Tag Archives: Swalmen

Pieterpad: Swalmen to Montfort

Hiking, The Netherlands, Travel, , , , ,

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.

Walking out of town
Into the woods
What’s this? A fort?
Is the corn as high as an elephant’s eye on the Fourth of July?
Pretty wildflowers
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.
Swans!
In the distance, we see church spires
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
Are these dahlias?
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

Hiking, The Netherlands, Travel, ,

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
Quiet please!
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?
Let’s go this way
So many choices!
More beautiful flower farms
A noisy wood chipper came by to widen our path
Deer stands all along this route
I love a natural arbor
Horses!
Lexi, what kind of horse is this?
…and sheep!
Still water
A lookout welcoming us to Swalmen
Another statue on the way to our B&B
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 odd sculpture outside the restaurant
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!