Tag Archives: Groesbeek

Pieterpad: Groesbeek to Gennep

June 29, 2025Hiking, The Netherlands, TravelGennep, Groesbeek, GUIBO, Pieterpad, rainkarenfranza

June 26 – Our first hiking day dawned to the sound of thunder and the patter of raindrops. We’ll be using our rain gear today! Our walk is planned for 8.5 miles – an easy first day.

The Pieterpad, the Netherlands most famous trail, runs from Pieterboro in the north, to St. Pieter’s hill in the south, and can be walked in either direction. We are starting in the middle and walking south. There are different routes for hikers, cyclists and horses.

Instead of a map, our tour company gave us the GUIBO app, containing turn by turn directions of our customized itinerary. We learned early in the day that a nice path straight ahead is not necessarily the right way to go.

After taking a wrong turn, we got a text informing us that we had left the trail, but not telling us where, or how to get back on track. So, we turned around and walked back until the app said we were, once again, on the route. After that, we checked our phones every few minutes for the rest of the day, like teenagers scrolling for new TikToks.

My trail umbrella attaches nicely to my daypack (under my jacket) so I can use both hands for my trekking poles. If I had a third hand to hold my phone, life would be ideal!

A horse looks like she’s wearing a raincoat too!

An old icehouse, used to store food in the hot summer

We walked through the little town of Milsbeek, home of another WWII cemetery filled with foreign soldiers

And now we are in the lovely town of Gennep, (pronounced Chhhhennep like you are clearing your throat), and the rain has stopped. A fine first hiking day!

Xanten to Groesbeek

June 28, 2025Germany, The Netherlands, TravelDr Seuss, Groesbeek, Museum of Freedom, Norman Rockwell, Vrijheidsmuseumkarenfranza

June 25 – Today Boris and his friend Simon picked us up in the morning for the 45 minute drive over the German border into the Netherlands. There is no border, of course, just a sign on the highway. We are heading to the town of Groesbeek, where we will start our Pieterpad hike tomorrow.

We checked into the lovely de Wolfsberg Hotel, then walked into town to see what there were to see.

Groesbeek is best known for the Museum of Freedom, or Vrijheidsmuseum, shaped like a parachute, and dedicated to the WWII participants in Operation Market Garden in 1944

There were so many thought-provoking displays in this museum, including examples of Dutch citizens during the Occupation. If it were you, would you work for the Germans to feed your family, lay low and wait for it all to be over, or join the Resistance? Good questions for us to ponder today.

One of Dr Seuss’ many wartime cartoons encouraging the U.S. to actively join the Allies

A different version of Rosie the Riveter, by Norman Rockwell

This chart was depicted in 3D in the final room of the museum. I had always thought about the war being about Germans, Japanese, Brits and Americans, and was astounded to see the number of Soviet and Chinese dead. Very sobering…

A sculpture of souls rising up from the many local cemeteries after the war, to see how it all turned out. This museum blew my mind. If you ever get the opportunity, please go!

Groesbeek to Valkenburg, Netherlands

September 28, 2023The Netherlands, TravelGroesbeek, Marx Motel, Valkenburg, wall artkarenfranza

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…

View out the window of our B&B in Groesbeek

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.

This morning’s sunrise was pretty spectacular

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!