Netherlands, TravelBroekhuizen, Klein Lourdes, Meerlo, Pieterpad, roseskarenfranza

June 30 – Only seven miles planned today, so we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. Leaving the B&B, we stopped to admire the variety of colors and wonderful aromas of the nearby rose farm. Although the Netherlands is best known for tulips, it is also the world’s largest exporter of roses, carnations, chrysanthemums and other flowers.

Passing through the town of Tienray, we stopped at an important pilgrimage site called Klein Lourdes, where folks travel to pray. The church was bombed in WWII, and was rebuilt.

Inside is a replica of the grotto where St. Bernadette spoke with Our Lady

What’s this? A field of immediately recognizable plants!

The sun is so bright that some folks shaded their beautiful hydrangeas with umbrellas so they wouldn’t get crispy. The temperature reached 92 F – very unusual for here.

And we’re almost to our hotel! I’ll do a seven mile day anytime, even in the heat!

Landhuishotel de Hilkensberg was like a spa, with extensive grounds

And – saving the best for last – a baby alpaca! How cute is that?

Pieterpad: Vierlingsbeek to Meerlo

July 2, 2025Hiking, The Netherlands, TravelMeerlo, Pieterpad, Vierlingsbeekkarenfranza

June 29 – We had one more good breakfast at the Hotel de Kroon, then the dad of the owner drove us back to Vierlingsbeek so we could resume our hike right where we left off. 12.3 miles planned for today.

We were dropped off right at the church steps, and, as it is Sunday, we asked if there was a church service. Oh no, came the reply, perhaps if someone wants a wedding or a funeral the church can be rented, but otherwise no services.

This is the first day we will be walking in the sun, with no clouds expected. Today’s high is anticipated to be 82 F, which qualifies as a heat emergency in the Netherlands. As Virginians used to hot soupy weather, this made us chuckle. Our hiking app warned us not to hike in this extreme heat. I hope we make it!

We were very self assured after completing the previous day’s walk without taking any wrong turns. Perhaps we have figured out the Pieterpad? Nope!